Arts, Culture, and Luxury: Happy Liaisons?

Abstract: This article deals with how luxury brands have leveraged their connection with two different worlds. First, the art world to elevate the perception of their brand. Second, with culture at large to reach for audiences. In that respect, both arts and culture are pivotal to addressing the two most important luxury customers: both the large group of “aspirational luxury consumers” who make up 60% of the luxury market’s revenue and the 5% of the richest people in the world who make for the remaining 40%. But it would be simplistic to say that luxury’s relationship to the art world is to seduce exclusively the HNWI while cultural connections are made to seduce the more diverse group of aspirational luxury consumers. Indeed, both target groups can benefit from these multiple links between arts and culture. Luxury brands’ desirability lies in their ability to combine these two approaches: the verticality of Arts (understood in the sense of “high Arts” such as fine arts, conceptual art, etc.) and the horizontality of Culture (understood in the sense of contemporary cultures such as music, video games, etc.). Our hypothesis is as follows: the top-performing luxury brands are at the sweet spot between these two axes. And maintaining such a position requires both innovation and new people organization (i.e.: the creation of a new position of Head of Arts and Culture within a few big names in the industry).

1.     When arts mean elevation: nothing new under the sun?

 Let’s go back in time: in 1937, designer Elsa Schiaparelli created the lobster dress in collaboration with the artist Salvador Dali. Even before that, Gabrielle Chanel had worked with some of the greatest artists of her time - designing the costumes of Stravinsky ballets in 1923., Money flowing, she became a patron of some prominent artists. But even if designers and artists have had strong relationships ever since the designer emerged as an individual creator, the last two decades have radically changed the rules.

 At the beginning of the millennium, a new virtuous circle emerged between the world of (high) arts and the luxury industry. The art world was looking for fresh opportunities ahead of a global recession. And the luxury industry was looking for a lost elevation. After a decade of stretching their brands thin with countless business licenses to keep up with the fast pace of globalization. Collaborating with artists was the best way to elevate their perception to its previous glory. Some Houses like Louis Vuitton mastered the art of collaborations quite early on (who doesn’t remember the 2001 Stephen Sprouse collab!). Up to a point where luxury goods began to be perceived not as works of craft but as works of art. First through collaborations, then on their own, products were given the stamp of works of art. Brands stopped calling a bag a best-seller, but an icon. Boutiques were being filled up with artworks that would make even renowned museums jealous. They are not mere shops anymore, they are must-sees, flagships, and Landmarks.

What were curiosities in the early aughts have become the normal state of things in 2023. Luxury companies are the new Medici. More than purchasers of existing art, they have become curators and creators. Loewe’s Craft Prize celebrates artists who update traditional applied arts techniques with a modern twist. Saint Laurent is becoming a full-blown movie production company, starting with the production of Pedro Almodóvar’s latest short film – with characters fully dressed in Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent naturalmente.

This shift is completely endorsed by luxury consumers with 87% of luxury prosumers* believing that “luxury brands’ main corporate responsibility is to be patrons of culture”. Indeed, it makes sense with what customers expect from luxury brands. Luxury brands play a top-down role in customers’ lives. They bring an aesthetic authority, and a sense of eternity, they are a source of knowledge & know-how. To sum it up, luxury is expected to bring a “verticality” into their lives. And the connection of luxury to the art world is a way to legitimize this essential role of luxury for consumers. But is transcendental order and beauty all that people expect from luxury?

2.     Culture as a rejuvenation cure.

 In the meantime, another movement took over the industry. At the beginning of the 2010s, luxury brands started partnerships with cultural figures belonging to the mainstream Zeitgeist. Luxury brands had become so art-like that they needed to revitalize themselves. Luxury found a way to be celebrated at the MET’s Costume Institute and at Paris’ Musée des Arts Décoratifs without becoming dusty or irrelevant.

Brands multiplied their associations with (at the time) unexpected cultural figures. From Louis Vuitton partnering with Supreme to Hennessy and Rémy Martin partnering with the most prominent names in hip-hop and rap music, street culture was not an object of contempt but of celebration. Niche cultural forms became mainstream. That’s how Dior brought to light Hajime Sorayama’s sultry hyperrealism in 2018 or the video game Gran Turismo in 2022. From anime to video games to queer or BIPOC subcultures, all forms of collaborations were now more than legitimate: they were desirable. It is linked to a more profound change in people’s relationship to culture. Culture is not limited to fine arts anymore, all forms of subculture and entertainment are considering part of Culture with a big “C”. Compared to 56% of the mainstream, 68% of prosumers say they think video games are as meaningful as artforms like paintings, movies, books. All in all, enlarging the possibilities of collabs and embracing this new open definition of culture was a resounding success. It enabled luxury brands to remain relevant and desirable among the youngest without losing an older and wealthier target.

