[008] Luxury fashion's Gen Z strategy should be yours too
Plus the best brand content this week.
Hello victims 👋
It’s Wednesday!
Today I’m diving into how luxury fashion brands are the perfect example of why we can’t keep saying “Gen Z isn’t our audience” when it comes to consumer facing products.
You’ll also find some recent brand and trending content - but if you want the FULL wrap up for the week, you’ll have to wait until next Monday (here’s the Monday dispatch from earlier in the week ICYMI).
In today’s newsletter:
Luxury fashion brands are the perfect example of why brands need to adopt social-first marketing that speaks to Gen Z
Good brand content for your eyeballs
Social Media & Tech news (they relate to one another, I swear!)
What I’m watching this week
Let’s get into it!
Deep Dive: Miu Miu, Prada, Marc Jacobs and Coach are a reminder of why Gen Z matters for heritage brands
I was recently talking shop with a friend of mine who works on the social team at a company that is a household name with a long history (let’s just leave it at that), when they said:
“We’re not cool enough for Gen Z - which is fine, because they’re not our target audience anyway”.
I hear this a lot: “we aren’t “cool” in the eyes of Gen Z”, or even “we don’t really care” - because right now, Gen Z isn’t the target audience for that brand.
I always have the same response: they’re not your target audience yet.
As they say: the only certain things in this life are death and taxes. We’re all getting older, and for heritage brands in particular, Gen Z will someday become the 30-something consumer you want shopping from your brand.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the luxury fashion market
Gen Z’s relationship to luxury (and brands as a whole) is fundamentally different to any generation that came before: they’re less loyal, more critical and extremely price conscious.
They’re not convinced that more money = better quality, and the explosion of dupe culture on TikTok means that while they want to exude “quiet luxury”, they don’t necessarily want to spend on it.
Some would say this makes sense: young people don’t have the money to buy a luxury bag! Of course they’re not interested in shopping at Chanel.
While other luxury brands descend into crisis mode, those targeting Gen Z are seeing record growth
According to Bain and Company, Q1 sales for luxury brands in 2025 are expected to have seen a slide between 1% and 3%.
In short: the big legacy brands (Gucci, Armani etc) are worried.
However, four brands in particular are bucking this trend: MiuMiu, Prada, Marc Jacobs and Coach.
Marc Jacobs saw a 25% sales increase YoY in 2024
In Q3 2024, Miu Miu’s sales surged by 105% year-over-year, which the brand has credited to their popularity with Gen Z
MiuMiu was named “hottest brand in the world” by influential search site Lyst for the second year running in 2024
Coach has come back from the brink of disaster and experienced double digit sales growth since focusing on a Gen Z strategy and releasing more accessible priced bags
Prada has outperformed high-end fashion rivals in the two most recent quarters (the Prada group also owns MiuMiu, FYI)
The Myth of “Not Our Audience”
Smart brands think long-term, because today’s 24-year-old is tomorrow’s high earner.
Gen Z shoppers unable to afford a Prada bag might save up for a pair of sunglasses as an entry point product - and when they hit middle manager status, they’ll pull the trigger on their first designer bag purchase.
The aforementioned brands aren’t completely abandoning their Millennial, Gen X and Baby Boomer customers. But they understand that they’ve already built loyalists in those groups, and it’s time to start building social currency with the next generation.
Okay so…what’s the social media connection here?
Social Media is the first point of connection many young consumers will make with a brand. They’re not reading magazines or watching TV, they’re scrolling on TikTok.
Prada, MiuMiu and Coach have all tapped into the Gen Z zeitgeist by:
Leaning into Y2K nostalgia through both product and content (important in what feels like an unstable economic climate - I wrote about this recently!)
Embracing extremely nimble creator marketing - working with the celebrities of the moment, like Sydney Sweeney for MiuMiu. Marc Jacobs in particular has a knack for working with creators the same week they blow up on social media
Creating campaigns that start on social media (instead of social being a trickle-down point)
Collaborating with other Gen Z favourite brands for an accessible entry point- the MiuMiu x New Balance collab is a good example of this
Social-first isn’t optional anymore, even for legacy brands
What we’re seeing go down in the luxury fashion space should be a warning for all heritage brands. A social-first strategy isn’t just about content, it’s about brand relevance.
Nutter Butter proves that even legacy pantry staples can grab Gen Z’s attention by being self-aware, unhinged, and plugged into internet culture.
What This Means for Brands
If you're not building for your future audience, someone else is. The brands that thrive will be the ones who understand that you have to earn cultural relevance with every single brand.
If that wasn’t true, I’d believe my Dad when he says Imperial Leather is a great soap brand (tbh the name alone triggers me).
The best content I saw from brands - keep your eyes peeled for a bumper edition on Monday! (Here’s last Monday’s for reference).
Meshki spotlighting their IG Broadcast channel members - will there ever be a week where I don’t link a Meshki post? Who’s to say. This was sweet, heartfelt and most importantly: focused on community (we love when brands are outwardly focused). The big question: was the creative AI generated, or did they really go to the effort of printing a book, underlining key phrases and more? My guess is the former, but if anyone has an inside source, LMK.
The herdsman market - I’d never heard of this market before I saw this video, but now I want to know more. This brilliant edit will probably kick off a trend tbh - it was funny and highly original, and the comments are proof that it struck a chord.
Fayt the label addressed a troll calling their community group a “ploy” by showing the level of work that goes into a community event. This video showed the level of heart the brand puts into events to reward loyal customers, and as a result generated significant reach and engagement from people impressed by founder Brittney Saunders’ efforts. Fayt has an excellent social presence driven by Brittney, who lifts the veil on what it takes to grown and run a brand.
The content that has stopped my scroll lately…
This painful sounding tumble the top comment being “is your neighbor the tin man” had me chortling.
This user asking people why they stopped using Rent The Runway - when I lived in the US I was obsessed with RTR and Nuuly. Seeing the comments from previous RTR subscribers had me hoping RTR saw this video and was taking note. The best market research is often social listening!
This creator finally finding a chic city summer shoe - I avidly followed this journey for a few days and saved it for Aussie summer. A perfect example of how a moment can take off on TikTok and have a true ripple effect - at the time of writing, the shoe is sold out on the Camper site.
All the social news you may have missed! FYI: on Monday’s I send a comprehensive wrap of the previous week’s news :)
The NYT ran a piece titled “influencing without influencers”
A very interesting story diving into how brands are leaning towards hiring in house “creators” to be the face of a brand, making in-office content. Vogue, Damson Madder and Poppi were all named in the piece. I wouldn’t call this news for anyone working in social, but it was interesting to see some of the in-house talent interviewed and mentioning how burnt out they are :( it’s hard out here for the social girlies.
Nearly 4 out of 10 influencers have considered quitting due to burnout
According to a survey featured in The Guardian, creators are feeling burnt out and ready to quit - thanks to a relentless algorithm that prioritises new and fresh content! I can’t help but wonder if we’ll see a rise of creators re-entering the workforce, craving a work day that ends at 5pm (this isn’t a new trend, but one I expect to rise).
Trump has allegedly found a US buyer for TikTok
Emphasis on the “allegedly” part. Watch this space.
That’s it for now!
If you liked this newsletter, I’d love it if you let me know, or even shared it with a friend. If you hated it, let me know too! Hatred fuels me :)