Myth, Magic and Machination - Undergraduate Capstone Thesis Project

Myth, Magic & Machination BEHIND LUXURY STRATEGY IN FASHION

MILICA KOVAČEVIĆ

SLUGS

“Footprints”, Louis Vuitton 2020 Men’s campaign, shot by Viviane Sassen

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Preface

“Go the extra mile, it’s never too crowded there.”

-Unknown

This book is my ode to the journey that was the last four years in Fashion Communications at Ryerson. Although not quite where I thought I was going to land at the tail end of the program, the last four years have made me realize my own affinity and aptitude for advertising, brand strategy and strategic visual communications. This is why I wanted this project to encompass all of those aspects in some shape or form. Over the last eight months, I committed to understanding the psychology and strategy behind successful fashion brands, which is what prompted my passion for branding and advertising four years ago. However, in order to take things a step further, I was compelled to apply my learnings from luxury fashion houses into crafting brand stories for a diverse set of consumer products. The idea behind this was to re-imagine mundane, every-day products as brands that would embody the luxury ethos and exemplify it through branding, editorial, sustainability and the overall narrative and business idea. Although the learnings from a creative and technical standpoint through this project were significant, my biggest take away was my own ability to adapt and pivot based on ever-changing circumstances, as well as my own willingness to push forward to deliver design excellence even against time and scheduling constraints.

I would like to thank my partner Masroor Ansari and my father Neno Kovačević, for unconditionally supporting me every step of the way through this journey. I would also like to thank my mentor and role model, professor Beatriz Juarez for coaching me and encouraging me to strive for design excellence over the last two years.

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5 Introduction 7 9 10 12

Defining Luxury In Fashion What is Luxury Strategy

Principles of Luxury Strategy Framework

15 Principle 1: Heritage, Culture & Unique Know-How 18 20 23

The What, Why and How The Case Study

The Cross-Industry Application Case Study

29 Principle 2: Tightly Defined Customer Pool & Exclusionary Tactics 31 35 39

The What, Why and How The Case Study

The Cross-Industry Application Case Study

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Contents 47 Principle 3: Myth, Mystery, Magic, Art & Product Placement 49 53 55

The What, Why and How The Case Study

The Cross-Industry Application Case Study

63 Principle 4: Limited Quantities & Manufactured Scarcity 65 68 69

The What, Why and How The Case Study

The Cross-Industry Application Case Study

77 Conclusion 78 79 81

Findings Final Thoughts References

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Hierarchy. As defined by the Oxford dictionary, hierarchy (plural hierarchies) is a [countable, uncountable] system, especially in a society or an organization, in which people are organized into different levels of importance from highest to lowest. From the beginning of time, societies have been stratified based on different criteria relevant to their beliefs and cultural systems, and distinguished hierarchies awarded different groups various types of privileges that other groups within that society may not have enjoyed.

Over time, hierarchy has evolved to become a cornerstone of capitalist societies. Today, although some would hardly admit, our societies are stratified based on wealth and access to resources and capital. This type of hierarchy and stratification has provided the most fertile ground for industries to create products targeting specific demographic segments based on where they land in the societal hierarchical structure, while at the same time purposefully excluding others who don’t belong to their target demographic.

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INTRODUCTION

Coach “Ski Collection” 2021, featuring social media creators, shot by Zackery Michael

One of these industries has, of course, been fashion. The fashion industry, being one of the oldest industries in the world, has catered to different tastes since the dawn of time, but not only that fashion has catered to different levels of wealth access, as well. To do this, fashion uses semiotics, the notion of communication through signs and symbols, to distinguish products and brands which cater to mass market, masstige, prestige and luxury. While most people conventionally believe that products aimed at these stratified market segments differ mainly in terms of quality, make and design, in fact an important, and potentially even more prevalent differentiating factor today would be their brand identity and marketing strategy.

This book aims to pull back the curtain on the ways in which semiotics are used across the luxury fashion sector, in order to dissect the strategies and tactics used by luxury fashion brands that help establish and maintain their hierarchy in the fashion industry. This will include an examination of the branding, packaging and advertising tactics used by luxury brands and the ways in which these intersect with relatively novel notions of inclusivity and sustainability in fashion. The idea is to understand how fashion brands across the luxury landscape are creating, re-fashioning, and re-asserting their identity through various visual cues and how consumers perceive and receive these messages with the ultimate goal of consuming more products. My practical approach will be centered around editorial photography and print in digital advertising in the form of “Haute Parfumie”, 2022 static image posters. My aim is to take everyday products Celine’s first Perfumerie that most people overlook as ordinary and apply luxury campaign starring Lisa from Black Pink, marketing tactics to make them appear more desirable shot by Hedi Slimane and luxury adjacent. The idea here is to demonstrate how the actual value behind a product, may be less driven by its inherent qualities such as materials or make, and is rather driven by elaborate brand marketing narratives that create the perception of an extraordinary product.

DEFINING LUXURY IN FASHION In order to delve deeper into the research, I want to set the stage by defining what luxury in fashion is and some of the major players whose brand strategies I will be analyzing.

As Kapferer and Sebastien say “Luxury is in fashion, and fashion is for luxury.” (2017). Since the dawn of time luxury fashion has been distinguishable across many different cultures and eras. Whether through ornamental headwear signifying high status in society, or fine or culturally significant materials used to produce garments and accessories or even colours specifically

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dedicated to the top strata in a given society, the examples of luxury fashion go far beyond what we traditionally associate it with today.

According to Kapferer and Sebastien there are six critical strategic criteria that help define a luxury brand: 1.

Offering a very high-quality indulgent product or experience that is made to last

2.

Offering said product or experience at a price that by far exceeds its value

3.

A luxury brand needs to have its identity associated with a specific culture, its heritage within that culture and a special or extraordinary know-how

4.

The distribution of products or experiences being sold needs to be limited and tightly controlled

5.

The unique value proposition of a luxury brand needs to involve some type of customized and personalized customer care services

6.

Ultimately, a luxury brand needs to become a social marker imbuing an air of privilege and uniqueness onto the owner or consumer of its goods and experiences

Although it’s a tale as old as time, today we tend to associate luxury fashion with high quality and high price, and more frequently than not, fine or rare materials. However, in reality luxury fashion has become an industry within an industry and chief brand officers and CMOs have found a plethora of ways to further stratify luxury by using additional descriptors such as ‘true luxury’, ‘ultra-premium’, ‘opuluxe’, ‘casual luxury’, ‘accessible luxury’, etc. (Kapferer et Sebastien, 2017).

Therefore, while the understanding of what luxury in fashion really is, is becoming blurrier and blurrier, the one thing that industry insiders as well as outsiders can agree on is that luxury effectively entails some sort of ‘discrimination’, by manner of which the products that count as luxury are unattainble for most consumers, making them hyper desirable and only attainable by those who not only can afford them, but those who can physically access them and those who can understand or appreciate their value.

In the world built around connectivity, internet, online presence and ecommerce, this purposeful ‘discrimination’ isn’t built only on limiting the number of units one can purchase in a store, or pre-qualifying clients for special launches; what distinguishes luxury fashion today is a result of carefully crafted brand narratives and marketing techniques. This in fact leads us into the next subsection of this chapter which aims to define luxury strategy.

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INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS LUXURY STRATEGY “The essence of luxury, therefore, is the symbolic desire to belong to a superior class, which everyone will have chosen according to their dreams, because anything that can be a social signifier can become a luxury.”

Kapferer and Sebastien 2017

It has already been established that the luxury fashion industry employs certain strategies which all aim to hierarchically separate and stratify luxury fashion brands and products from the rest of the industry and appeal to the certain type of consumer.

