Why do Luxury Brands Collaborate with Youtubers?
From youtubers attending the Met Gala to being invited to luxury fashion shows at Paris Fashion Week, why are luxury brands reaching out to youtubers? A notable example is Louis Vuitton, who have recently reached out to Emma Chamberlain and the Dolan Twins to attend both LV’s Paris Fashion Week shows and the opening of LV’s X Exhibition.
Louis Vuitton reached out the Emma Chamberlain to attend the SS20 Cruise show at Paris Fashion Week. Following in her footsteps, the Dolan Twins were then invited to LV’s SS20 show for Men’s Paris Fashion Week. Even further, Louis Vuitton has recently launched LVTV, a youtube channel focused on creating content that will interest younger customers. Louis Vuitton’s collaboration with Supreme was one of the most successful luxury collaborations in fashion history, successfully appealing LV to the younger, fashion-focused market.
For luxury brands, who make profit through exclusivity, why would they reach out to youtubers, who have influence over incredibly large groups of people?
Youtube has hired Derek Blasberg to oversee the launch of a new division within Youtube, one completely dedicated to fashion and beauty partnerships, cultivating relationships between YouTube and the high-profile figures of the the fashion and beauty industries.
Another big example of this is the invitation of Youtubers to the Met Gala. In 2018, YouTuber Liza Koshy was invited by Vogue to conduct a series of interviews with the other attendants, further returning to the same role in 2019 in a custom Balmain dress. In addition, you tubers James Charles and Lilly Singh were invited to the Met Gala’s red carpet in 2019. Charles was invited by Youtube and dressed by Alexander Wang, wearing a shirt made completely from safety pins. Even further, Vogue’s popular youtube series ’73 Questions’ interviewed both Liza Koshy and Lilly Singh. Generating views to their channels by using popular millennials influencers, luxury brands are now creating content to interest the younger market and create brand loyalty.
The most notable example of this is Gucci, who have become incredibly successful in appealing to the younger market. In 2018, 62% of Gucci’s $8 billion sales came from customers who were under 35, with the fastest growing market being customers 24 and under (Generation Z).
Gucci has recently made strategic decisions to increase revenue and appeal to the younger market, one to the being appointing Alessandro Michele as Creative Director, giving Gucci a more contemporary and groundbreaking look. Another is Gucci’s investment in technology, being able to produce more products at a faster rate than other luxury brands. This creates the ability to create unique drops for the faster consumer demand. Gucci has also appointed a ‘shadow committee’, a group of millennials and gen-z members around the world who assist with the development process; discovering new ideas and approaches.
Gucci has also strengthened their cohesive brand identity and storytelling, creating a distinct feel through their artistic choices, advertising and in-store experiences, rather than ‘one-hit wonders’. This creates an increased sense of brand loyalty and gives Gucci a brand personality. Capitalising on using 90s nostalgic logo-centric branding and styling millennial celebrities like Harry Styles, Gucci has now grown it’s appeal to the younger market.
Youtube joined with Christian Dior to give seven vloggers (including Wengie and Jackie Aina) never seen before access to their SS19 show, which was then shared with their collective 24 million subscribers.
“One of the first things I wanted to do [when I came to YouTube] was close the gap between top-tier luxury brands and our ecosystem of YouTubers, and Dior was happy to be one of our first, exclusive partners. The content these creators have produced has been compelling, in part because it’s genuine, and a great model of what the future of digital fashion media can look like.”
With the increased influence of the hype beast culture, millennials now have an increased interest in fashion, which creates a doorway for luxury brands to reach the younger market. And through collaborating with you tubers with large influences creates a positive connection between your favourite relatable YouTuber and a luxury fashion brand that are creating items are now appealing to the younger market. Luxury brands are now becoming relatable to the young market, using relatable youtubers to bridge the gap.