The Luxury Brand Playbook

This Age of Anxiety is brutal and weighty. Time to remind ourselves how luxury brands will survive and thrive.

Our latest article for Luxury Briefing magazine details the ‘Luxury Playbook’ and explains the tools of the trade.

It's the fifteenth in our series and you can read all the others by following the links at the end of the article.

William S. Burroughs wrote a novel in 1959 called Naked Lunch. It became a counterculture classic. Shocking in parts, it’s not for everyone even now. He explained the title as: “A frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork.”

The phrase is a metaphor for seeing reality in its raw, unfiltered state, without illusion, social niceties, or denial. A moment of sudden clarity, where you’re forced to confront the harsh truth of life or your own existence.

Yes, I know, a heavy start but frankly, this Age of Anxiety is brutal and weighty. Time to remind ourselves how the role of the luxury brand model works and adapts.

Luxury has always been in a complex space where it both escapes reality (with great charm, craft, skill and elegance) but also reflects it depending on the moment – and of course what will sell.

Are we diverting attention away from the dizzying reality of the world by giving people pleasure with the most beautiful, exquisite, ‘things’ of highest quality, or are we celebrating power, status and wealth (as it always has done), or showcasing the human skills of artisanship, or being the saviours of the arts world bestowing intellectual refinement and financial help.

Here's the playbook:

Escapism

Pretty pictures, the creation of desire and we are excellent at it. We all know it’s hard to do fantasy, beauty, and pleasure well. Dreamy worlds, nostalgic designs, and immersive experiences to make customers feel good, even if only for a moment.

We can be heroes, just for one day. (Well actually a week. The standard minimum superyacht charter period is 7 days.)

We have opulence, comfort and extravagant craftsmanship. The auto, travel and hospitality sectors get it. We have nostalgia, timelessness, past aesthetics (classic tailoring) all saying stability.

We have experience over product; brands creating exclusive events and immersive worlds. Louis Vuitton’s 2024 fashion collection literally explored the world of ‘whimsical art’.

Players of this popular game will note the decadence of Ancient Rome in the face of decline, as the elite enjoyed groaning banquets, silk clothing, perfumes, and extravagant villas. (Forget your Michelin stars, think stuffed door mice, flamingo tongues, roast parrot, and swans served with feathers on). Also, the Jazz Age. After WWI the 1920s saw a luxury boom focused on pleasure, escapism, and rebellion against past troubles. Flappers, Art Deco, and Coco C’s designs to empower women’s’ lives.

Power

Some brands go for exclusivity and dominance. Never fails. But in uncertain times, people want symbols of control, authority, and status. Think quiet luxury/stealth wealth. No logos but status remains through material and cut, signalling power to those who know. Old money à la Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli. Aso ‘loud luxury’: bold, attention-grabbing with print, graphics and typography. Balenciaga’s experimental designs and unexpected materials and shapes. Or Tom Ford’s colours.

Students of this move will note how, in the C17th, Louis XIV made fashion and beauty, at his Versailles court an obsession, controlling the nobles by distracting them with etiquette, dress codes, and extravagant parties instead of France’s problems.

In the 1980s we had the Cold War, economic anxieties but with big logos, designer labels, and excessive displays of wealth. Chanel suits, Versace gold, Rolex watches….Wall Street celebrated greed on film.

Serious, mature, intellectual

This strategy involves moving away from extravagance and presenting brands as refined, culturally engaged, and meaningful with long-term value. Curators of knowledge, taste, and cultural capital. This move elevates luxury beyond materialism, making it a symbol of intelligence, and legitimacy.

As Leonard Cohen pointed out "Seriousness is voluptuous, and very few people have allowed themselves the luxury of it.”

Good examples include the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Fondation Cartier, Fondazione Prada and Gucci Garden.

Craft and heritage

This narrative is ever dependable and reliable. Always works. It gives luxury a moral justification, positioning it as preservers of tradition rather than just sellers of exclusivity. Examples are many, but honourable mentions to Hermès, Van Cleef, Aston Martin and Gaggenau who are all experts at reinforcing the idea that luxury is about artistry, precision and expertise, not just OTT consumption.

We can all see how the times are a-changin’. So, we adapt as luxury has always done. Most brands are using a combination of the above strategies. The loud with the soft, the introspective with the extravert, the serious with the playful, the solitary with the social, the subtle with the bold. You might say this isn’t new. The only difference is the context and its chaos. Luxury is more global, sustainable, tech of course, and more aware of its dynamics. More challenge, more opportunity.

Survival and success, as always, depends on our ability to evolve.

The science fiction writer H.G. Wells noted the world is constantly changing, and those who do not wish to be left behind must change with it:

‘Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative.’

Sounds about right.

A little more on Anew - a London-based luxury branding Agency

Anew’s two founders deliver: insights from market research, strategic brand thinking, new brand names, luxury logo design, messaging, online and offline content, coffee table books and luxury brand websites. We help companies increase brand profitability through sharper insights, distinctive propositions, creative ideas and faultless execution.

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