Timelessness is So Last Year According to BETC Luxe

For years, we’ve been looking to build timeless brands: convinced that luxury is defined by its capacity to withstand time. We read everywhere that luxury is found in what’s expensive, what shines, what gives a social status. But what if all of these principles are now outdated? Past their prime? And that today, the most accurate definition of luxury or, at least, a more interesting way of looking at luxury, is to consider that it is the opposite of timelessness. That the most powerful luxury brands are those which embody their era, their communities, their culture. Let’s call it the cultural footprint. 

It’s almost as if we applied the logic of the carbon footprint to brands and what surrounds them. In effect, the cultural footprint becomes the positive or negative impact that a brand has on its cultural environment. Which is something pretty extraordinary when you think about it. It is almost like the trail of a scent, like the trace you leave behind in a room. In the same way, a brand leaves a trace in its era, beyond its economic achievements and beyond the nature of its products or services. That’s true of every impactful brand, but particularly for luxury industries. 

Nobody is absolutely beautiful

As soon as we acknowledge that the most influential brands of our time have a cultural footprint, it becomes clear that it is as much a challenge as an opportunity. If they don’t master or control this cultural footprint, it can be devastating. Promoting a single vision of beauty around the world, forgetting about the plural and, ultimately, favouring one definition of femininity over another, is a very dangerous thing. Take the shift that took place in the 80s, when many brands portrayed glamour in a very restrictive manner. They came to appreciate that there was an issue of cultural impact, beyond the obvious business factors, if they kept on promoting this ‘absolute’ version of beauty. L’Oréal led the way by switching its famous line from, “Because I’m worth it”, to “Because we’re worth it,” allowing for a more realistic representation of beauty. 

L’Oréal ad from 1977 with the slogan: "Because you're worth it" (credit: flickr)

So what does that mean in practice? For luxury brands, it’s essential to decide what your cultural footprint should be, to shape and to sculpt it. People are demanding that brands have a point of view on society and that they act on it. Some brands, like the French luxury conglomerate LVMH, understood this early on, launching its Les Journées Particulières in 2013 – they’re now held every two years – in which its ateliers and production sites hold open days for the general public. Two years later, Prada made its entire digital archive – 28 years’ worth of collections – available to everyone by uploading it online. More recently, with our Soft is the new strong campaign for Eric Bompard, BETC Luxe established the cashmere brand as the ambassador of ‘soft power’ at a time when society needs it most.

“For luxury brands, it’s essential to decide what your cultural footprint should be, to shape and to sculpt it. People are demanding that brands have a point of view on society and act on it.”

Fashioning the right cultural footprint

In a way, the cultural footprint generates a cultural duty. When you reach a certain level of power and exposure as a brand, you owe it to yourself to give back to your era. And building a brand’s cultural footprint can be done in many ways. It’s about supporting new generations of artists, designers, and taking risks, making bold choices when it comes to the people you promote or those you collaborate with. Because it goes beyond patronage, it impacts on every level of your production or creative process. As a creative agency, we’ve taken this to heart, working with music video directors like Colin Tilley or up-and-coming music artists like Thomas Azier for Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. 

Yves Saint Laurent: La Nuit de L'Humme

But the cultural footprint can also be about making statements on art, on diversity, on equality. Ultimately, it’s about taking responsibility for your cultural duty as a brand.