Fashion Brands Look to Literature for Added Panache!
The latest fashion accessory this spring may well be a book. Clothing lines, from J.Crew to Prada, are adding literary accents to their collections this season. J.Crew hosted a literary salon, Yves Saint Laurent evoked Proust in its ad campaign, while M.M.LaFleur interviews authors for its magazine, The M Dash.
Why? Maria Costa, M.M.LaFluer’s director of brand marketing sums it up like this, “When we think of our customer, she’s intelligent, but not snooty…she is bookish.”
Prada, viewing literature as a tool, published a limited edition book, Ten Protagonists, a collection of short stories by Ottesssa Moshfegh. “Stories of women, invented by a woman,” says their press release, “add depth and meaning” to the Prada experience. Prada Group goes further with their “Room Prada” at the hotel Le Nuit et le Jour, which evokes a Proustian sense of place and memory.
The overlap of fashion and literature is not a sudden fad. Coco Chanel rubbed shoulders with Jean Cocteau and Colette. Karl Lagerfeld founded his Paris-based bookshop and library 7L in 1999. M.M.LaFleur’s magazine, The M Dash, has been around for twelve years.
In today’s world, reading connotes luxury; it can be seen as a way to demonstrate intelligence and more importantly, demonstrate the value of time. “[T]o have your own time is one of the greatest luxuries in the world,” said James Denman, a brand consultant specializing in luxury and fashion. “Reading—not always being online, not always being connected, not having the phone constantly next to you—has come to imply that you are just operating at a different level.” If you know of a fashion designer who has ventured off the beaten path and is expressing style in new and different ways, send them our way. WayWord Books would love to talk about making a joint fashion statement.