Co-Branding: a perspective of the co-branding strategies employed by Luxury Fashion Brands

Abstract

The adoption of co-branding has raised across different industries in the last decade. The highly competitive environment has favored the use of co-branding as repellent to threats emerging from a more and more complex market. For this reason, several companies are employing this strategy to target new consumers by increasing brand awareness as well as mitigating risks and reducing costs. The aim of this study is to understand what are the most important co-branding techniques used by Luxury Fashion brands, classifying the kind of partnerships involved and grasping how brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Versace deal with them in order to gain a significant benefit. Starting from a general overview of the literature about co-branding, the study will proceed with a focus on the whole Fashion industry explaining how co-branding has become a widespread reality for firms that operate in this sector, taking as example the most significant collaborations of recent years like the one that saw Louis Vuitton partnering up with the streetwear brand Supreme to produce an one-off collection and the one occurred between the Italian maison Versace and the fast-fashion retailer H&M. In addition, the study will offer a perspective on how consumers perceive the co-branded relationships in order to understand the critical aspects that must be taken into consideration to manage co- branding.