CAMPAIGNS

Luxury’s Take on International Women’s Day

by

Charlotte Wooding

|

This is the featured image caption
Credit: This is the featured image credit

With the buzz surrounding International Women’s Day last week, several luxury brands rallied support for the female cause to connect with consumers through their shared vision of gender equality.

Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.

PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.

In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”

The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris

With the buzz surrounding International Women’s Day last week, several luxury brands rallied support for the female cause to connect with consumers through their shared vision of gender equality.

From future-focused initiatives boosting women’s rights, to new promotions that put the female cause at their heart, brands are stepping up to empower women whilst responding to consumer demand for more pro-female conversations. And with women influencing 70 – 80% of all purchases, engaging more effectively with this lucrative consumer base is an opportunity not to be taken lightly.

Yet there’s still a huge job to be done, especially when it comes to marketing. Recent research on the “21st Century Woman” from Partners Andrews Aldridge found that 76% of women believe that brands don’t represent them properly and a staggering 85% believe that brands should be doing more to change that. And that’s with 40% of women citing brands as a major reason to be self-critical.

It’s time for brands to help change preconceptions and voice support for their female consumers. Affluent women are highly educated and smart shoppers. They are looking for luxury brands to embrace their mindset and reflect their values. By advocating women’s rights, brands can present themselves as socially conscious whilst also building more meaningful relationships with their customers.

With this in mind, we look at some of the steps that luxury brands are taking to inspire, celebrate and empower women.

Role models to lead the way

Gucci chose to mark International Women’s Day with an inspiring partnership between Chime for Change, their international campaign to empower women and girls, and Global Citizen, a group striving to end extreme poverty by 2030. Together they published a full-page ad in a number of publications including The New York Times, featuring an open letter stressing the importance of gender equality worldwide. The letter is signed by more than 25 high-profile personalities, including Chime for Change co-founders Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Salma Hayek Pinault.

While some brands looked to the future for change, others honoured women who have already made a difference. A decade after LVMH began its internal EllesVMH program to promote women in leadership positions, the luxury conglomerate has established a new series of awards to recognise houses that are working to promote gender equality. LVMH awarded its first EllesVMH prize on March 8th, with the winner receiving an award designed for the occasion by sculptor Nathalie Decoster.

Alongside the ceremony, LVMH also held an exhibit at its headquarters of daily brand initiatives striving for equality.

On the social side, Michael Kors took a personal approach by spotlighting nine inspirational women on its Instagram, Facebook and Twitter channels. These included Vogue editor Anna Wintour, actress Kate Hudson, and Mr. Kors’ mother, Joan.

What women want

Handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff and FEED’s Lauren Bush Lauren joined forces to celebrate girl power on the March 8th, with a collaboration of three bags that give back. With each purchase, the FEED foldover clutch provides 37 meals, the unlined cross-body provides 62 meals and the whipstitch tote provides 74 meals.

Rebecca Minkoff and FEED’s Lauren Bush. Image courtesy: Vogue.com

The bags, made of a tapestry material hand-loomed in India, are 100 percent cotton and feature a black, ecru and yellow print with a soft black pebble leather trim. The collection is being sold at Minkoff’s stores, rebeccaminkoff.com, feedprojects.com and at Nordstrom in the US.

Another mention must go to Birchbox. The beauty subscription service launched a variety of initiatives around the “Day Without a Woman” strike planned to combat the wage gap. The company offered a 20.4% discount — in recognition of the gender pay gap — which was applied to all purchases on the day.

Birchbox also partnered with The Girl Project, an organisation dedicated to ensuring that girls everywhere have access to quality secondary education, and has committed to donate 5,000 boxes plus a year of tuition for 35 first-generation students in developing countries.

It’s inspiring to see brands addressing such far-reaching issues such as gender equality in order to connect with and inspire their customers. However, marketers shouldn’t jump on the equality bandwagon simply because other brands are doing so. It’s essential for them to consider how the cause feeds into their long-term vision and how they can make a genuine commitment both inside and outside their organisation.

After all, gender equality benefits our entire society. So let’s make sure it continues to be on peoples’ agendas long after International Women’s Day is over.

Image Courtesy: beyonce.com

Charlotte Wooding
Charlotte Wooding

Marketing Manager, Microsoft

Charlotte is Marketing Manager at Cocoon, which is a global marketing offering that facilitates connections between luxury brands and their consumers. Cocoon understands the unique relationships, networks and cultures in the luxury space – and how to navigate them. So as well as providing tailored, high-quality marketing activity, it is uniquely placed to forge potential partnerships between high-net-worth individuals and brands working within the sector.

