Luxury Revolution: How Art Is Redefining Luxury brands
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Luxury brand-art collaborations are ubiquitous. They were a common occurrence throughout fashion history that allows both the brand and the artist to profit culturally and commercially from the frequent interchange. This practice dates as far back as 1937 when designer Elsa Schiaparelli worked with painter Salvador Dali (Blechman, 2012). Using art as a branding strategy allows luxury brands to distinguish themselves and elevate their products to a collectible status while artists themselves can gain wider recognition and new mediums to express their ideas and exhibit their works beyond museum galleries. Art has been used successfully in luxury product ads in the past to associate it with high culture and serve as a nod to consumers for having a superior taste to appreciate such representation (Messaris, 1996). The crossover between brands and artists has proliferated in the 20th century, especially in recent years. In a two-year span from 2016 to 2018, we have seen Louis Vuitton collaborate with Jeff Koons, Dior with Seven young artists, Stella McCartney with Ed Ruscha, Calvin Klein with Andy Warhol’s foundation, and Coach with Keith Haring. It is important to explore brand-art collaborations, as we live in a commodity-image system, where our core values and happiness are defined by materials. Brands are cultural forces; we buy products based on brand perception and social values that we associate with it through the images we see in ads instead of its utility and tangible state. For example, through advertising, we have come to associate diamond with everlasting love. (Jhally, 1990). People buy luxury brands because its symbolic of their prestige and exclusivity and their ability to display their wealth. The topic is more worthy of examining than ever as the rise of image-centric social platforms like Instagram and the culture of impermanent imagery and fleeting consumption have disrupted the ways brands and artists are working together to communicate their brand identity to consumers through visual images. To crack the secret to attract millennials who tend to have an appetite for novelty and are driven by emotions and personal connections, brands must embrace art and digital technologies to sell excitement and form a creative identity. Those who fail to adapt will lag behind and die out. So far, Gucci is the most digitally evolved brand; it was ranked the most influential brand on social media in 2016 (Bergman, 2017). Gucci’s success to be a brand that is in touch with its consumers and stands for freshness, self-expression, and success among millennials globally thus serves as a paradigm of how brands can use marry art and technology to fuel its brand identity and engage its consumers and aspiring consumers alike.
Gucci has been a brand that is been recognizable for many generations. Its classic sense of Italian style and excellent craftsmanship allow the brand to stand for timelessness, elegance, and quality. Consumers purchase Gucci products for social approval and to feel accomplished because they can afford it. However, under the leadership of creative director Alessandro Michele since 2015, Gucci’s Italian artistry was given a modern twist. The brand image now mixes quality with playful modernity. Its maximalist, geeky yet chic, gender-fluid collections and new theatrical versions of the traditional Gucci print brought eccentricism and rebelliousness to its identity, evoking feelings of self-respect and excitement for consumers to freely express themselves. Adding to their current line of products, Gucci’s collaborations with artists in the digital space brought fantasy to the brand and allowed it to become an icon of high class and innovation to its target consumers who are fashion conscious and socially active millennials with middle to high income. (Danziger, 2017). Millennials are digital natives or the first generation that grew up with phones and computers and they make up 55% of Gucci’s sales (Tyler, 2018). I examined Gucci’s visual projects such #TFWGucci, Gucci Hallucination, and #GucciGram to explore how these artistic and technological choices allow Gucci to communicate its values to its consumers, transform its consumers relationship with the brand, and in what specific ways can brand and art help each other thrive.
