Contemporary art and luxury have always shared a common universe. Yet today, leading luxury brands are seeking to strengthen the link between contemporary art and luxury.
Contemporary art and luxury: a historical link
Before establishing himself as a world-renowned couturier, Christian Dior was a gallery owner in the 1930s. When he founded his fashion house in 1947, he was inspired by the great artists of his time, with whom he worked. When designing his first collections, he borrowed the names of contemporary artists to name his models: Matisse, Picasso, Braque...
Many couturiers have also drawn inspiration from artists and their works to create their collections. Like Yves Saint Laurent and his famous Mondrian dress, created as a tribute to the painter.
In addition, the heads of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Cartier have always had a taste for contemporary art. For many years, these business leaders have been collecting and storing works of art acquired from the four corners of the globe. Contemporary art thus constitutes a veritable heritage for certain luxury houses.
The association between contemporary art and luxury: a real strategic operation to move upmarket.
For several years now, a number of partnerships between contemporary artists and luxury brands have been taking shape. The main interest for these brands is to give their product ranges a strong artistic, and therefore visual, dimension.
Moreover, each association between contemporary art and luxury gives the brands a singularity and a well-defined identity. A case in point is the partnership between Hermès and numerous contemporary artists for the famous carré. In fact, Hermès' traditional and historic know-how blends with the creative genius of artists. Witness the bold collaboration between painter Hiroshi Sugimoto and the luxury house. Like mobile paintings that can be worn.
The number of exhibitions organized directly by luxury brands has also increased in recent years. In 2015, for example, the Guerlain store on the Champs Élysées in Paris organized its own exhibition in parallel with FIAC. Some fifteen artists were on show, to give the store a much more artistic than commercial dimension. The message: Cartier does much more than sell, it makes art.
Contemporary art as a weapon of differentiation
Through this proliferation of collaborations, luxury houses tend to federate a veritable community of loyal followers around their brand. So, in a world where competition is proliferating, and fashion and luxury are increasingly accessible to a very wide audience, the great luxury houses are doing everything they can to preserve their image of excellence.
As a result, through their partnerships, they seek to win back and preserve a demanding, high-end clientele with the means. Given the major transformation of the fashion and luxury world since the rise of the Internet and social networks, luxury brands are redoubling their efforts to stand out and preserve their community. That's why more and more brands are taking risks, sometimes embarking on collaborations that end up flopping because they're so misunderstood by the public.
It was noted that the most successful collaborations between contemporary art and luxury were those in which the link between the artist and the brand universe was almost identical. Indeed, such an association must be coherent and sincere in the eyes of the public. Partnerships for the sake of buzz are sometimes unwise for brands.
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