Prada x Jordan Wolfson \u00a9 Prada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n <\/p>\n
These examples do not reflect a rejection of innovation. They reveal an expectation of coherence<\/b>. Visible innovation without a purpose undermines perception<\/b>. Reproducible innovation makes no difference.<\/b> Familiar innovation immediately ceases to signal something rare.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This is where the confusion with fashion becomes problematic<\/b>. Fashion absorbs, tests, accelerates. Luxury operates in the opposite way.<\/strong> It does not follow the times; it traverses them. The Houses that have weathered the recent period best are not those that have sought most to demonstrate their technological advancement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Bottega Veneta, Loewe<\/b> have continued to incorporate innovations, but without showcasing them as proof. The focus is no longer on modernity. It is on consistency.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Renewing from within<\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
The shift underway stems from a simple tension: how to integrate the new without undermining what endures.<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For a decade, luxury has played by the rules of the attention economy<\/b>: producing images, capturing the gaze, demonstrating its modernity. This model is reaching its limits<\/b>. Not because it no longer works, but because it no longer differentiates. What is emerging is part of an economy of presence. Value no longer lies solely in being seen, but in the quality of the experience.<\/b> The customer no longer seeks to be impressed; they seek to be connected. The more artificial the environment becomes, the more the perception of reality becomes a criterion for choice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In this context, innovation consists less in adding than in transforming what already exists.<\/b> The word itself indicates this. Innovare<\/b>, in Latin, does not mean to create something new. It means \u201cto renew from within<\/b>.\u201d To shift without breaking.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nEtro campaign Spring-Summer 2024 \u00a9 Etro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n <\/p>\n
This involves rethinking practices<\/b>\u2014not to simplify them, but to make them more appropriate. It also involves territories<\/b>: luxury<\/b> is no longer limited to the product or the boutique; it extends into gastronomy, hospitality, and culture, provided that these extensions reinforce the House\u2019s coherence<\/b> rather than diluting it. Through customer journeys, which should be enriched rather than multiplied, giving depth to every interaction. And above all, through time: reintroducing the long-term perspective where efficiency has gradually eroded it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At Herm\u00e8s<\/b>, artificial intelligence is not put on display. It is overseen by a dedicated governance committee<\/b>, with precise operational metrics. AI is neither a product nor a campaign, nor an external signal. It is treated as an internal discipline. This is exactly what renewing from within means.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Amplify without showing off<\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
Innovation in luxury is now organized around three dimensions<\/b>, whose relative weight is shifting.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The first is about making an impression<\/b>. It captures attention, fuels communication, and projects an image of modernity. It remains useful, but is no longer enough to create lasting value, precisely because it is reproducible. Here, an innovation is only valuable for its moment<\/b>. When a House is the first to explore a territory<\/b>, it creates a breakthrough. When it arrives later, it often merely follows a trend. In the first case, innovation generates value. In the second, it tends to dilute it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The second approach involves enhancement<\/b>. This is where AI<\/b> finds its place in luxury: not as a substitute tool, but as a lever for intensification<\/b>. It does not produce in place of human effort. It prepares, connects, and refines. At Zegna<\/b>, in partnership with Microsoft, AI operates upstream. It enables consultants to structure their customer knowledge, anticipate visits, and adjust their recommendations. The gesture remains human. The relationship remains central. But it gains in precision.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nZegna x Microsoft \u00a9Zegna<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n <\/p>\n
This is where the fine line lies. A visible, replacement-oriented AI suggests that creation can be produced without effort, without time, without gesture\u2014something the luxury sector cannot afford to imply. Conversely, an integrated, discreet AI that supports the employee operates where the customer cannot see it, yet feels its effects<\/b>. The question, therefore, is not whether to use AI, but where it enhances without altering.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The third reveals. It does not consist of introducing a visible novelty, but of transforming perception<\/b>. An innovation that is not measured in features, but in a shift in perspective. Soneva<\/b>, a hotel group positioned around discreet, experiential luxury, offers the clearest illustration of this. The experience relies neither on a spectacular effect nor on differentiating technology. It acts on the relationship with time, silence, and attention.<\/b> It slows things down, disconnects, and reorganizes the guest\u2019s priorities during and after their stay. Bare luxury fits into this logic: not accumulating signs of luxury, but stripping them away to reinforce what matters.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The proof that such innovation has worked is not that it is noticed. It is thatthe guest leaves changed<\/b> without quite knowing why. This type of transformation<\/b> can neither be standardized nor compared. And this is precisely what will become decisive<\/b>. The rise of AI<\/b>, and more specifically of agentic systems, will make this shift more apparent. In the future, part of the customer journey will no longer begin on Google, Instagram, or in-store, but in interfaces capable of comparing, filtering, and ranking offers on the customer\u2019s behalf<\/b>: price, availability, delivery times, materials, and similar alternatives. This shift is already underway: nearly 58% of searches today are influenced by recommendation algorithms or AI-driven environments.<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As Business of Fashion and McKinsey anticipate in the State of Fashion 2026, AI no longer merely influences choice: it structures it<\/b>. In this context, anything that can be compared tends to become interchangeable<\/b>. A bag can be evaluated by its features, a service by its performance, an experience by its ratings. But what underpins a brand\u2019s value defies this logic. The artisanal touch cannot be categorized as a feature.<\/b> The relationship with a consultant cannot be reduced to a personalization score.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
A community isn\u2019t activated through targeting; it\u2019s built through repetition, rituals, and a sense of belonging. <\/b>The value of luxury is shifting toward what cannot be compared. Innovation is no longer what the brand adds. It\u2019s what it changes in the customer.<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read more > [COLUMN] Luxury won\u2019t be overtaken by artificial intelligence. It is in the process of taming it<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Featured photo: \u00a9 Louis Vuitton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The luxury sector isn\u2019t lagging behind technologically; it\u2019s undergoing a crisis of coherence. Against a backdrop of rising prices and heightened expectations, value is being questioned more than ever. Yet over the past decade, flashy innovations\u2014from the metaverse to generative AI and immersive experiences\u2014have done more to undermine that perception than to reinforce it. The issue is not so much innovation itself as the way it fits\u2014or fails to fit\u2014within the brand\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":563,"featured_media":196000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"%%post_title%% %%sep%% %%sitetitle%%","_seopress_titles_desc":"What if luxury were actually facing a crisis of coherence? A deep dive into the heart of innovation with this column by R\u00e9mi le Druillenec (H\u00e9ro\u00efne).","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1964,5874],"tags":[23969,24784,24470,23002],"class_list":["post-196015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brand-strategy","category-innovation-en","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-columns","tag-communication-et-marketing","tag-tech-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/563"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196015"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196020,"href":"https:\/\/luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196015\/revisions\/196020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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