“Collabs” seem to be the new marketing strategy for businesses. There have always been brands willing to get out of their original territory, but this was pretty unusual and the first intention was more to stick to an event (such as Roland Garros or a Walt Disney movie release). Today, these brands are no longer rare. Visit a department store in September and you’ll see it with your own eyes.

OL soccer club went into partnership with the jeans maker Kaporal for the brand’s 15th birthday and the club’s 120th birthday. Why not. Saint James, the traditional clothing brand from Brittany, got together with in-vogue rapper Orelsan’s fashion brand Avnier. Even more surprising is the association of Guerlain and Le Coq Sportif (the second, though…) and their zipped jacket with the aesthetic codes of the Little Black Dress, the house’s iconic look. Confusing… The eco-friendly shoes brand Veja coupled with the kids apparel brand Bonton. To celebrate the 100th years of Coca-Cola in France, Celio launched a mini collection inspired by the 1970s. Not to mention partnerships with Netflix shows: Diesel with La Casa de Papel and Nike with Stranger Things…

Can a fashion brand live without a partner? The more distant the partner, the more modern it looks. This is the secret. To hit the headlines. Obviously. To reach new targets. For sure. To ensure the brand’s vitality. Indisputably. And to secure market shares in jeopardy by the growing will to reduce consumption… To make the buzz has become strategic, which is also typical of how brands attract consumers’ attention and how buyers see consumption. Because they no longer buy to get a product or a brand. What they want is to belong to a community. Not a traditional social group, but a tribe sharing the same aesthetic vision of the world. A tribe that wishes to state loud and clear its modernity by disrupting usual codes.

A symbol of affirmation less explicit than a logo – but a very powerful one.