While historically this consumer would’ve been the nobility, ruling class or very well-off merchant class, today even the consumers of luxury have diversified and stratified across the luxury fashion landscape. In the present times we know these consumers as old-money, nouveau-riche, collectors, resellers, fashionistas, influencers and more. These consumers aim to satisfy their desire to be unique, be fashion-forward and or showcase the amount of wealth, education or access they have through their informed and highly-curated fashion choices. In essence, these are the attitudes that luxury fashion brand strategists and CMOs want to tap into. Luxury companies build brand strategies in order to effectively continue finding new ways to distinguish themselves from the rest of the fashion industry, as both their product design and luxury marketing techniques keep being adopted by other stata of fashion brands, namely masstige and mass market fashion. And while certainly, fashion and marketing trends trickle downwards and are copied and recycled as they reach the mass consumer market, according to Kapferer and Sebastien in their book “The Luxury Strategy: Break the rules of marketing to build luxury brands” (2017), there are some inalienable tactics that luxury brands can keep tapping into; repackaging and repurposing them in order to continually distinguish themselves and remain relevant.

PRINCIPLES OF LUXURY STRATEGY Through the insight imparted on me by Kapferer and Sebastien’s “The Luxury Strategy”, one of the most critical pieces of research for this thesis project have been the ‘anti-laws of marketing’ that have been explored and summarized in their work (2017).

“Play It Like Hermès” FW 2018, shot by Jack Davidson

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To fully grasp the idea around the anti-laws of marketing, we need to understand that traditional marketing techniques simply can’t be used in the context of luxury fashion. This is mainly due to the fact that luxury doesn’t aim to please most people, proliferate, increase market share and achieve economies of scale, rather it aims to remain exclusive, elusive, aspirational and inspirational, which means that it will in fact need to alienate the majority of the consumers through its positioning and strategy. While traditional marketing techniques are unsuitable for luxury brands as they aim to achieve a different set of goals, we also need to consider that using traditional marketing techniques in this context would effectively harm the status and reputation of a luxury fashion brand (Kapferer et Sebastien, 2017). This is, in part, why the laws of marketing, as part of luxury strategy, are referred to by Kapferer and Sebastien as ‘anti-laws of marketing’.

“The Luxury Strategy” presents a blueprint of 24 management strategies which are defined as the ‘anti-laws of marketing’ and which help form the basis of luxury strategy in fashion.

Majority of these strategies have been established and used by some of the most significant brands in the luxury fashion space, such as Hermes, Chanel, Cartier as well as brands across other luxury industries such as auto and luxury spirits.

Some of these 24 principles include luxury not being comparative but superlative, emphasis on craftsmanship and natural variations and product flaws that enhance their value, not designing based on consumer wishes and desires, keeping non-enthusiasts out and not responding to rising demand.

Other principles included in the anti-laws of marketing touch on creating deliberate obstacles to attaining the product, being deliberately selective between communicating to brand clients versus shoppers, the role of advertising should not be to sell products, rather to evoke a feeling of desire. While there

were many more principles discussed in the book, all important in different ways to various types of brands and industries, when considering my own research framework I decided to distill the research and focus on four principles that stood out to me as those which are utilized the most by the luxury fashion industry.

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“Play It Like Hèrmes” FW 2018, shot by Jack Davidson

INTRODUCTION

Business of Fashion Transforming Luxury Episode 2: What Defines a Luxury Product Today?

Burberry Prorsum SS 2000 campaign featuring Kate Moss, shot by Mario Testino

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RESEARCH FRAMEWORK While “The Luxury Strategy” lists 24 principles as part of the thesis in order to form a comprehensive research framework for this thesis project, I decided to explore four principles that I thought were very impactful and reflected what I have frequently seen being used in the context of luxury fashion.

These four principles, as derived from the ‘anti-laws of marketing’ include: 1.

A luxury brand needs to have its identity associated with a specific culture, its heritage within that culture or a special or extraordinary know-how and skill.

2.

Luxury strategy is based on tightly defining the client pool and treating clients with special care versus those that simply shop the brand; this may manifest itself through segregating client types, being exclusionary and going against the push for democratization in fashion.

3.

Luxury branding must embody: myth, mystery, magic, racing, highly people-centric and feature private experiences, thoughtful product placement, and art.

4.

Luxury strategy hinges upon its distribution of products or experiences being in a limited and tightly controlled capacity, in order to manufacture the notion of scarcity.

Each of these four principles will be explored in a separate chapter with an aim to explain the scope of the principle, why it exists and how it is implemented. Additionally, I will conduct a case study of a luxury fashion brand that has implemented the principle in question and will showcase some broader takeaways from the case study example. Lastly, in order to demonstrate the universality of the potential applications of the four principles, I will create a cross-industry case study in which ordinary everyday items will be transformed into luxury or luxury adjacent brands in their respective categories.

Ultimately, the goal with this practical application is to demonstrate that the luxury strategy is not only applicable to limited industries, but that its application is feasible across almost any industry no matter the product. Through this practical approach I aim to show that luxury strategy is a formula in which almost any variable can be substituted and repackaged in order to create the desired result.

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INTRODUCTION

“About Love” 2021 campaign for Tiffany & Co., featuring Beyonce and Jay Z, shot by Mason Poole

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The term “luxury” comes from the Latin “luxus”, which means “soft or extravagant living, sumptuousness, opulence”, and shares a root with the term “luxuria”, which means “excess, lasciviousness, negative self-indulgence”.

Brun et Castelli, “The nature of Luxury: A Consumer Perspective”, 2013

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Principle 1

PRINCIPLE 1

THE WHAT, WHY AND HOW Heritage, culture or unique know-how are all inherent strategies that luxury fashion brands build their platforms and brand identity on. In the case of many legacy European luxury maisons all three of these may be present at the same time, or at least a combination of two, however, this is not to say that certain luxury brands may have built their platform on only one of these principles very successfully and through that one are on their path to building up one of the other two.

Heritage, culture and know-how, in the context of top-tier luxury brands, are frequently associated with nationality and will have different expressions and different ways of channeling these strategies based on their national origin. While globalization and travel has made the world resemble one global village, where nothing is too far or too unattainable for those with means, luxury houses remain staunchly devoted to their roots as a way of identifying themselves with certain cultural values and artistic or industrial prowess.

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PRINCIPLE 1 An example of heritage and craftsmanship could be seen through Louis Vuitton’s distinctly French heritage based on fine leather luggage craftsmanship, which originated through Louis Vuitton’s role as the personal box-maker and packer for Napoleon’s wife, once Napoleon assumed the title of Emperor of France in 1852. This is the type of heritage story a luxury fashion brand holds onto as their founder actually played a small part in establishing France into the country it is today.

Another example of heritage and unique know-how would be the Italian luxury brand Bottega Venetta, which rose to prominence through honing in on the leather weaving skill passed on by Italian leather artisans for generations called the ‘intrecciato’. Today ‘intrecciato’ is an inalienable part of Bottega’s identity and its products are never adorned with the brand name or logo, as this technique is that recognizable that it communicates brand identity by itself. The brand, founded by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro in 1966, started off with the motto “When your own initials are enough,” meaning that craftsmanship and unique knowhow were key in building the heritage of the brand we know today.An example of heritage and craftsmanship could be seen through Louis Vuitton’s distinctly French heritage based Bottega Veneta, Lunar New Year fashion on fine leather luggage craftsmanship, show at The Great Wall of China February 2022, courtesy of Bottega Veneta which originated through Louis Vuitton’s role as the personal box-maker and packer for Napoleon’s wife, once Napoleon assumed the title of Emperor of France in 1852. This is the type of heritage story a luxury fashion brand holds onto as their founder actually played a small part in establishing France into the country it is today.

