It’s an unsubstantiated cliché, but fashion cannot explain why guests at a Chanel fashion show attended a Manchester United match last year ahead of the brand’s Métiers d’Art show in the city. Or did the audience lose their minds when professional boxer Anthony Joshua walked the runway for Hugo Boss? There is no doubt that the fashion world has a long-standing fascination with sports, which is a doubling of business opportunity for the luxury goods market.
The summer of sports was a winning streak for Louis Vuitton and its parent company LVMH. According to WeArisma, the luxury company surpassed German sportswear giant Adidas in media acquisition at this year’s Paris Olympics, earning £48m (Dior’s £46.6m) compared to Adidas’ £22.7m. From the journey of the Olympic torch in the brand’s iconic monogrammed trunk to the opening ceremony show to the signature Damier plaid medal tray, Vuitton was the MVP at every important moment. Louis Vuitton was everywhere.
And the summer of sports did not end with the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. ‘Vuitton’s Victory Journey’ extends to Barcelona as the French house returns as title partner of the 37th Louis Vuitton America’s Cup, the world’s most prestigious sailing competition, with which the French house has a long history . It first collaborated with the competition in 1983, marking the first sports partnership in the brand’s history.
“The America’s Cup and Louis Vuitton are inseparable. The brand has become synonymous with the Cup itself,” said British Empire Commander Grant Dalton, president and CEO of the America’s Cup. “Louis Vuitton is a luxury brand, but that doesn’t fix us. It only makes us more popular. It makes the sport even more popular,” he continued. .
“There Is No Second” is another tagline plastered all over the city, and it applies as much to sailing racing as it does to LVMH’s mission to conquer the sporting world. Earlier this month, the group announced a historic 10-year partnership with F1 to coincide with F1’s 75th anniversary in 2025. The deal will include several brands from the LVMH portfolio, including Louis Vuitton, Moët Hennessy and Tag Heuer, and is reportedly worth as much as $1 billion.
Daniel Yaw Miller said: “With the rise of women’s sport, and as sport itself becomes more diverse and inclusive, fashion brands can reach millions of viewers who can interact with athletes, teams and major competitions through advertising. “I realized that there was a person,” he said. , sports correspondent for The Business Of Fashion.
The fusion of sports and fashion is also sold in stores. Sports-related micro-trends, such as soccer scarves and vintage football shirts (which were all the rage during the Euros), frequently go mainstream. Elsewhere, collaborations between sports and fashion brands have become a safe bet for huge retail success. From Loewe’s partnership with On Running to Adidas’ sell-out collection with British designer Grace Wales Bonner to Nike activewear company is stepping up and introducing a touch of luxury. Develop a new customer base. But what makes collaboration successful in an increasingly saturated market? It’s simple. “It has to be authentic,” says Foday Dumbuya, founder of Labrum, which designed Arsenal FC’s new away kit and displayed the collection at the club’s stadium. “At Labrum we are real supporters of Arsenal and the game. We grew up with hopes and dreams of becoming footballers and idolized Ian Wright and Kanu. You can’t buy this.” he says.
The prejudice that the luxury sector is mixed with lower-end brands is being rejected in favor of a promising business model. “There is a general perception in the fashion industry that sports can be devalued, but sports partnerships (with athletes, teams, and sportswear brands) can be even more valuable if done right. “For example, LVMH’s big commitment to Hermès and the Olympics, and long-term collaborations with Martin Rose and Nike, all of which increase value while introducing the brand to new audiences and generations of consumers.” he says. “True long-term partnerships are very important, rather than one-off sports-inspired campaigns or collections. The market is already becoming saturated, so we can’t just release a gimmicky soccer jersey. It’s not enough anymore.”
Is there another way to create organic authenticity? Invite your brand ambassadors to not only front the campaign, but also participate in the creation of the collection. Whether it’s the one designed by Roger Federer for Uniqlo or the latest Dior lifestyle capsule co-designed by creative directors Kim Jones and Lewis Hamilton. “There is definitely a crossover, especially when it comes to driving innovation and technology. In the field of sports, we are always chasing innovative materials, technology is always advancing, and the fashion industry is constantly moving forward with the advancements. We really share what drives us,” Hamilton says of the collection’s launch. “We have created a collection that is over 80 percent sustainable and we will continue to build on that.”
It turns out that just like everyone else, fashion is also obsessed with sports. If you’ve ever been to Fashion Week, you know that the most enthusiastic phone-calling moments occur when athletes, not movie stars, appear on the scene. Well, maybe them and Cardi B.
