i'm amber. here is stuff.

you're no one unless you're talked about, Chanel.

I saw this full page ad on the back cover of Women’s Wear Daily last week, which apparently was not so much an ad, but “a note of information and entreaty to fashion editors, advertisers, copywriters, and other well-intentioned mis-users” of the Chanel name.

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Basically, what Chanel is saying is that they don’t want people to use their name unless they’re speaking directly about Chanel or it’s products, and ending this “entreaty” to the very people who contribute to the growth of their business with a thinly veiled legal threat.

This might be an argument that makes sense for some brands, but Chanel is one of the most iconic fashion brands in the world. Their interlocking C logo and their signature pieces that they repeat over and over- quilted bags, jackets with logo buttons – scream to the world that they want you to associate them with certain things. And when you’ve achieved such iconic status, you’ve got to expect that people are going to talk about you. They’ll compare other things to you and notice when others are influenced by you. Have we learned nothing from Gossip Girl?

Obviously, Chanel thinks being mentioned in this way is diluting their brand, but in fact, when fashion editors say a cardigan is “Chanel-esque”, they’re building the Chanel brand, not the copycat’s. They’re building aspiration and desire. And let’s face it — the people who are in a position to actually buy a Chanel cardigan will likely do just that, eschewing tributes and homages for actual Chanel, while people who can’t afford Chanel will be slightly mollified with their knockoff, but still wish for the real thing.

To own certain looks and items of clothing in such a way that these things will always be compared to the Chanel version, no matter who makes them, is certainly a feat. I think a lot of brands would love to be in this position. Look at the literary and film worlds – having an entire adjective dedicated to your style (Proustian, Kafkaesque, Hitchcockian) is a clear indicator of fame and reverence.

I guess I just can’t figure out why, if Chanel is so flattered by tributes to their name, they would want to reprimand and potentially punish the people paying them tribute?

xoxo…

Baggage can be a good thing.

Usually fashion brands make for horribly irrelevant branding examples.  After all, what's interesting about selling things that everyone already wants, using expensively shot photos of gorgeous people?  

Nothing, usually.  But recently, Louis Vuitton has gotten back to their roots as purveyors of luxury travel goods, and established what is proving to be an excellent creative platform focused on Journeys,  for the luggage part of their business.

The Wall Street Journal just covered the latest LV campaign focused on journeys, featuring astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Sally Ride and Jim Lovell.  The campaign (obviously) features an amazingly beautiful, Annie Leibovitz-shot photograph of the three space travelers.  But on the website, there's a video where you actually get to hear them discuss how they felt about traveling into space.  Not so innovative if you were watching the Discovery Channel, but for a category that relies on beautiful people to create desire for inanimate objects, it feels different.  

Other journeys featured on their site include a trip through Scotland with Sean Connery,  San Francisco with Francis Ford Coppola, and Marrakech with Sofia Coppola (whose voice is unfortunately very grating).

In an industry where the biggest "ad campaign" news is usually which model they're going to use, Louis Vuitton is using the very foundation of their brand to tell stories that are actually interesting.  The history of Louis Vuitton, which is covered in the book "Deluxe - How Luxury Lost it's Luster", begins with a journey. Louis Vuitton himself traveled 292 miles from his birthplace near the French Alps to Paris - which took him two years.  In Paris, he became an apprentice to a master trunk maker, and eventually started his own business, creating luggage for royalty, explorers, and all sorts of people going to faraway lands.

So what do this Journey platform say about the brand?  Well, it says that they know who they are.   Beyond all the Marc Jacobs designs, and Stephen Sprouse homages, and the college girls with tiny pouchettes over their shoulders (you know who you are/were), they're saying that at their core,  they are a company that appreciates the magnitude of the journeys we take in life.   They understand that the things you take with you on your journeys - the bag you pack, your passport case, your luggage tags - are all part of your travel experience, and that experience should be special.   And they're taking this understanding beyond ads - they've created city guides, and chosen partnerships that make sense, like creating bespoke luggage for Wes Anderson's movie The Darjeeling Limited.

(photo credit)

Arguably, they can definitely do more, and better things with this concept. (Admittedly, the videos take forever to load, but are beautiful and ultimately do their job). 

I guess what strikes me the most about their use of Journeys is that instead of telling you to buy a bag, they're telling you to take a trip.   And to bring that feeling of wanderlust - the best setting for their products - to the foreground,  they've chosen to create features and content that actually do make you want to buy a logoed & mongrammed suitcase,  pack it,  and take the next steamship (or spaceship) out of here.