Another example of heritage and unique know-how would be the Italian luxury brand Bottega Venetta, which rose to prominence through honing in on the leather weaving skill passed on

by Italian leather artisans for generations called the ‘intrecciato’. Today ‘intrecciato’ is an inalienable part of Bottega’s identity and its products are never adorned with the brand name or logo, as this technique is that recognizable that it communicates brand identity by itself. The brand, founded by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro in 1966, started off with the motto “When your own initials are enough,” meaning that craftsmanship and unique know-how were going to be the focus in order to build the heritage of the brand we know today.

Looking at unique know-how, it is also imperative to consider technology, as the luxury fashion landscape is diversifying and unique skills don’t have to exclusively be tied to heritage and the past, but also forward thinking and innovative perspectives that tie into cultural aspects. As Kapferer and

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Sebastien mention “The link with tradition, or at least with traditional values, is a necessary but not a sufficient condition of luxury,” meaning that luxury also needs to be creative and technological. In luxury, technology contributes to creating a separate world, beyond all constraints. It creates both objective rarity through the high price that it legitimizes, and also a qualitative rarity by blending technology with art, artisanship, innovative production, experiential processes or meaningful sustainability alternatives.

An example of a luxury fashion brand that leans heavily into technology would be Stella McCartney. Brought into the world of fashion through her father, Paul McCartney’s, connection with music, The Beatles and art and British culture, one can say that Stella McCartney’s brand has an association with a certain type of heritage. The Beatles, and Paul McCartney by extension, were rule breakers, progressives and activists, apart from being artists, so it is this heritage that the Stella McCartney’s brand was built on. However, her brand expanded its platform to include a crucial focus on sustainability and becoming a pioneer in luxury fashion when it comes to developing sustainable vegan leather alternatives, biodegradable fabrications and trying to incorporate circular design. Stella McCartney is now a brand that champions sustainability in the luxury fashion space and has built its brand identity and brand strategy on the basis of progressive technological innovation.

THE CASE STUDY HERMÈS Hermès is a top-shelf example of a brand that operates at the intersection of all three criteria: heritage, culture and unique know-how or craftsmanship.

HERITAGE: EQUESTRIANISM AND LEATHER GOODS The company was founded in Paris, in 1837 as a harness workshop

by Thierry Hermès. The initial idea for the company was to cater to European noblemen by crafting saddles, bridles and other riding gear (Roll, 2020). Originally, his intent was to serve the needs of European noblemen by providing saddles, bridles and other leather riding gear (Roll, 2020). Equestrianism, after all, was, and continues to be a noble and extremely expensive sport for those who dare to endeavor, which has remained a fact for the last 200 years.

Over time and generations, the company’s offering began to slowly build on the horse riding gear and expand into equestrian accessories. In 1900, Hermès came out with the “Haut à Courroies” bag, meant for riders to carry their saddles in it (Roll, 2020). In 1918, the company made its first leather golf jacket with a zipper for the Prince of Wales, which became instantly sought after and beginning with 1922, Hèrmes leather handbags became an official part of the brand’s portfolio (Roll, 2020). The brand’s travel bags introduced in 1925 were a global success. In the 1930s, Hermès introduced products that have now entered the annals of fashion as icons – the leather

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PRINCIPLE 1

Sac à dépêches (renamed as the “Kelly bag” after Grace Kelly) in 1935 and the Hermès carrés (scarves) in 1937 (Roll, 2020). In 1949, the first Hermès silk tie and the first perfume ‘Eau d’ Hermès’ were introduced (Roll, 2020).

Accounting for 50% of sales, leather goods and saddlery still make up the backbone of the company (White, 2017).

The company’s iconic duc-carriagewith-horse logo and signature orange boxes were introduced in the 1950s.

In the 1970s, the company established a watch subsidiary La Montre Hermès in Bienne, Switzerland.

The company acquired tableware manufacturers like Puiforcat, Saint Louis and Perigord in the 1980s and consolidated its position in these segments of the luxury market.

CULTURE: LE PRESTIGE DE LA MODE FRANÇAISE The group is deeply attached to its French identity: it is not simply “Hermès”, but “Hermès Paris” (White, 2017).

The majority of its products are still manufactured in France, with 4,300 craftspeople and 61.4% of its workforce located within the country (White, 2017).

Maintaining a large part of their manufacturing in France is a key element of Hermès strategy (White, 2017). This contrasts with a number of companies in the luxury sector that have looked overseas in a search for short-term profits, a phenomenon described by Dana Thomas in her book, Deluxe : How Luxury Lost Its Lustre (White, 2017).

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CRAFTSMANSHIP: “WE DON’T HAVE A POLICY OF IMAGE, WE HAVE A POLICY OF PRODUCT”.

According to current Hermès CEO, Axel Dumas, the main strength of the brand is their passion for craftsmanship (Roll, 2020). The Hermès brand ethos centers on notions of product “quality” and “refinement”, and based on these principles the ideas of mass production, manufacturing lines and offshoring became antithetical to the brand’s values from the very inception (Roll, 2020). Every single piece that comes out of an Hermès workshop inherently reflects the work and expertise of the artisan that dedicated their time and craft to achieving the highest level of quality and attention to detail while producing the item (Roll, 2020). In a bid to demonstrate the unequivocal commitment to quality and refinement, the Creative Director Pierre-Alexis Dumas signs off on every single Hermès product before it leaves the workshop (Roll, 2020).

All Hermès products are made almost entirely in France in workshops (Ateliers Hermès), which places a strong emphasis on quality, while each product is entirely manufactured by hand by only one craftsman, speaking to the brand’s commitment to craftsmanship and uniqueness of its products (Roll, 2020).

“I think Hermès objects are desirable because they reconnect people to their humanity… Our customer feels the presence of the person who crafted the object, while at the same time the object brings him back to his own sensitivity, because it gives him pleasure through his senses”.

– Pierre-Alexis Dumas, Hermès Creative Director

This is ultimately how luxury brand’s hone in on the three key aspects of heritage, culture and unique knowhow in order to build their brand identity and strategy which sets them apart in the marketplace.

Hermes Noir Togo Birkin bag, courtesy of Hermes.com 2022

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PRINCIPLE 1

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THE CROSS-INDUSTRY CASE STUDY PRODUCT: PEA MILK For this cross-industry application study I chose to create a milk alternative, and wanted to focus on an innovative yet, fairly niche legume-based pea milk. Currently there are only a few brands dabbling in this space mainly Ripple, Bolthouse, Sproud and Veggemo, which are milk, milk-alternative or beverage producers. These brands position pea milk as another vegan milk alternative, with very little differentiation. However, what makes pea milk so attractive to non-dairy consumers, is that it is very protein rich, which is something that many health-conscious, as well as vegetarian and vegan consumers prioritize and pay attention to. Pea milk is also a more sustainable option compared to conventional dairy with significantly less of a carbon and water footprint on the environment. This is why the packaging and the bottle in this case will be reusable and recyclable, made of aluminum, and will justify the premium price. To optimize the sustainability aspect, this type of packaging can also have a collectable service associated with it, similar to glass milk bottle collection, or potentially a refillable solution.

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PRINCIPLE 1 BRANDING With the branding for the pea protein beverage or ‘P-Mylk’ the idea was to create a clean minimal look with simplified branding that communicates ‘performance’ and ‘innovation’. The intention is to communicate ‘unique know-how’ through innovation and a futuristic or future-oriented approach to the age-old beverage that is milk.

What is really unique about P-Mylk, is that it is branded as a high-performing, plant-based milk alternative, and when stacked against other nut-milk varieties that are more prominently represented on the market, it is geared towards a much more elevated and niche market. Originally when looking at the inspiration for branding I automatically went towards futuristic and advanced ‘space-like’ references. I wanted this to be ‘the Tesla’ of milk alternatives, to showcase innovation and cutting-edge technology.

