A piece I wrote for a talk on The New Culture of Luxury. Exploring how modern brands, platforms, and ideas are influencing the fashion and luxury category.

1. THE NEW
CULTURE
OF LUXURY
Mike Karam
Head of Digital and Integrated Strategy, Laird + Partners
@mikekaram

2. TODAY, MODERN FASHION AND LUXURY BRANDS
CAN’T COMPETE BASED ON AN ASPIRATIONAL IMAGE AND PRODUCT OFFERING ALONE

3. Louis Vuitton
LV Foundation
Burberry
Digitally Integrated Flagship Store
Kenzo
Interactive Windows
THERE IS A NEW CULTURE OF LUXURY EMERGING,
AS MODERN BRANDS ARE BEING DEFINED BY IDEAS AND EXPERIENCES

4. NEW PLATFORMS, NEW TECHNOLOGY, NEW PRODUCTS,
AND ULTIMATELY NEW BEHAVIORS ARE RE-SHAPING THE DEFINITION OF LUXURY
Net-A-Porter
Modern Retail
Airbnb
Modern Travel
Apple TV
Modern Content
Uber
Modern Transportation

5. IN A CATEGORY ONCE DEFINED BY CULT STATUS,
A CULT IS NO LONGER ENOUGH FOR FASHION AND LUXURY BRANDS TO RELY ON

6. Net-A-Porter
Modern Retail
Airbnb
Modern Travel
Apple TV
Modern Content
Glossier
Culture in Beauty
Acne
Culture in Fashion
Warby Parker
Culture in Eyeware
IN THE NEW CULTURE OF LUXURY,
YOU CAN’T HAVE A CULT WITHOUT A CULTURE FOR PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE IN
Aēsop
Culture in Skincare

7. CREATION STORY CODES
ICONS
RITUALS SACRED WORDS
all cultures come with
a story attached
core principles, beliefs,
mission, purpose
ownable actions,
behaviors
meaningful sights,
symbols
ownable words,
phrases
LEADER
the face,
the innovator
VISUAL LANGUAGE
consistent visual story,
from content to context
NON-BELIEVERS
to have a yin of
believers, there must be
a yang of non-believers
THE TENETS OF A CULTURE

8. Burburry
Apple Music Channel
Google
Project Jacquard
Prada
Customization at Scale
Tesla
Interactive Dealership
CULTURE IS WHAT FUELS IDEAS, INNOVATION, EXPERIENCES, AND PARTICIPATION -
AS THE CONVERSATION SHIFTS FROM THE LIMITS OF LUXURY, TO THE LICENSE OF LUXURY

9. WHERE BRANDS ARE ON A RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF IDENTITY
AND HAVE THE LICENSE TO ESCAPE THE ORDINARY,
CONSTANTLY SURPRISING AND EXPANDING THE BRAND NARRATIVE
Celine
Joan Didion’s Collaboration
Saint Laurent
Joni Mitchell Collaboration

10. Burburry
LFW Snapchat Preview
Prada
“Postman Dreams” Film
Hermes x Apple
Apple Watch
Michael Kors
Contextual Commerce
CREATING DESIRE THROUGH MULTI-LAYERED, MULTI-CHANNEL STORYTELLING,
LEANING INTO THE VISUAL AND EMOTIONAL CODES OF FASHION AND LUXURY
AS DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY INTERSECT

11. THE NEW CULTURE OF LUXURY IS HERE.
WHERE BRANDS HAVE THE LICENSE TO SURPRISE AND CREATE,
WHERE IDEAS AND EXPERIENCES DEFINE THE NEW CURRENCY,
AND WHERE MODERN BRANDS MUST CREATE A PLATFORM FOR PARTICIPATION

12. Mike Karam
Head of Digital and Integrated Strategy, Laird + Partners
@mikekaram