In 2017, Gucci took a risky marketing attempt and tapped into the internet trend of memes and our obsession with social media in their #TFWGucci campaign to position itself as an avant-garde brand for millennials. They invited different creatives and artists, whom Michele discovered on Instagram, to redesign popular meme formats to advertise their new watches. The memes were the “result of a two-way or three-way collaboration” between artists (Gucci). As platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat transform the way a person creates and shares content, memes or pictures with a few words are becoming primary tools for storytelling. Memes tap into our collective psyche of feelings we can’t express with words. They are random, weird, unexpected and can easily be shared a million times per day as we relate to what is being shared (Eveleth, 2014). One of the most popular of the series is the “Gucci” Starter Pack by Sebastian Tribbie Matheson. The starter pack meme format consists of a group of photos and objects that together embody a certain stereotypical style or persona. In this adapted version, the clustered images include Gucci’s recent trademarks, like embroidery, patches, and ’70s glasses. Another by William Ndatila juxtaposes Gucci’s heritage with a reaction meme, one would repost to express their feelings. The meme contains a portrait of Eleonora that was painted by Italian Renaissance painter Agnolo Bronzino in 1560 to represent one’s reaction to “When he buys you flowers instead of a Gucci watch.” The sloppy photo manipulation of memes in the campaign was purposely done to make them feel authentic and native to the internet culture. Nevertheless, meme culture is difficult to exploit as it is fast moving and have a short shelf life. Web-goers are always shifting to newer, funnier memes. To no surprise, the Gucci memes received mixed reviews. Critics are worried about the corporate appropriation of subculture. Some have taken to Twitter to suggest that Gucci’s meme might target the wrong demographic as most young people can’t afford the brand. One user posted on Twitter, “Gucci is appropriating our sacred internet culture by capitalizing off of memes. What a time to be alive ™.” One of the memes were created to mock Gucci for targeting the wrong demographic was captioned, “when ur pandering to internet culture to create buzz but it doesn’t result in sales bc none of them can actually afford ur stuff.” Matheson fired back to defend his involvement with the campaign and Gucci’s decision to take inspiration from the explore page, as he posted the parody meme and states, “THE INTERNET IS SALTY ABOUT #tfwGucci sorry not SORRY, it was GENIUS marketing and a lot of people can afford an 800 dollar watch last time I checked” (Syfret, 2017). In a sense, the concern about brands taking content from youth culture is valid as fashion giants were under fire for taking designs from independent artists without giving them credit. Brands’ attempt to mimic the internet culture can also feel inauthentic. However, Gucci is not ripping off these artists; they are paying them and made sure they were recognized and celebrated. Each post contains a lengthy bio of the artist with details of their work, inspiration, and goals. Though it may not seek to make sense why Gucci is marketing to millennials who can’t afford the brand, it is reasonable. It is important for Gucci to attract and build awareness around the brand’s DNA to younger demographics who are not necessarily purchasing its products yet because they are the future generation of consumers whose spending power will increase with age. Despite those criticisms and concerns, the campaign resonated with their audience and had high engagement rates; its 30 meme posts reached over 120 million people, receiving 2 million likes and 21,000 comments (Connolly,2017). The relatable memes prompted reactions and feelings from consumers, building a connection between people and the brand. As a result of the campaign, artists were able to leverage their careers. Matheson has attracted six to eight new clients since the campaign went public (DeVito, 2017). Thus, the meme campaign demonstrates Gucci’s ability to adapt its vision to the world that it’s a part of, blending its identity with self-awareness.