The colours were also derived from peas as the ingredient and space elements used as the inspiration. The key was to achieve a strong contrast colour-wise.

Type-face wise I also went for a futuristic logo font, which was accompanied by Roc Grotesk as the copy typeface. Roc has an extended, rounded yet masculine quality about it, with short ascenders and descenders, making the pairing feel mutually complementary.

PRIMARY COLOUR PALETTE

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 100

C:77 M:33 Y: 74 K: 19

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 0

C:47 M:34 Y: 31 K: 1

SECONDARY COLOUR PALETTE

C:100 M:93 Y: 41 K: 47

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C:74 M:66 Y: 29 K: 9

C:31 M:16 Y: 10 K: 0

C:12 M:31 Y: 61 K: 0

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PRINCIPLE 1

Logo variations were inspired by the simplified form of a pea, with concentric circles embodying the high-performance, ‘cellular-level’, advanced connotations. I also wanted to insert a sense of movement to the logo and thus the irregularly-spaced breaks in the circle mimic movement and the idea of performance and evolution. They also work to simulate the ‘twisting’ motion when the client is taking the bottle cap on or off.

When looking at the style of packaging it was evident from the beginning that I wanted to go for a white coloured and minimalistically designed bottle. I did not want any chrome detailing, and wanted to hone in on stark white and black contrast, as it associated the product with space, as well as with the colour of milk itself, which is the initial point of reference for most consumers.

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Above you will see some of the typeface options I was weighing against the decorative logo typeface. This is followed by the main logo design, and then at the bottom there are multiple versions of the logo and the wordmark mocked up on the bottle which I chose to be the packaging.

PRINCIPLE 1

“Luxury objects should be recognisable, stimulate an emotional consumer response, and become incorporated into the customer’s lifestyle.”

Brun et Castelli, “The nature of Luxury: A Consumer Perspective”, 2013

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Principle 2

PRINCIPLE 2

THE WHAT, WHY AND HOW In the context of traditional fashion marketing, brands are usually poised to compete over customers and market share by poaching each other’s clients and ‘one upping’ each other in order to ultimately increase sales at the expense of competitors. This conventional marketing strategy relies on brands appealing to a large number of different demographics, not being seen as exclusive or too unique and niche.

On the other hand, luxury fashion brands thrive on exclusivity, even exclusionary behavior to an extent and niche appeal. Trying to make a luxury brand appeal to non-customers actually dilutes the brand in the eyes of the clients, and inherently makes the brand lose its air of uniqueness and exclusivity.

The brand ceases to be aspirational and special if it becomes widely accessible and sought after.

The idea here is to preserve the barriers to accessibility through either continually increased prices, manufactured lack of supply or quiet marketing focused on ‘if-you-know-you-know’ culture.

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“Modern capital is rooted in FOMO and being in the know: ability to decode subtle brand signals and own limited edition objects. ” Ana Andjelic, “The Business of Aspiration”, 2021

Chanel FW 2018, shot by Stefan Beckman

An example of a well executed strategy of a tightly defined target market would be Céline under the creative direction of Phoebe Philo from 2008 until 2018. Phoebe Philo took over as creative director of Céline in 2008 from Michael Kors. With a sexualized and youth driven view of femininity and female sexuality, which was on par with Tom Ford’s direction with Gucci of the same era, Phoebe Philo decidedly entered Céline in order to turn the male gaze on its head.

This meant that Céline’s values changed; all of a sudden values associated with feminism, ugly-chic, comfort over looks, surrealist and abstract aesthetics, female leadership and ‘boss babe’ attitudes became the ethos of Céline.

Advertisements started featuring older women such as the iconic 80-yearold Joan Didion, showcasing the appreciation of female wisdom, experience and anti-ageism. This spoke heavily to many women who related these values and who cultishly supported the brand for the ten years that it was under Philo’s helm. While the brand alienated prior clients, its new clientele feverishly awaited every new collection and prided itself on understanding those IYKYK references in Céline’s collections.

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PRINCIPLE 2

A part of the exclusionary tactics used to create a luxury fashion brand is also to deliberately communicate the exclusion of certain market segments through branding and advertising. In many ways, having a strong message and identity prequalifies the clients, and only those that can relate to the brand’s values become attached to the brand itself. The idea is to create a niche, a community which passionately resonates with the brand’s value proposition and which appreciates that not everyone can or wants to be a part of this club. Brands do in fact sometimes prefer to alienate certain segments of the market as it gives them clout in the market segments that matter to them.

Usually the main way that luxury fashion brands aim to expand their market share is by entering new countries and territories where the market has been primed already through third party sales or resale (Kapferer et Sebastien, 2017). In this case the target market of the brand still remains the same and the only factor that is changed is the location of operating. While this may create some cultural nuances in the way the brand conducts business, these issues are usually not of major concern as the customers are buying into the brand and the culture it comes with.

In practice the principle of the tightly defined market in luxury fashion strategy includes separating the clients from non-clients, which means that the brand must be segregationist and as Kapferer and Sebastien mention “forget all society’s democratic principles,” (2017). This means that the shoppers of the brand are not necessarily the brand’s clients; in other words there needs to be a distinction in the way the brands speaks to those who are their loyal clients, are passionate about the brand and have history with it, versus those who are simply buying a product.

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The Row SS 2019, courtesy of The Row.com

PRINCIPLE 2

THE CASE STUDY THE ROW The Row would serve as a great example when it comes to serving a tightly defined customer pool and using certain exclusionary tactics to ensure the pool of clients remains as tightly and as neatly defined as possible. Brand-obsessives in, everyone else out.

The story of the brand starts something like this: in the early 2000s, child-star twin sisters Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, start The Row based out of an apartment in downtown Manhattan, straight out of fashion school (Sherman, 2019). The first collection was based on staples, t-shirts and leather leggings, which were the celebrated hallmarks of their personal style at the time. From the very beginning, the prices The Row charged were controversial; headlines blasted the sisters for charging well over $200 for a T-shirt (Sherman, 2019). However, this will prove to be somewhat of a foreshadowing into the tactics the brand will continue to use to reinforce the idea of a tightly defined target market. Over the next 13 years, The Row will turn those two luxury basics, T-shirts and leggings, into the foundation of one of the most successful American luxury labels in a generation (Sherman, 2019). Today, The Row is a much respected, however, inconspicuous runway brand well-liked by industry insiders and fashion critics alike. Nevertheless, The Row isn’t your run-of-the-mill fashion luxury brand, you won’t see them leaning into trends, prints and logomania, you won’t really see any logos present for that matter. Rather than relying on trendy products to drive growth, The Row is built around elevated staples: easy-to-wear pants made of stretchy ponte knit, chunky cashmere sweaters and logo-free handbags recognisable only to the initiated (Sherman, 2019).

“The magic is in the details,” said Bergdorf Goodman President Darcy Penick (Sherman, 2019). “It’s quality and understated, but there is always some hook to the product.”

Although many independent American RTW brands have faced hurdles

Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen at the launch of The Row store in Mayfair, London in July 2019, courtesy of TheRow.com

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competing against well-funded European luxury conglomerates, The Row has managed to build a sizable business, become a key customer for many luxury retailers, and slowly develop its own direct-to-consumer sales channels (Sherman, 2019). The brand is also more markdown-resistant, as opposed to some of its competitors, and this is mainly due to the extremely passionate clientele and the brand’s timeless products.

