Can luxury play the sports game right?

When Italian tennis champion Jannik Sinner stepped out onto the court at Wimbledon in July last year, it set off a seismic shift across sports and luxury. Slung comfortably over his right shoulder, the athlete’s custom-made, Gucci monogram duffle broke the competition’s 146-year status quo of an all-white uniform. It also ignited a flame in fashion brands – sports events could be a runway too. Since Sinner’s watershed moment on the court, the bond between athletic organizations and luxury maisons has firmly tightened, propelling both sports and their players to the fore of fashion. “Luxury brands are expanding into sport because sport is so important to modern culture,” Joe Hale, founder of Verde, a digital marketing agency specializing in sports, luxury and fashion, tells Jing Daily. “Athletes are now more than athletes, they are celebrities, influencers, founders, CEOs, and sports clubs are more than just a club, they are a branding powerhouse.” Close allies In 2024, momentum will continue to build, particularly during July’s Paris Olympics where LVMH will play its role as a Premium Partner. The partnership, announced last July, has seen the luxury colossus appoint athletes, including gymnast Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos and fencer Enzo Lefort, as maison ambassadors for Dior and Louis Vuitton. LVMH-owned jeweler Chaumet will design the Olympic and Paralympic medals, while Moët Hennessy’s wines and spirits labels are supplying the event’s hospitality programs. Thanks to LVMH’s involvement, the Games are poised to be more fashion-heavy than ever. It’s a maneuver that will boost the event’s sartorial allure, and likely also steer more fashion purists tune in. “It solidifies that the Olympics is not just a sporting moment but a cultural moment too. It means that non-sporting fans can take a wider interest in the games, without their interest having to be solely down to the sports themselves,” says Hale. Widening cultural appeal Online, the convergence was one of the hottest topics on social media last year. According to influencer marketing agency Lefty, sports and fashion collaborations raked in $78.5 million in earned media value in the first three quarters of 2023 alone. As sports cements its place in the fashion zeitgeist, its cultural sway is trickling into new domains. This year will see Irish designer Jonathan Anderson take on the role as costume designer for director Luca Guadagnino’s widely-anticipated ‘Challengers’ film, fronted by Hollywood heavyweight Zendaya. The film arrives at an apt point in time for Anderson; last August, his namesake label teamed up with former tennis player Roger Federer on an exclusive Uniqlo capsule collection. Anderson’s participation in the movie already has style enthusiasts presaging a ‘Tenniscore’ boom; a trend that has steadily been gaining traction since the summer of 2022. Last year also saw fashion fixate on Formula One (F1), with labels including Louis Vuitton and Chanel releasing their own inspired collections. Muses such as Lewis Hamilton (who has worked closely alongside exalted stylist Law Roach), and Zhou Guanyu evolved into walking billboards on and off the track, while fashion weeks were inundated with street style snaps of F1-inspired looks. “Luxury brands, like any other brands, constantly seek to expand business,” Kristian Anderson, Consulting Creative Director at ISPO, the world's biggest trade show platform for sports and outdoors, tells Jing Daily. “The sports sector is unique because of its talented sports stars and its broad appeal across culture, beliefs, traditions, and point of view. If approached successfully, it's almost an unlimited "new" market of consumers.” Hale cites media deities like Netflix behind the upswing in interest. “The popularity [of these sports] reaches new viewers through platforms such as Netflix, who’s released both F1 and tennis-related documentaries amongst other sports. Coupled with how accessible these athletes are now through social media, the sport grows, eventually becoming a marketing opportunity for brands, especially luxury brands appealing to younger audiences,” he says. It’s also a chance for brands to diversify their design prowess. Under its Special Projects initiative, Prada has harnessed sports as an avenue to demonstrate its adroitness beyond the catwalk; from designing uniforms for the 37th America’s Cup to spacesuits for NASA’s upcoming Artemis 3 Space Mission, slated to take flight later this year. China’s domestic darlings In the East, China’s competitive local sports and luxury fashion landscape is also accelerating. “Supporting local teams and working with athletes is a strategy luxury brands should focus on, enabling them to have a stronger bond with their consumer audience in specific cities like Chengdu or Harbin," Anaïs Bournonville, co-founder of French-Chinese creative marketing agency Reverse Group, tells Jing Daily. Prada has been strengthening its links with the mainland’s athletics industry. The brand became the official partner of China’s Women’s National Football Team last June; a union that received an overwhelmingly positive response from netizens. “The decision of Prada to become the official partner of China’s Women National Football team was a smart move. They identified the ‘why’ of the collaboration, which is that the team can serve as a source of inspiration for young female athletes in China,” Bournonville continues. The country’s sportswear market is also booming thanks, in part, to its homegrown influencers. The sector generated a media impact value of $1.8 billion in 2022, an increase of 52 percent year on year, according to Launchmetrics’ sportswear report. However, it's the sports celebrities that are still commanding the most attention. Beloved athletes (including Western personalities) have become a valuable ingress for brands who want to crack the Chinese market. In August last year, NBA basketball player James Harden sold 10,000 bottles of his own wine company in 10 seconds via Douyin livestream, which attracted more than 15 million viewers. A retail slam-dunk Coinciding with luxury’s sports frenzy, sports apparel and fashion brands have been significantly outperforming the rest of the global market since pre-pandemic, according to McKinsey & Co, with forecasts suggesting that the sportswear segment could soar to approximately $249 billion dollars by 2026. A rise in subcultural trends like ‘blokette’ and ‘gorpcore’ is also whetting consumer appetite for more sports-centric silhouettes. Brands like Stella McCartney and Loewe are listening intently. McCartney’s tie-up with Adidas on Arsenal Women’s football kit last September went down well with both sports fanatics and buzzy style influencers. “It could be worn to one of their matches, but could also be dressed up as a piece of premium streetwear,” Hale adds. Women’s football is poised to be a lucrative area of opportunity for brands this year. Consulting firm Deloitte predicts that revenue from elite women’s sports in 2024 will surpass $1 billion, up 300 percent from its 2021 forecast, noting the Women’s World Cup as a catalyst. In Loewe’s case, the house’s collaboration with On Running remains in-demand, with statistics from StockX reporting that sales of the brand have skyrocketed by 15,000 per cent in the past year alone. So what’s the recipe to a well-executed, and durable, sports-fashion partnership? Joe Hale, of Verde, believes that brands should avoid pigeonholeing themselves to one event or club, instead considering the whole gamut of sports as a creative playing field. “The success lies in making luxury fashion more accessible to the sports fan," says Hale, "whilst also tapping into sport and culture for the fashion enthusiast." Key takeaways: Jannik Sinner's bold move at last year's Wimbledon with a custom Gucci duffle triggered a transformation across sports and luxury. This convergence has since become a powerful influence on both sports events and fashion brands. LVMH's partnership with the Paris Olympics solidifies the intertwining of sports and fashion, reflecting a trend where the Olympics become a cultural spectacle beyond just a sporting event. The convergence of sports and fashion has become a hot topic on social media, with collaborations earning significant media value. The trend is also spilling over into other domains, such as film. Luxury brands are tapping into the broad appeal of sports, leveraging athletes' influence and the accessibility provided by platforms like Netflix. This move not only broadens the market for luxury brands but allows them to showcase their design prowess in unconventional areas. In China, the connection between sports and luxury is accelerating. Luxury brands are strategically partnering with local teams and athletes to strengthen their bond with consumers in specific cities

Can luxury play the sports game right?

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Published January 24, 2024

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Can luxury play the sports game right?