I recently had the honor and pleasure of attending two panels: Hermès In the Making: A Conversation on Contemporary Relevance of Craftsmanship Practice in Chicago at the end of October and the Vogue Business Executive Summit virtual event yesterday.
The Hermès In the Making panel was between Guillaume De Seynes, the Executive VP of the Manufacturing Division and Equity Investment Hermès Investments at Hermès, Sébastien Fraisse, a Leatherworker at Hermès, Abby Bangser, the Founder and Creative Director of Object & Thing and was moderated by Rebecca Van Bergen the Founder of Nest. The panel went into Hermès's philosophy on craftsmanship. De Seynes, a 6th generation member of the Hermès family, described how Hermès chooses to go abroad for production, not for the cheaper cost but for the exclusive skills and technology that come from each corner of the world (please feel free to watch "Footsteps Across the World" to see more of the craftsmanship at Hermès).
Fraisse described the intersection of craftsmanship and AI at Hermès: Hermès is about slow fashion and expressing art through design, while AI is its antipode. Heck, it can take 25 hours just to make one handbag! However, Hermès does not refuse technology in its craftsmanship process. It has embraced adjustable table height equipment and laser-cutting machines. And Hermès believes that AI can help with creativity, but it cannot replace the creativity of someone. AI can spark ideas, give input, and answer big questions, but a product cannot rely solely on it.
At the Vogue Business Executive Summit, Hillary Miles, the Executive America Editor at Vogue Business, interviewed Patrice Louvet, the CEO and President of Ralph Lauren. Louvet explained that AI's place in fashion can be both operational and creative. Ralph Lauren uses traditional AI for demographic research and pricing strategies and generative AI to help create product descriptions and computer programming. I found this similar to how Hermès has been using AI because it works very much in tandem with its employees, their talent, and their creative minds.
What I found most interesting and most related to public relations was when Miles asked about Ralph Lauren's online shopping experience and how to make the branding translate to the internet. Louvet explains how the Ralph Lauren brand aligns more with that of Disney rather than other fashion brands in the sense that they create a story and a lifestyle with their clothes. In their ads and catalogs, they are selling a dream world - being cowboys in the Wild West or summering in the Hamptons - where the clothes are more considered props in the story as opposed to the main attraction. Louvet said to be a lifestyle brand; you need to sell a way of living rather than products.
When wanting to enter the Metaverse, Louvet knew he had to find a way to translate this branding into a fictional world. His driving force was grounded in customer experience. He didn't want the Ralph Lauren Metaverse store to be gimmicky while still bringing its branding online.
There is a clear connection between the Metaverse world and the Ralph Lauren brand centered around building its own world. Ralph Lauren partnered with Bitmoji to test the virtual waters. They designed a digital line of clothes for Bitmojis to wear, and over a billion aviators changed their clothes to a Ralph Lauren outfit. They did the same with Fortnite and designed digital and physical boots; both sold out. The goal for these types of partnerships was to be part of the new technological culture by integrating themselves into the world that is important to their consumers. And if that triggers a sale, that's great, but that's not the goal, said Louvet.
I believe these PR partnerships for Ralph Lauren are brilliant. It aligns beautifully with the Ralph Lauren world - who wouldn't want to be immersed in it? The storytelling that is rooted in Ralph Lauren's brand laid an incredible foundation for this partnership. I believe I've shared this before: the strategy of storytelling and selling a lifestyle rather than just products can be seen in multiple brands. Of course, Ralph Lauren, but also J. Crew. I read "The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew" by Maggie Bullock a few months ago. She went into detail about how J.Crew took branding to create a lifestyle brand and drew inspiration from Ralph Lauren. For example, J. Crew's photoshoots were active - "for every shoot, there was a destination, and for every destination, there were activities: ice-skating in the Adirondacks. Beach picnicking in the Hamptons. Skiing in Deer Valley." When entering its first retail space in 1989, J. Crew needed its stores to reflect the branding. Nearly two decades before, when Ralph Lauren opened its first store in 1971 on Rodeo Drive, the goal was for the store to feel like the customers were walking into Ralph's house, according to Louvet. This strategy holds true in 2023.
Entering the Metaverse and the age of AI is just as new and scary as opening a brand's first retail store - and just as important. I believe brands like Ralph Lauren and J. Crew have created an exceptional foundation for entering this new world. I think 'lifestyle' branding is a superb PR strategy and will help any brand transition into the Metaverse. And I believe staying true to one's brand and values is the only way to transition into AI. While Hermès has not yet (personally) dabbled in the Metaverse, I believe this privately-owned 'family business' has a good story to tell and a brilliant foundation to enter the digital age.
While today, most fashion jobs are merely enhanced by AI, the day will come when AI is more than just a helping hand to creatives. And I hope I'm wrong.
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