While The Row has had a few items go ‘viral’ and be copied by the likes of Zara and Mango (bow-front “Coco” mule and scarf-inspired “Ascot”, come to mind), most of its garments aren’t built around virality and social media moments. The brand’s focus is and will continue to be elevated classics, wardrobing and tailoring. And brand patrons are not afraid that the brand may change this direction any time soon, as they know The Row is independent and self-financed by the Olsens, and won’t be running into issues with a revolving door of creative directors each with their own vision of the brand (Sherman, 2019). This is why the client grows with The Row, invests in its pieces and remains committed to the brand. “It’s a brand that people collect,” said Ron Frasch, a retail consultant and former executive at Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue (Sherman, 2019).

“When Celine went in a different direction, it became a go-to brand for women who liked the spirit that Phoebe [Philo] created.”

The Row is also very expensive, which means only a privileged few can afford to buy the products, even when they go on sale. A leather trench coat, for instance, costs $9,900 on Net-a-Porter (Sherman, 2019). A cashmere coat costs $8,990. However, unlike many designer brands that alienate women who are not model-thin with their limited sizing and tricky fits, The Row’s designs work for a wider range of body types, in terms of both shape and size.

The Row’s subtle designs aren’t trendy and with each passing season the Olsens don’t see the need to reinvent the wheel. The quiet luxury brand has amassed a cult following, where recommendations about new products are spread through word of mouth. The brand’s first advertisement, which ran in American Vogue, was a blank two-page spread with the name of the label written in the bottom right corner (Sherman, 2019). The lack of advertising in such an overly-saturated marketing industry like fashion, speaks volumes about the brand’s cult status. Over the years, the press-shy Olsens have become somewhat of a myth and have granted fewer and fewer interviews, adding to their and the brand’s elusive attraction. This is how those who wear The Row are made to feel like they are part of a secret club.

The Row Spring 2019 Ready-toWear, shot by Samantha Hanhn

“It’s intimate,” Frasch said (Sherman, 2019). “It’s for consumers that don’t need to show off their purchases.”

To make the brand even more special and exclusive and tightly controlled, The Row only has two stores — one in Los Angeles and one in New York, with a third store in London on the way — which have become destinations, attracting a steady flow of clients, celebrities and other fashion designers.

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PRINCIPLE 2

THE CROSS-INDUSTRY CASE STUDY PRODUCT: FEMININE HYGENE - TAMPONS Inspired by luxury body care and feminine hygiene brands like Neccessaire, Augustinus Bader and La Mer, for this case study, I decided to create an elevated brand of tampons. The idea was to cater to the woman that gets her advice and products from lifestyle blogs and marketplaces like Goop by Gwyneth Paltrow or Poosh by Kourtney Kardashian. These women are on top of all the skin and body care trends, invest heavily in wellbeing and brands and products using the finest and cleanest ingredients and generally lead very finely curated lifestyle. This curation extends to what their products look like and compliment their living space. Another important aspect of focu for these women is sustainability.

With all these criteria in mind I crafted ‘Luna’, an elevated menstrual care brand providing tampons made from the finest hypoallergenic organic cotton, while for context, the majority of off-the-shelf tampon brands are made out of polyester and rayon blends. This will in theory make the product safer, healthier and also more sustainable as cotton is grown organically and since it is not a blend it would be highly biodegradable.

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PRINCIPLE 2 BRANDING When deciding on the name of the brand “Luna” came up as a natural choice. The word “menstruation” is etymologically related to “moon”.

The terms “menstruation” and “menses” are derived from the Latin mensis (month), which in turn relates to the Greek mene (moon) and to the roots of the English words month and moon.

At the same time, Luna is an Italian and Spanish given name of Latin origin, which means “moon”.

Majority of the feminine care products are defined by very bright and bold packaging and an oversaturation of information across the packaging surface. That being said this is not something aesthetically pleasing to have on your bathroom or bedroom counter, and the packaging is usually stored away in a cupboard, where no one can see it. Additionally, the standard disposable box is usually made out of plastic laminated cardboard making it hard to recycle.

This is why Luna is crafted out of a 100% paper cardboard box and stores upto 40 tampons at a time, eliminating the need to purchase tampons so frequently and dispose of the box on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. Additionally, the boxes are designed with a minimalist aesthetic in mind featuring artwork from female artists such as Georgia O’Keefe’s “Music, Pink and Blue No. #2”. I chose to feature her as the artist initially, as her work frequently references female reproductive organs in broader forms. With design being paramount these boxes will be able to remain on the client’s bathroom counter and even be reused as storage later on. The boxes will also be collectibles as they will be created in collaborations with iconic female artists or their estates. These factors will also justify the premium price point.

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PRIMARY COLOUR PALETTE

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 100

C:44 M:54 Y: 8 K: 0

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 0

C: 6 M:10 Y: 2 K: 0

SECONDARY COLOUR PALETTE

C:100 M:83 Y: 45 K: 49

C:77 M:27 Y: 11 K: 0

C:33 M:66 Y: 29 K: 2

C:11 M:34 Y: 0 K: 0

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PRINCIPLE 2

In addition, Luna will have another piece of packaging for individual tampon transportation.

As most people who menstruate know, tampon boxes are by large too big to fit into shoulder bags and purses, which is why we are relegated to taking a singular loose tampon, carrying it in un-protected and exposed to bacteria, in our bag pockets or makeup bags. For this purpose I have designed an individual tampon carrier, the size of a lipstick, which is able to inconspicuously fit into even a clutch and without getting exposed to any free radicals from the environment or bacteria.

The branding colours will be black and white in order to fit seamlessly with the changing colour palette of the art piece that is being featured on the packaging.

The typeface for the Luna logo is meant to evoke soft oval shapes reminiscent of the roundness of the moon. The logo typeface also embodies the strong contrast between thinner and heavier line work which references the contrast between the changing of the moon’s phases, from a waning, barely visible crescent to a full moon.

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As part of this case study, I had the opportunity of working with an external vendor that specializes in packaging production. The vendor is based in China, and all of our communication was through emails and Adobe Illustrator and Acrobat files. This process made me actually learn a lot about packaging production, as well as packaging design.

Working with packaging dielines, as per the image below, was extremely helpful in understanding how 3D packaging models get flattened for printing and what are the important considerations when designing for this type of packaging such as fold lines, bleeds and layers, etc.

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PRINCIPLE 2

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“Desirability today is coupled with social capital, environmental creds, cultural savviness, a story and belonging. ” Ana Andjelic, “The Business of Aspiration”, 2021

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Principle 3

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PRINCIPLE 3

THE WHAT, WHY AND HOW Myth, Mystery and Magic are the building blocks of luxury brand narratives.

They closely tie into the principle of heritage, culture and unique knowhow, while giving it that additional edge and extraordinariness. Brands, brand fans and friendlies create these myths sometimes purposefully and sometimes organically, in order to elevate the status of the brand and evoke an air of mystery; this way those that are close to the brand and familiar to the story can feel privy to something special, and those that are on the outside looking in can keep wondering what all the hype is about.

The myth, mystery and magic can be evoked in something as simple as a brand’s origin story. For example, one of the most iconic origin stories when it comes to luxury fashion is that of Chanel, and the brand’s eponymous founder Coco Chanel. Born into an impoverished family, Coco Chanel and her two sisters were abandoned by their father at an orphanage along with their two brothers after their mother died. Chanel never married and had no known children, but she looked after her elder sister’s son, André Palasse, following her sister’s suicide. Chanel’s whole story is therefore rooted already in this strong sense of the underdog overcoming obstacles, evoking the myth of David and the Goliath from the very start. Coco Chanel’s designs also modernized women’s attire for ease of movement, lesser maintenance and ultimately greater independence, and for this she is hailed as a feminist of her time.