Following the #TFWGucci memes, Gucci rolled out ‘Gucci Hallucination’ to give its heritage a refreshing, progressive look while maintaining a luxury edge. The Gucci Hallucination campaign for their Spring Summer 2018 collection was fully digitally painted by Spanish artist Ignasi Montreal. Using the Gucci app, viewers can animate Montreal’s augmented reality scannable ads on magazines, online or at the Gucci stores and murals around the world. Gucci’s decision to pair their products with Montreal’s fantastical and surreal paintings that are quirky recreations of recognizable artworks catered to its target and prospective customers who desire to signal status. Montreal mixed fine art with present times. One painting of the series as adapted from Ophelia in 1852 by John Everett Millais — a woman floating in the water. Another was inspired by Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights or a painting of the creation of the world, mimicking its hypnotic details and excess. Recognizable artworks represent masterpieces can be easily identified by all regardless of their interest in art. They serve as a status symbol because they are sold at higher prices than less recognizable ones. The surrealist style of Montreal’s paintings that combines highly realistic style and reality-defying content further enhanced the elite connotations of the campaign. Research has found that ads are highly successful evocations of dreamlike lack of logic that is often associated with surrealisms tended to get higher ratings on scales dealing with status and cultivation (Messaris, 1996). Being the “photo-free, first fully digitally painted campaign,” Gucci Hallucination gave Gucci freshness and differentiates it from other brands because in this digital age, “everyone can take a photograph” and Instagram perpetuates the idea that ‘everyone’s a photographer’ (Solomatina, 2018). Additionally, through the softness and intimate, handmade aesthetic of illustrations, Montreal’s paintings conveyed feelings about the clothes and not just show what they look like: they “heighten the beauty, the drama and the mood of the garments in a way photography — without hundreds of hours on Photoshop — cannot” (Fury, 2016). By scanning the ad, consumers can animate the subtle movements of Ophelia’s hair in the water and see a dragonfly buzzing. This augmented reality feature of the campaign acts as an interactive art gallery on consumers mobile devices and connects the digital aspect of Gucci with its in-store experience. It brought an explorative aspect to it and enabled consumers to build a stronger connection and memory with Gucci. The animations extended the ideas in the painting and turn 2D paintings into a moving 3D world; they allow consumers to see that Gucci’s products are not only expensive and beautiful, but there are also stories behind them.
Another creative project that Gucci launched to stand out and reinforce its image as a balancing act between its traditional heritage and the contemporary and a brand that values creative freedom is its Instagram project #GucciGram. For this project, Michele commissioned 31 online, multimedia artists and illustrators from around the world with varying fame that he again discovered on Instagram to reinterpret the brand’s newest prints, GG Blooms and Caleido. Michele’s inspiration for the project came from the idea that “creativity is often born and finds its voice in digital media, a vital source of visual culture.” The art pieces were tagged and posted on the artists personal Instagram and Gucci’s main account under the hashtag #GucciGram. While artists had total creative freedom and their own way of interpreting Gucci’s prints, the remix of the old and new that is embodied in the floral print and geometric motif that is overlaid on the classic GG monogram is present in all their artworks. Artists remixed history and highly recognizable 19th-century paintings with digital art, illustrations, cartoon characters, and references to pop culture, resulting in a campaign that is “entertaining, provocative, and amusing”. Lyle Reimer’s #GucciGram is reminiscent of the 1940s high street fashion. The makeup artist restyled the Gucci bag into a tilt hat. At the same time, his photo is ever looking forward because it appears to be a selfie, speaking to our current obsession with selfies and how social media have allowed greater freedom for self-expression. The Most Famous Artist updated and repurposed Haye’s 19th century “American Gothic” painting. He painted the Gucci print over the clothes of the farmer and the daughter’s clothes, confusing the era and putting the present in touch with the past to show how Gucci is timeless. It doesn’t matter who or when they wear Gucci; they will always look sophisticated and fresh. Copy Lab incorporated the GG Bloom leather tote over the women who is locked in an embrace with her lover, transporting the Renaissance painting by Hayes to the present. Once more, through #Guccigram’s remix of paintings and illustration, Gucci was able to “capture the artisanal spirit of the collection” and stand out among the saturation of hyper-airbrushed and unreal perfection fashion photography of other brands campaigns. In turn, by collaborating with Gucci, artists have the chance to establish themselves as brands. Helen Downie, known as Unskilled worker has amassed almost a quarter million followers after working with Gucci. (Fury, 2016).