But more fundamentally, how can we explain this appetite for an extended vision of culture? In our opinion, there are two complementary explanations:

-       First the question of inspiration. Yves Saint Laurent himself was in his time mixing inspirations. Creating dresses inspired by Mondrian’s work just as he was inspired by the style of Parisian youth in the 60s. It is not different for today’s designers, taking inspiration from everywhere, including and especially from what happens in the mainstream. Riccardo Tisci was one of the first to bring hoodies and sweatpants to the runway. Demna built his signature style on Eastern European working-class aesthetics. Simon Porte Jacquemus did the same with the south of France. And it extends also to new ways of communicating, from organizing a techno day party in the outskirts of Paris for Courrèges to wrapping vegetables in Prada prints at supermarkets. It’s about turning the mundane into something extraordinary, contextualizing one’s work in a setting that isn’t a minimalist black-and-white catwalk.

-       Second comes the question of creation. Artistic directors are no longer exclusively designers. Luxury fashion & culture have become so intertwined that some brands are putting cultural prominent figures at the helm of their houses. They are not only responsible for design anymore, but they are also the total art directors of a Gesamtkunstwerk. The ask is not only to come up with the next it-product but to steer the whole image of brand – product, regular comms, PR activations, events, etc.

 These multiple cultural connections have strengthened luxury brands’ hegemony in people’s minds. While elevation was and remains a constant objective for luxury brands, there’s also a profound need for a deeper emotional connection that requires common ground, shared references, and authenticity. To be important in people’s lives, a form of legitimacy is required. While connection to the art world was all about “verticality”, cultural connection brings a “horizontality”- a mix of approachability, and in-the-now feeling that allows customers to feel like they are peers and not just a passive target.

 The question for luxury brands is a question of equilibrium. How to address the stretch between so-called “high” and “low”, between elitism and mainstream, eternity and Zeitgeist? It’s all about balancing expertly high art connections and cultural connections at large. How to keep consistency in a brand that needs both Beyonce sitting front-row and a set designed by Eva Jospin. How to combine a sense of elevation and a quest for inclusion? In other terms, how to reach the sweet spot between verticality and horizontality?

3.     Managing arts and culture: new function, multiple solutions.

 If the challenge for luxury brands is to combine both arts expertise and cultural connections. But the question is: are they well equipped to meet the challenge? Is there one unique recipe or multiple options to integrate and master this new capability? There are no one fit all solutions but depending on the type of brand, we can observe different ways of proceeding:

-       In the absence of an artistic director: outside of fashion & jewelry, artistic directors tend to be quite rare. Let’s take the case of fine spirits brands.  They tend to center their artistic and cultural around a specific theme and stick to it. Their artistic & cultural connections often revolve around a given passion point (e.g. RnB music for Rémy Martin, female entrepreneurship for Veuve Clicquot, contemporary art for Ruinart, etc.). These connections are mostly driven by Marketing and Comms teams, equipped sometimes with a Head of Arts who can help scout and deal with the partnerships with artists and cultural figures.

-       In the absence of a public artistic director: some luxury creative brands are not led by an artistic director’s vision but by a constant renewal of the House DNA, savoir-faire, and icons. It’s the case of brands like Loro Piana, Berluti, or Brunello Cucinelli. In that case, the artistic & cultural connections remain more limited, whereas they are crucial to transcend the timelessness side of the brands and make the most of the “quiet luxury” opportunity without becoming boring.  

-       In the presence of a public artistic director: when the brands revolve around the creative proposition of an artistic director, the cultural & artistic proposition are often inherently linked to their creative vision. That’s the case of Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe or Hedi Slimane’s Celine where the roster of artists or cultural icons that work with the houses are the direct reflection of the artistic director’s centers of interest.

Whatever the case, being always on the move is a prerequisite for success. It takes a lot of energy, passion, and knowledge to play with, combine, and master both the Verticality of Arts and the Horizontality of Cultures. And we believe all luxury houses would benefit from questioning themselves about what should be their artistic and cultural strategy. After the brand platform came the brand purpose. Time has come now to define what I would call the “brand’s artistic and cultural aura”.