Opinion / Does K-pop have more selling power than Hollywood? Luxury fashion brands are ditching film stars for Korean idols – but collaborating with BTS or Blackpink doesn’t always guarantee success
This article is part of STYLE’s Inside Luxury column.
The value in luxury brands lies in the ability to tell stories. The best luxury brands are excellent at this. In my doctoral thesis “Decoding Luxury”, written about a decade ago, I showed how the Added Luxury Value that a brand provides its customers depends on the perception of that brand as being “luxury”. The latter depends a large extent on the brand story.
The “glam” factor can be key – making something appear extraordinary and outside our day-to-day routine or the normal way things are. It attaches a desire and an inspirational quality to luxury.
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More recently, Burberry started partnering with girl band Itzy, and Givenchy with Aespa. The list goes on and on.
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Brand ambassadors now have to appeal not only across the most complex mix of marketing channels ever, they also have to deeply integrate with brands, showcase their clothes and accessories as part of their lifestyle, create brand content, and – in the case of Kai – create even capsule collections and brand films.
The versatility needed to appeal to digitally savvy Gen Zers puts traditional Hollywood film stars at a disadvantage. The new generation craves new faces and new lifestyles – and this is where cosmopolitan and digitally native K-pop stars shine.
It’s another indicator that Gen Z is changing the face of luxury to something younger, more creative and more global. As a result, K-pop stars are the new heroes of luxury – at least for now. More traditional Western fashion influencers and supermodels are still in demand, but the trend is undeniable: more and more luxury brands will tap into Korean faces to connect their brands with Gen Z.
As a reflection of the trend, I have been asked to join two K-pop fan organisations on a Twitter Space discussion this month to take a deep dive into the phenomena and analyse the relationship between luxury and K-pop.
Some of the upfront audience questions indicate key areas of interest: why did Celine and Gucci choose Lisa and Kai respectively? How often are brands really open to integrating an ambassador as Gucci did with Kai in his video? What are the right metrics to monitor the success of such collaborations? Can luxury change the face of K-pop? What do brands look for when they scout ambassadors?
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These questions indicate potential red flags for luxury brands. Just because everyone is turning to K-pop stars does not mean that success is guaranteed. With every collaboration, brands must start with their brand positioning and partner with ambassadors that fit. Again and again this important criterion is not given enough attention, causing collaborations to fail. And the most important question of all is, if everyone has the same strategy, how can a specific brand stand out?
In this case, Gucci’s Kai collaboration is a best-in-class execution. Kai is deeply involved in the brand and his capsule collection sold out instantly across Asia with queues unseen in luxury fashion. When ambassadors become not just the face of a brand, but a creative force, then a collaboration can unleash its full potential. If it’s just a name drop, it won’t work with digitally savvy Gen Z. As Korean stars conquer luxury, brands need to do their homework even more than ever.
- The Golden Globes and Oscars once informed global style, as did brand ‘faces’ like Audrey Hepburn (for Tiffany & Co.) and James Bond actor Daniel Craig (for Omega)
- But Gen Z is all about Korean celebrities: think Exo’s Kai for Gucci, and Blackpink members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa for Dior, Chanel, Saint Laurent and Celine