Digitalization in the luxury fashion industry. A case study on two major fashion houses and their branding strategies in a suddenly digital landscape

In this digital age, most industries are increasingly adopting new technologies, while others are considering social media as an essential part of their daily operations. Despite its conservative and elitist nature, the luxury fashion industry is no exception to the rule. In the past decade, the most important fashion houses were seen to implement digital means into their fashion shows, and use social media in a more creative manner to connect with their consumers. However, these practices were mostly seen as experimental; only up until the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, where the luxury fashion industry was faced with the need to digitalize all operations in order to stay afloat. Hence, this study aims to investigate how major fashion houses are shifting their existing branding strategies into fully digital activities, in response to the 2020 pandemic. Two case studies were chosen for their international influence in the industry: Louis Vuitton and Gucci. A thematic analysis was performed with data from March 2020 until this day, and consisted of 60 newspapers articles coming from important fashion publications – such as, the Business of Fashion and Vogue – as well as nine public interviews of Louis Vuitton and Gucci’s insiders found on YouTube. The aim of using two different sources is to triangulate the data between journalistic analysis and fashion insiders’ perspectives. Results of this study showed that despite being similar their image of luxury fashion benchmarks, Louis Vuitton and Gucci dealt with the Covid-19 issues in a different way. While Louis Vuitton engaged in immediate digital changes, resulting in commercial success in difficult times, it took more time for Gucci to rebound from the pandemic; as a matter of fact, Gucci rose to the top again when the brand started to successfully combine an efficient use of social media and digital shows with a return to a more traditional brand signature. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of luxury fashion branding in the context of (post-)Covid-19 challenges linked to the digitalization of the industry; between traditions, heritage and digital innovation.