CAMPAIGNS

Luxury’s Take on International Women’s Day

by

Charlotte Wooding

|

This is the featured image caption
Credit : This is the featured image credit

With the buzz surrounding International Women’s Day last week, several luxury brands rallied support for the female cause to connect with consumers through their shared vision of gender equality.

Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.

PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.

In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”

The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris

With the buzz surrounding International Women’s Day last week, several luxury brands rallied support for the female cause to connect with consumers through their shared vision of gender equality.

From future-focused initiatives boosting women’s rights, to new promotions that put the female cause at their heart, brands are stepping up to empower women whilst responding to consumer demand for more pro-female conversations. And with women influencing 70 – 80% of all purchases, engaging more effectively with this lucrative consumer base is an opportunity not to be taken lightly.

Yet there’s still a huge job to be done, especially when it comes to marketing. Recent research on the “21st Century Woman” from Partners Andrews Aldridge found that 76% of women believe that brands don’t represent them properly and a staggering 85% believe that brands should be doing more to change that. And that’s with 40% of women citing brands as a major reason to be self-critical.

It’s time for brands to help change preconceptions and voice support for their female consumers. Affluent women are highly educated and smart shoppers. They are looking for luxury brands to embrace their mindset and reflect their values. By advocating women’s rights, brands can present themselves as socially conscious whilst also building more meaningful relationships with their customers.

With this in mind, we look at some of the steps that luxury brands are taking to inspire, celebrate and empower women.

Role models to lead the way

Gucci chose to mark International Women’s Day with an inspiring partnership between Chime for Change, their international campaign to empower women and girls, and Global Citizen, a group striving to end extreme poverty by 2030. Together they published a full-page ad in a number of publications including The New York Times, featuring an open letter stressing the importance of gender equality worldwide. The letter is signed by more than 25 high-profile personalities, including Chime for Change co-founders Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Salma Hayek Pinault.

While some brands looked to the future for change, others honoured women who have already made a difference. A decade after LVMH began its internal EllesVMH program to promote women in leadership positions, the luxury conglomerate has established a new series of awards to recognise houses that are working to promote gender equality. LVMH awarded its first EllesVMH prize on March 8th, with the winner receiving an award designed for the occasion by sculptor Nathalie Decoster.

Alongside the ceremony, LVMH also held an exhibit at its headquarters of daily brand initiatives striving for equality.

On the social side, Michael Kors took a personal approach by spotlighting nine inspirational women on its Instagram, Facebook and Twitter channels. These included Vogue editor Anna Wintour, actress Kate Hudson, and Mr. Kors’ mother, Joan.

What women want

Handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff and FEED’s Lauren Bush Lauren joined forces to celebrate girl power on the March 8th, with a collaboration of three bags that give back. With each purchase, the FEED foldover clutch provides 37 meals, the unlined cross-body provides 62 meals and the whipstitch tote provides 74 meals.

Rebecca Minkoff and FEED’s Lauren Bush. Image courtesy: Vogue.com

The bags, made of a tapestry material hand-loomed in India, are 100 percent cotton and feature a black, ecru and yellow print with a soft black pebble leather trim. The collection is being sold at Minkoff’s stores, rebeccaminkoff.com, feedprojects.com and at Nordstrom in the US.

Another mention must go to Birchbox. The beauty subscription service launched a variety of initiatives around the “Day Without a Woman” strike planned to combat the wage gap. The company offered a 20.4% discount — in recognition of the gender pay gap — which was applied to all purchases on the day.

Birchbox also partnered with The Girl Project, an organisation dedicated to ensuring that girls everywhere have access to quality secondary education, and has committed to donate 5,000 boxes plus a year of tuition for 35 first-generation students in developing countries.

It’s inspiring to see brands addressing such far-reaching issues such as gender equality in order to connect with and inspire their customers. However, marketers shouldn’t jump on the equality bandwagon simply because other brands are doing so. It’s essential for them to consider how the cause feeds into their long-term vision and how they can make a genuine commitment both inside and outside their organisation.

After all, gender equality benefits our entire society. So let’s make sure it continues to be on peoples’ agendas long after International Women’s Day is over.

Image Courtesy: beyonce.com

Charlotte Wooding
Charlotte Wooding

Marketing Manager, Microsoft

Charlotte is Marketing Manager at Cocoon, which is a global marketing offering that facilitates connections between luxury brands and their consumers. Cocoon understands the unique relationships, networks and cultures in the luxury space – and how to navigate them. So as well as providing tailored, high-quality marketing activity, it is uniquely placed to forge potential partnerships between high-net-worth individuals and brands working within the sector.

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