Luxury’s Ramadan refresh: Artist collabs take center stage

Luxury brands across the spectrum are aggressively courting the Muslim market ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins the evening of February 17, by commissioning local artists to lead campaigns and design limited-edition products. Yet experts argue that despite this more open, collaborative approach in Muslim-majority nations, many brands continue to miss the mark, failing to deliver the genuine cultural connection consumers demand. Luxury goes local for Ramadan Luxury brands are no strangers to celebrating Ramadan, a major retail window worth $144 billion across Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. Retailers like Net-a-Porter and Farfetch have curated exclusive modest wear collections, while Louis Vuitton, Dior, and others have unveiled limited-time pop-up experiences across the Gulf Cooperation Council nations (GCC). What’s changed, however, is their approach. Brands are increasingly turning to artist collaborations amid growing influencer fatigue, seeking more authentic ways to connect with consumers, says Sonia Maghraoui, a luxury strategic advisor and brand consultant. They’re moving beyond transactional endorsements to forge creative partnerships that deliver genuine cultural resonance. “This cultural imperative is now critical across the GCC, whether in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Qatar, where national strategies place culture at the forefront. Consequently, we are witnessing a clear evolution, from which luxury brands are pivoting from monolithic global campaigns to nuanced, locally tailored initiatives, with Ramadan campaigns leading this shift,” Maghraoui tells Jing Daily. She adds that artist-brand partnerships serve as a powerful cultural conduit, giving brands not just access to a target community but credibility within the broader creative ecosystem. “Today’s clients are aware of influencer marketing mechanics, understanding that most endorsements are paid, often diluting credibility,” she explains. “This recognition is why art and culture have become more vital. You are aligning with artists who offer distinctive viewpoints and authentic narratives to share.” There are also deeper structural differences in how luxury brands approach cultural moments. Chloe Reuter, founder of the Abu Dhabi-based advisory firm Reuter Ventures, identifies a strategic divide: luxury brands typically treat Lunar New Year as a centralized global campaign with a singular theme, while Ramadan is managed as a regionally led season. This frames the month as a Middle East-centric moment, creating more room for localized expression. “Ramadan is fundamentally local,” Reuter says. “As a holy month, its cultural nuances vary deeply across the Muslim world. This demands campaigns that are not only respectful and values-driven but also meticulously executed on the ground. Success hinges on precise in-market strategies, from timing and retail operations to clienteling and crafting a seamless gifting journey into Eid [the festival marking the end of Ramadan].” The authenticity gap However, a fundamental gap remains. According to Reiting Lee, founder of boutique agency The Oriental Hybrid, marketing teams for Ramadan often lack full representation of the diverse Muslim community, resulting in campaigns that overlook cultural nuances. This contrasts with recent progress seen during the Lunar New Year, where major brands such as Bottega Veneta have demonstrated deeper cultural understanding. "The strategic disparity is stark. Most luxury brands approach Ramadan as a contained regional sales push, while Chinese New Year is elevated to a global brand moment. This fundamental difference dictates budget and creative risk, resulting in Ramadan campaigns that often reuse global assets with lower priority,” Lee explains. She continues, “Lunar New Year campaigns are typically led by a brand’s China headquarters or global marketing team and are directly integrated into core revenue forecasts. Meanwhile, Ramadan collections frequently appear in regional publications, not on a brand’s flagship global channels.” This shift acknowledges a new reality. As Taqua Malik, an Arabic cultural intelligence advisor, says, Muslim consumers, particularly in the Gulf, are no longer viewed as an emerging market. They are established tastemakers with global influence, and brands are now responding to this center of gravity. “Ramadan is not merely a retail moment; it is a month of heightened intentionality,” says Malik. “How people gather, gift, host, dress, and spend transforms. Brands that grasp this can engage with relevance, not just noise.” Malik argues that the fundamental mistake brands make is treating Ramadan as a transient holiday aesthetic rather than a season of values. Ramadan is relational at its core, characterized by open homes, expanded tables, and a generosity that is both public and deeply personal. To resonate authentically, luxury brands must move beyond product capsules, extending their strategy to hospitality and service, with collaboration built in from the start of the creative process. “The central question extends beyond whether brands involve Muslim collaborators to when and how they do so. If a consultant is brought in only at the end to ‘approve’ a campaign, that is merely risk management, not genuine collaboration,” she says. True partnership happens upstream: shaping the core concept, advising on cultural codes, and ensuring the work reflects lived experience, not just a mood board. Malik points to past backlashes, including the one against Tommy Hilfiger’s burkini, as a clear example of what can go wrong when this disconnect occurs. Local voices, global brands It’s not enough for brands to simply tap local artists; success comes from giving them real creative agency to showcase their work and authentically celebrate their culture. “Initiatives including Piaget’s collaboration with Saudi designer Razan Al Azzouni and Loro Piana’s capsule with Emirati artist Mattar Bin Lahej illustrate the trend. However, partnering with local talent is especially critical in markets such as Saudi Arabia, where a surge of creative confidence and young talent is reshaping the landscape, because the audience echoes more when something is “made with Saudi,’” Malik says. The trend is not limited to the Middle East. Similar collaborations are gaining momentum in Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim-majority population, and beyond. In 2024, Yfana Khadija Amelz was tapped to create Lacoste’s Ramadan campaign in Indonesia. For Amelz, such collaborations represent a vital opportunity for artists to authentically share their culture, localize a global brand’s narrative, and convey the true regional meaning of Ramadan. The collaboration was facilitated by Mitra Adiperkasa, the official distributor for Lacoste in Indonesia, who approached Amelz. They presented the concept, referencing Lacoste’s prior 2023 partnership with RexChouk. For her iteration, Amelz developed the full campaign and designed a complimentary tote bag for a special event celebrating Ramadan in the country. “The opportunities were always present, even without luxury brands. What has changed is the scale. The avenues for illustrators and the wider creative ecosystem in Indonesia are now undeniably vast,” Amelz shares. Franka Soeria, co-founder of the Indonesian modest fashion consultancy Markamarie, asserts that collaborating with local artists is imperative for true localization. It also aligns with broader business imperatives, with over three-quarters of global leaders citing deep personalization as invaluable to their business’ success. “This local collaboration is crucial. Imported trends often lack a sense of closeness. Initially, brand campaigns for Ramadan felt very generic. Now, working with local artists is how brands distinguish themselves. It creates a unique signature so that once an artist is associated with one brand here, others may seek a different voice [to represent the brand],” Soeria explains. Still, she notes, another challenge remains for luxury brands. Their efforts to engage the Muslim community often fall short because they face established, non-luxury local competitors in markets like Indonesia. These homegrown brands have long catered to Muslim consumers with a more intuitive understanding of suitable fabrics and the nuanced principles of modesty, setting a high bar for authentic relevance. “The problem arises when brands try to interpret modesty only from their own viewpoint. The outcome often feels forced and strange. Thus, there's no need to reinvent this into something half-cultural and half-modern because the authentic expression already exists,” she added. Progress is being made, but the path is gradual. While Ramadan collections are evolving beyond superficial aesthetics through meaningful local collaborations, achieving a profound and nuanced understanding of the Muslim community remains an essential, ongoing pursuit.

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Luxury’s Ramadan refresh: Artist collabs take center stage