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Hermès SS19 Campaign, shot by Jonas Lindstroem

The myth of Coco Chanel is so significant that her words and mantras are probably the most quoted of any fashion designer ever. Chanel famously said “luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury,” as she started her business by creating designs which offered wealthy women comfort over corsets. Other quotes of hers include “A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.” and “The best color in the whole world is the one that looks good on you.” and “If you’re sad, add more lipstick and attack.”. Among others you will also hear “Fashion changes, but style endures.” and “A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life.” and “My life didn’t please me, so I created my life.” There are dozens more quotes that feed into this incredible myth of Coco Chanel and by extension her life’s opus which is her brand - Chanel. Myth, mystery, magic, art and racing are also key parts of establishing a luxury identity through branding and packaging. Interestingly enough the recognizable Hermès orange packaging is known to be “iconic by accident” due to its origin story. During WWII, in 1941, supplies in Paris from food to stationary were virtually non-existent (The Fashion Law, 2020). Hermes, packaging suppliers either closed their doors or ran out of the cream/gold and marigold coloured boxes popular at the time. The only colour left, that no one wanted, was the striking orange hue with the hue becoming symbolic of the brand almost immediately (The Fashion Law, 2020).

It is interesting to note that this specific tone called “warm citrus colour” at Hermes isa legally protected piece of branding, and “serves as an indicator of source” (The Fashion Law, 2020).

Hermes packaging is unique, highly detailed and provides an indulgent experience. The packaging itself has become a social marker with patrons collecting and displaying the boxes decoratively around their homes.

The colour and the shape of the boxes are associated with the Hermes heritage, embodying the ideas

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PRINCIPLE 3

of myth, mystery, art and racing with the equestrian horse carriage logo delicately, yet purposefully placed under the brand’s logo on the box lid.

When speaking about myth, mystery, magic and luxury fashion advertising we need to understand that its role is primarily not to sell products. You heard that right - NOT to sell products. While conventional advertising is focused on hard selling and promoting features, attributes and benefits of their clothing brand and products, luxury fashion brands sell a dream and evoke feelings and associations along with careful and creative product placement. The key in luxury advertising is not to be overt and offer a curated and stylized message that communicates directly to the target market and established clientele.

“Luxury objects should be recognisable, stimulate an emotional consumer response, and become incorporated into the customer’s lifestyle.”

Brun et Castelli, “The nature of Luxury: A Consumer Perspective”, 2013

Illustration by Ignasi Monreal for Gucci SS18 Campaign

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PRINCIPLE 3

THE CASE STUDY LOUIS VUITTON MEN’S HEAVEN ON EARTH When Louis Vuitton Men’s Men’s Artistic Director Virgil Abloh returned from his sabbatical in 2019 to work on the FW20 Louis Vuitton show, he envisioned the set as a heaven in the clouds. With Tim Walker behind the lens, Abloh’s vision for the Louis Vuitton FW campaign morphed into “Heaven on Earth”; a creative and surrealist exploration of Boyhood - “seeing the world through the unspoiled eyes of a child” (Northman, 2020). To bring this magical and mythical idea to life Abloh and Walker used ‘heavenly’ clouds as a symbol of freedom, unity, and peace. Clouds evoke the feeling of evading constraint, territory, and possession, they are dreamlike bodies floating across a sky observed universally across borders and beliefs (Northman, 2020).The “Heaven on Earth” campaign visualizes a utopian and surrealistic environment that reflects the sky, adding Abloh’s playful element of boyhood, a continuous motif present across most of the designer’s previous collections (Northman, 2020).

The collection is also a reflection of some of Abloh’s core values at Louis Vuitton, with a goal to create a “dream world” without prejudice, and to inspire inclusivity and unity-in-diversity.

In “Heaven on Earth” Abloh vies to capture “Black Imagination,” defined by him as “the transformative process of rethinking and overturning the inherited and often unconscious expectations tied to Black identities through history, and creating an encouraging Black consciousness for the present and the future” (Louis Vuitton, 2020). The subject of “Black Imagination’’ is shown through Black representation, tapping a handful of young creatives to amplify their voices, starring British actor Michael Ward and Ghanian model Ottawa Kwami as part of the cast (Northman, 2020).

Tailoring and the tapered silhouette – the firm symbols of convention, trade and success – depart their corporate comfort zone: twisted and turned, the dress codes of an old world are neutralized, re-appropriated and embraced for a progressive joie de vivre. Employing his evolving premise of boyhood at Louis Vuitton, Virgil Abloh investigates the lifelong relationship formed by adolescent and young men with shirting and suiting.

It is a material and figurative exercise in freedom, presented within the familiar constrictions of tailoring.

Heaven On Earth Men’s Campaign FW20, Louis Vuitton, shot by Tim Walker

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The ‘heavenly’ clouds inform a palette of sky blue and cloud white, set against the colors of the tradition-

al men’s shirting and suiting wardrobe (Louis Vuitton, 2020). Through childlike optics, formal tones including black, navy, burgundy, beige and camel are elevated from their conventional codes and imbued with new values. Shots of fluorescent colors are employed to lift garments out of their familiar connotations to appeal to modern, art-and-fashion-loving, gender-bending, diverse, new generation of men craving fluidity and freedom from toxic masculinity (Louis Vuitton, 2020).

The product choice is rooted in the luggage and travel heritage of the Louis Vuitton brand, while its placement is creative and suggestive all the same time. The advertising execution is very aspirational, but also inspirational as it taps into fresh ways of marketing menswear to a new generation of men.

The artistic cropping, positioning and prop usage, make the campaign shots feel special and otherworldly. Overall, when looking at the “myth, mystery, magic, art and product placement”, this campaign checks off all the boxes with its dream-like ambience that features surrealist motifs and impossible- looking wall curves.

Heaven On Earth Men’s Campaign FW20, Louis Vuitton, shot by Tim Walker

Heaven On Earth Men’s Campaign FW20, Louis Vuitton, shot by Tim Walker

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PRINCIPLE 3

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THE CROSS-INDUSTRY CASE STUDY PRODUCT: PASTA For this case study I challenged myself to create a luxury pasta brand. The brand is named ‘A Mano’ ‘pasta fatta a mano’ meaning ‘pasta made by hand’ in Italian. The pasta is made by hand by Italian chefs and artisans with a unique expertise and generationally passed down knowledge of pasta making. A Mano is not simply a pasta brand, but it offers a glimpse into a slow-food experience through an Italian culinary staple. The pasta would be made in small batches and by pre-order, and delivered in biodegradable packaging.

The idea is to communicate the idea of a brand story and myth, mystery and magic that’s steeped in Italian bottega and artisan heritage, renowned around the world. The brand should evoke a feeling of elevated, everyday luxury through a familiar culinary staple.

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PRINCIPLE 3 BRANDING When deciding on the brand name, I was initially set on it being in Italian.

It needed to be easily pronounceable, evoke artisanship and heritage, without necessarily using a family name, that would typically provide this type of leverage. Since this is a North American market, and not everyone is familiar with Romance languages (French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian) and their specific pronunciation nuances, I decided to go for something short and easy to pronounce. It was also important for me that the name would not be mispronounced in the media or by the customers. Through the process of elimination I landed on ‘A Mano’ with ‘pasta fatta’ being a secondary part of the name/slogan.

Generally the initial idea behind the packaging was to have something reusable and front facing in the sense that the client wouldn’t want to keep it tucked away in a kitchen cabinet. I mulled over a few different options and landed on what seemed like the most obvious choice, and that was a glass jar with a hermetical clasp closure and bamboo lid. This is very similar to what most people store their pasta in on their kitchen counters. With that said, the question was how do the clients repurchase pasta, without having to purchase another glass storage vessel every time. My solution was to provide a refill service, where your pasta choices will be delivered monthly or biweekly to your house in biodegradable packaging, which you can compost once you put the pasta into the designated jar.

