What do you think about a sports collaboration? Or a kitsch collaboration? Perhaps an artistic one? Have we ever formed a partnership with a brand that deals with food? These questions, claims High Snobiety fashion editor Christopher Morency, have been swirling in the minds of creatives from luxury brands who in recent years have been launching collections in collaboration with other brands ‘like there’s no tomorrow’. It seems that this is a trend that absolutely everyone has decided to embrace, so the mentioned editor rightly wonders what will happen when all potential partnership candidates have been ‘used up’? Will luxury fashion brands finally collaborate with themselves?
Everything Can Be Combined
As Morency continues on the High Snobiety portal, the story of (more intense) collaborations began five years ago when the brand Vetements launched a spring/summer collection composed exclusively of fashion pieces created in collaboration with luxury brands such as Comme de Garçons, Manolo Blahnik, Canada Goose, Brioni, and others. As then creative director of Vetements Demna Gvasalia stated, the collaboration arose from the need to pay tribute to brands that are unmatched in their field of work (footwear, tailoring suits, etc.).
In 2019, Valentino decided to experiment with the brand Undercover, which, in terms of aesthetics, has little to do with the iconic Italian fashion house. This collaboration produced a collection featuring sneakers with graphic patterns, clothing printed with the likeness of Ludwig van Beethoven or a flying wizard. It is very important for brands to be open to collaboration, emphasized Pierpaolo Piccioli from Valentino at the time, with which everyone else in the luxury fashion sector evidently agreed since collaborations have since started pouring in from all sides and have become an integral part of marketing strategy, and anyone who has not yet chosen their partner is significantly lagging behind the market.
Where is Luxury Fashion Going?
For example, Dior and Grace Wales Bonner launched a collection, Moncler got involved in projects with Valentino, JW Anderson, Richard Quinn, and Raf Simmons co-created men’s and women’s clothing lines with Miuccia Prada. Jean Paul Gaultier formed partnerships with as many as five different young designers, and Dior collaborated with luxury luggage manufacturer Rimowa, which in turn entered into a collaboration with Fendi. And that’s not all. Mulberry announced a partnership with Ahluwalia, Valentino launched studded sneakers with Craig Green priced at $1,100. Gucci launched a collection with Balenciaga, and then Balenciaga with Gucci, but also with the brand Crocs.
High Snobiety rightly asks – where the hell is luxury fashion going? Have brands run out of good, original ideas? Or have they surrendered after realizing that there are simply too many players and too few customers? As market analyst from Bernstein Luca Solca explained to High Snobiety, luxury brands must find a balance between tradition and innovation. The latter is particularly important when selling to consumers who typically buy luxury items – they have tried everything, own everything, and are constantly looking for something new. Collaborations have so far, in most cases, proven to be a successful tactic, as they bring fresh ideas and attract audience interest. This has been confirmed by research from the aforementioned fashion portal. In the New Luxury Survey, they asked their readers what they think about fashion collaborations. As many as 85 percent of respondents said they like it when a traditional brand goes in an unexpected direction or collaborates with brands that are, in a creative sense, different from it. About 66 percent claim they are more interested in brands that have a good portfolio of collaborations. And OK, it is clear that collaborations attract customer attention, but the problem is that this cannot last forever – nothing is new forever.