The #GucciGram online art initiative has even evolved to include a series of all Asian artists to remix its newest prints, Tian, which means sky or heaven in Chinese. The dreamlike and surreal Tian motif which contains whimsical combinations of flowers and birds over the classic Gucci print was “inspired by Chinese landscapes depicted on 18th-century tapestries and screens” (Gucci). While this version of #GucciGram, like the first, further extended Gucci’s concept of harmony between tradition and progression with pieces like the one by Chinese artist Xu WenKai who rendered the Tian print with what appears to be a code or data on a computer, Michele’s decision to incorporate Chinese motifs into its brand image and partner with all Asian artists was simultaneously a strategic move to appeal to their Asian millennial consumers. The campaign represented artists from many Asian countries including Korea, Japan, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam and their pieces were accompanied with detailed explanation both English and artist’s own language (Manning, 2016). In Chinese artist, Cao Fei’s piece, a pair of slippers with the Tian inspired print is placed in a run-down urban landscape of industrialized China. Hong Kong-based artist Ton Mak placed her flapjack doodles wearing the print on the streets of Hong Kong. On the other hand, photographer Yoshito Hasaka overlayed the Gucci print over the iconic Shibuya 109 building in Tokyo. Having artists from their own countries represented in its campaign and being able to see familiar landscapes and landmarks helped Asian consumers resonate with the campaign and feel that they are part of the brand. Today, Chinese millennials customers make up Gucci’s fastest-growing market and the Asia-Pacific region alone accounts for more than a third of Gucci’s annual revenue (Lewis, 2018). In a way, by using Instagram and hashtags to find artists for the #GucciGram, Michele gave Gucci fans an opportunity to become a part of the brand. Thai illustrator Phannapast Thaychamethakool’s obsession with Gucci’s new romantic aesthetic led her to paint her animals dressed up in them and post them to “Instagram with the Gucci hashtag but never thought it would land [her] the opportunity to work with” on this #GucciGram Tian project (Pholdhampalit, 2018). At large, the #GucciGram initiative was a success to bring novelty to Gucci’s history and highlight the value that the brand places on diversity and inclusion.
Looking into the future, Gucci continues to move forward and enforce its brand image as forward-looking as they are currently working with artists to create interactive features on its mobile apps. Gucci is the first brand to create a custom Animoji that is available on its app. Animoji is a feature of the iPhone X powered by its recognition technology that allows users to record clips of an emoji emulating one’s own voice and expressions and send them via iMessage. Inspired by the paintings of Unskilled Worker and Michele’s own dogs, Gucci created a dog Animoji to celebrate the Chinese the year of the dog. (McGarrigle, 2018). Gucci’s release of the Animoji is yet another disruptive move, for its brand to become a part of its consumers’ personal communication. Additionally, on its app, one can have a more personal relationship with the brand with access to mobile and desktop wallpapers by its commissioned artists and a photo booth where you can put digitally illustrated stickers on your pictures.
The boundaries between art and brand are blurred and the proliferation of partnerships between the two industry have made them become increasingly intertwined. Brands are inherently visual as brand perception is formulated through art while artists themselves are eager to establish themselves as brands. The Gucci campaigns such as #TFWGucci, Gucci Hallucination and #GucciGram that involves images, 3D presentation and interactive media demonstrated the power of images and the leveraging of different digital channels to sell its products and expand its influence through communicating its heritage and key values. Moreover, Gucci’s choice to use digital channels like Instagram to discover artists and tell the story behind the campaigns illustrate how technology has transformed our visual culture. Technology changed how we interact with images and how we consume art. Platforms like Instagram challenges the notion of gallery and museums as exhibition spaces and made culture accessible anywhere and anytime, giving us immediate and intimate access to artists around the world who post their work as soon as it is created. Though consumers who are consuming these images online may not actually buy products from Gucci right away, they are at least engaging with it. Luxury brands will have to pay close attention and learn from Gucci to combine its traditional brand image with innovative technologies in their product design, distribution channels, and store concepts to not only stand out and be recognizable but also to create meaningful connections.
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