PRIMARY COLOUR PALETTE

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 100

C:11 M:17 Y: 32 K: 0

C:19 M:70 Y: 94 K: 6

C:33 M:83 Y: 100 K: 42

SECONDARY COLOUR PALETTE

C:96 M:80 Y: 37 K: 27

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C:66 M:42 Y: 28 K: 3

C: 2 M:23 Y: 67 K: 6

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 0

“When clothes leave the factories where they are made, they are merely 'garments' or 'apparel'.

Only when the marketers get hold of them do they magically become fashion.”

Mark Tungate

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PRINCIPLE 3

When considering the overall colour palette for the brand identity I first hones in on the main inspiration factors for the brand. Italian and Italian-Sicillian tiles stood out as something I distinctly wanted the branding to evoke, as Sicillian culture and cuisine is so deep rooted and evocative of a very specific heritage.

Another aspect I was inspired by, was obviously Italian fashion and Italian fashion houses such as Bottega Veneta and Prada, they’re both uniquely Italian and pair bright colours and a youthful identity with established heritage and unique know-how. Lastly, as far as colour palette goes I also was heavily influenced by the colours of pasta and pasta sauces themselves, and the burnt orange and rich yellow speak to those aspects of my inspiration.

When it came to deciding on the type choices for the wordmark I initially gravitated towards a myriad of different script fonts, which all led me back to the conventional pasta brand identity, which I was attempting to challenge and differentiate from. After a few rounds of consultations, I landed on a decorative serif typeface for ‘A Mano’ which made it feel modern and minimal, contrasting the stereotypical connotations of a pasta brand. In order to still preserve some of the script typeface qualities I was looking for, the cursive script was incorporated with ‘pasta fatta’. All the other text was rendered in Futura, a non-fussy yet evocative retro-looking typeface.

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As part of this cross-industry case study, I needed to figure out how to apply the branding onto the glass jar. I decided to create a wrap around label that was 4.5 inches tall and approximately 12 inches wide. The label also included the greyed out area which is where commercial grade glue would be applied in order to keep the label secured. I desinged a tile motif for the label and went throguh a dozen iterrations in order to land on the colour combination which best suits the label, while letting the logo tell its story.

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PRINCIPLE 3

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“At the time, it was a simple laboratory bottle, a functional object that became luxurious and iconic. There was already this notion of transforming a common, ultra-functional object into a precious one.”

Thomas Du Pré De Saint Maur, Head of Global Creative Resources for Fragrance and Beauty at Chanel

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Principle 4

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PRINCIPLE 4

THE WHAT, WHY AND HOW What we know so far about luxury strategy in fashion is that exclusivity, subtlety and creativity are paramount, however, there is another strategic factor that is necessary to mention apart from the ones discussed so far.

The factor in question regards the notion of limited quantities and manufactured scarcity without which the idea of exclusivity could never be achieved.

While conventional fashion brands aim to saturate the market with products and make them as available and easily accessible as possible, the luxury fashion sector takes, what some may view as, an entirely counter-intuitive approach. Luxury fashion brands in fact thrive off of being able to deny customers their products; things like waiting lists, limited drops, pre-sale, and limits on number of units one can purchase are only some of the techniques that companies in the upper echelon of fashion continue to use in order to limit access to their goods.

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PRINCIPLE 4

Balenciaga FW19 Campaign, shot by Greg Finck

Just in October of 2021 Chanel instituted a policy that only allowed for purchase of a single bag per customer per year for each model.

Whether it is a classic double flap or its iconic gold chain, customers are limited in their purchases when it comes to buying the same style of bag. It is said that this was the brand’s direct reaction to the increasing resale availability of their goods, and the fear of losing the exclusivity awarded by scarce supply. And this is just one example of many; the likes of Louis Vuitton, Hèrmes and Dior have all enacted relatively similar purchase limitations in the last two years. Some may wonder why this is the case. In order to understand limited quantities and manufactured scarcity, we need to understand that luxury houses having limited supply was actually a part of how these businesses were run decades ago. As luxury goods were made from exotic and fine materials with limited supply, batches were small and the understanding of scarcity became ingrained and associated with the luxury fashion industry. However, as time has evolved access to materials and faster production speeds certainly enabled luxury brands to increase production and offer their goods to an increasing number of people. And although the industry opened up to an extent, it quickly realized that making goods increasingly more available was actually diluting the brand reputation and product value, by making the brand appear not as exclusive anymore.

Dior Men’s FW21, ColWith that said, luxury fashion brands today understand that their clients and shoppers are “trained” to expect limited product quantities and that this manufactured scarcity only makes them want the product more.

Luxury truly taps into the reverse psychology of consumers on quite a deeper level; the more they can’t have it, the more they will want it. This type of consumer behavior is what fuels limited edition drops and collaborations with other brands or artists, which tend to be much more expensive than the staple, average brand product. Collaboration collections or drops are also produced in extremely limited quantities and appeal to a broader market such as fine luxury and pop culture collectors.

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laboration Dior x Nike Air Jordan 1 hightop sneaker

THE CASE STUDY DIOR X NIKE Arguably one of the most sought out and successful collaborations in recent history has been the 2020 Dior and Jordan sneaker drop. The two “Air Dior” sneaker styles were first showcased at the Dior Pre-Fall 2020 Collection in Miami, and then teased by rapper Travis Scott and leaked across various online accounts (Law, 2022). Combining the best elements of both brands, the sneakers are based on the famous 1985 Jordan 1 silhouette — a shoe so famous that it sold on Sotheby’s in 2020 for a staggering $560,000 — and Dior’s iconic white and gray coloring. Standout features include the Dior monogram inside the Swoosh, a remix of the Jumpman Wings logo with the words “AIR DIOR,” and a translucent outsole for a fresh, yet timeless look. “Air Jordans” were already set to become one of the hardest shoes to acquire in 2020. With only 13,000 units produced and only 8,000 actually allowed to be sold, each pair of shoes was in fact individually numbered, so the purchaser knows which pair out of 13,000 produced is theirs (Law, 2022). Because of the extremely low quantity, a raffle system was created so interested parties could indicate their desired size, style, and pickup location (Law, 2022). Those who managed to win the lottery then had to pay the hefty price tag: $2,200 for the high tops or $2,000 for the low tops. The manufactured scarcity played into the consumer shopping behaviour, despite their hefty retail price.

More than 5 million people registered for a chance to snag these holy grail s on a first-come-first-serve basis, however, as this was an extremely exclusive and limited collaboration drop there were only 8,000 units made for sale, while 5,000 were reserved for VIP clients (Law, 2022).The anticipation was extremely high across the globe for the sneaker to drop, and while 99.84% of people who registered walked away empty handed, those who were able to purchase a pair, quickly realized how powerful the demand was as the resale prices soared within a day of the drop (Law, 2022). According to Stock X economists, the Dior x Air Jordan 1 High was the most expensive shoe of 2020 on the secondary market, hitting as much as $13,000, and while prices later fell to an average of $7,000, that’s still more than three times its original value of $2,200 for the high-top version (Law, 2022).

These manufactured scarcity tactics are meant to heighten consumers’ excitement and urgency, said Adam Knight, co-founder of the cross-cultural agency TONG (Law, 2022). The tactics also tune into Gen Z’s desire to stand out and maintain an illusion of uniqueness or exclusivity over one’s peers. “‘Keeping up with the Jones’ syndrome’ has always been vital to the appeal of luxury brands. Gone are the days when owning a classic Chanel or LV bag is enough” (Law, 2022).

Dior Men’s FW21, Collaboration with Nike Air Jordan 1, modeled by Travis Scott

In addition to all the scarcity tactics and “unintentional” internet leaks, the collaboration had a stacked roster of high-profile influencers like Daniel Arsham, Ashanti, and Kylie Jenner, who were among the first to get their hands on the haul, posting about the shoes ahead of their official launch (Law, 2022). While in China, Air Dior also got major air time from Chinese brand ambassador Wang Junkai, who was seen rocking the full capsule head-to-toe in a video that generated over 16 million views (Law, 2022). Esports player Jackey Love, business tycoon Wang Sicong, and fashion icons Jay Chou and Edison Chen were also seen sporting the goods, drumming up their desirability (Law, 2022).

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PRINCIPLE 4

THE CROSS-INDUSTRY CASE STUDY PRODUCT: COTTON BALLS As part of this last cross-industry case study I chose to rebrand cotton balls. For the rebrand I was inspired by the Chanel bath products launch inspired by the 100 year anniversary of Chanel No. 5 last summer. I was really inspired by this quote

by Chanel’s Head of Global Creative Resources for Fragrance and Beauty: “Through this concept, we want to return to the creation process of the first N°5 packaging. At the time, it was a simple laboratory bottle, a functional object that became luxurious and iconic. There was already this notion of transforming a common, ultra-functional object into a precious one.”

Thomas Du Pré De Saint Maur

This is exactly what I wanted to do with these cotton balls - “transform a common, ultra-functional object into a precious one.”

While the average cotton balls are sold in copious amounts stuffed in large, thin, plastic, zip-lock-reminiscent bags with generic branding, this idea for this brand was to appeal to a consumer that would rather invest in a brand selling smaller quantities or the product at a higher quality. The product quality will be reflected in the idea of luxurious tri-layer cotton balls made of entwined elastic cotton fibers for an ultra-plush feel with high-absorbency and lint-free application. With the principle of ‘limited quantity and manufactured scarcity’ I wanted to create a small jar of cotton balls encapsulated within an organic linen pouch protecting the individual cotton balls from any free radicals, particles or excessive oxygenation and drying.

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PRINCIPLE 4 BRANDING The branding for BonBon en Coton is quite minimal and simplified overall, with the idea of it being a blend between fashion editorial look and a clinical beauty brand. The part of the branding process that took the longest time was naming the product. Initially my focus was to ensure the name had a French association to luxury and this is why I brainstormed all the name options from a French language perspective. I went through various iterations of Cottonette, which seemed quite generic and devalued the brand, to Fleur de Coton, referring to the cotton ball made out of the flower front he cotton plant, variations on the word ‘choquette’, and then finally landing on the name ‘BonBon de Coton’ which translates indirectly to cotton candy, or a bonbon made out of cotton, which is what a cotton ball reminds me of.

It was also important for the name to be easily pronounceable, with no ambiguity in terms of the way its read versus the way its spelled, which I find is an issue with French names sometimes. What is also interesting about this pairing is that the words rhyme and roll of the tongue in a catchy way, which was also a bonus and makes a great, memorable brand name.

When thinking about the word mark and typography for the name I was initially drawn to the Moric typeface and kept returning to it, with each brand name iteration that I tried.

What I specifically loved about it was that in the lowercase version of the typeface the letter ‘o’ was underlined, which emphasized the ball-like shape as a reference to cotton balls and candy. I also found that mixing uppercase and lower case letter forms in this typeface yielded some great results, giving both balance and interest to the wordmark. The Moric typeface was paired with Futura for all other non-decorative text and information on the packaging.

PRIMARY COLOUR PALETTE

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 100

C:20 M:10 Y: 10 K: 0

C: 5 M: 5 Y: 11 K: 0

C: 0 M: 0 Y: 0 K: 0

SECONDARY COLOUR PALETTE

C:66 M:59 Y: 58 K: 41

C:34 M:23 Y: 23 K: 0

C: 6 M: 0 Y: 1 K: 0

C: 8 M:19 Y: 38 K: 0

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“Rarity can be managed just like the relationship with the clientele; so it is not a matter here of poor sales forecasting but of a deliberate strategy of resisting demand in order to be a master of it.”

Kapfered & Sebastien, The Luxury Strategy , 2017

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PRINCIPLE 4

Both the primary and secondary colour palette for the brand consisted of really light blue-gray silver-ish tones which reinforced the clinical connotations of the brand, however, I also wanted to include a warmer beige tone which reference the organic qualities of cotton and the colours in which the cotton plant appears naturally.

The packaging consists of two separate pieces. Firstly there is the container, which is made from a white, recycled paper telescope tube jar with black detailing on the inside.

Once the client opens the jar they won’t find the cotton balls simply stuffed inside. What they will find is the cotton balls carefully stored within an organic linen pouch with a black silk/satin drawstring keeping the cotton balls safe from any free radicals within the environment. I imagined this product could also be refilled on a subscription basis and delivered to the client in a biodegradable pouch on a monthly basis, eliminating the need to keep reinvesting and recycling the packaging materials with every purchase.

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PRINCIPLE 4

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“Like magicians, the luxury incumbents seek to perform an illusion where actual scarcity is replaced by a perceived rarity. ” Bernard Catry “ The Great Pretenders: The Magic

of Luxury Goods”, 2004

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Conclusion FINDINGS Overall the main areas of study for this research included luxury marketing strategies in fashion and luxury branding strategies in fashion, which all proved to be relatively transferable to other industries and consumer packaged goods across the board. I examined the way brand identity is crafted through business strategy, narrative, design, packaging and advertising, using four core principles that define a luxury fashion brand. As expected, I found that these principles need to, in fact, be adapted for cross industry use, however, the bigger takeaway is that they are entirely adaptable and malleable. As stated in the introduction: I set out to prove that luxury strategy is a formula with variables that can be substituted with different values (read: products), and if applied purposefully this equation will yield the desired results.

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CONCLUSION One of my focuses with this project was also to create brand identities for products with a sustainability-first approach. I did not want to ideate on a product and its branding and business strategy, and only at the end ask myself ‘How can I make this sustainable?’. Instead, the idea was to embed reusability, extended use, recycling, repurposing, biodegradability and organic materials into the very essence of everything I was ideating on. Overall, luxury of the future will be defined by its impact on the Earth and the environment, and new luxury brands won’t have the privilege of 200-years worth of heritage and history to negotiate sustainability against.

FINAL THOUGHTS Overall, I have learned an incredible amount through the process of creating this project, across all the areas in which I hoped to learn and spend my time on. I was able to keep stretching my creativity when it comes to graphic design, branding and layout design as well as photography through the process of designing the branding, photographing the packaging as well as photographing it. I was also able to tap into some of the current knowledge I have in creative strategy and building brand narratives. I would have loved to have had the time to fully flesh out the marketing and advertising strategies for these brands or to potentially create an advertising campaign for one of the products at least, however, I will keep these ideas as part of a future extension to this project.

I have always been interested in branding from a product and packaging design standpoint and this project gave me exactly that opportunity, and actually sparked an interest in this area which I hope to improve on even further. Understanding packaging design is definitely a skill that I want to hone in on, and it stems directly as a product of this capstone project.

While writing this book, I was able to use the knowledge I have gathered over the last 4 years in marketing, advertising design, design history and sociology and distill my learnings into the various brand analysis. It definitely felt like a testament to my knowledge and time at Ryerson, being able to put this book together, from both a creative and theoretical standpoint in a relatively short time frame, with copious scheduling conflicts.

The Luxury Item Interview with Ana Andjelic “The Business of Aspiration”

As a final thought, I can say with certainty that I am proud of the capstone project that I am putting in front of you as the final step on my path to graduating from Ryerson Fashion Communications.

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“Footprints”, Louis Vuitton 2020 Men’s campaign, shot by Viviane Sassen

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