Just a hint of rich

Seemingly from nowhere, the Spanish luxury brand Loewe; which BTW is pronounced “lo-weh-vay”, has been crowned the #1 luxury brand in the world by The Lyst Index.

One of the oldest luxury houses, under creative director Jonathan Anderson the Spanish brand has undergone a renaissance, climbing 13 places over the last 12 months to take the number one spot for the first time. This quarter, searches for Loewe have increased 19%.

How did this happen?

What changed at Loewe to make the brand one of the most in demand brands in the world?

Well, one thing that really helped the brand is a growing trend of quiet luxury - a concept that can be loosely understood as whispering to others, who are in-the-know, that you are secretly very, very rich.

Loewe's biggest selling item for the past year is the simple Anagram tank top, which sells for $250.

Mix this understated, luxury, expensive item with some old vintage jeans (that you found in a Salvation Army thrift store) and your mom's old cardigan from the 1980s and the image that you are throwing out to the world is that you're actually too rich to try too hard...which means that you are actually, secretly beyond wealthy.

Loewe is selling a 'everyday luxury basic' that signals a certain class-benchmark and gives permission to the person wearing the label to then have the freedom to mix this with the rest of their more-affordable wardrobe. It's a license to be casual while still commanding a presense.

Those that can spot this detail, are the only ones that really matter.

Whether it was by design or just a lucky break, Loewe transformed their business prospects with just one signature product.

Kendall Jenner and an army of TikTokkers also helped helped them considerably to achieve this, but the frenzy really is focused on just one, core item.

One can draw a connection here with the successful brand strategy approaches taken by Mattel with Barbie and some of the world's most iconic restaurants - a hyper focus on the marketing of just one selected thing, at the right time (according to the prevailing zeitgeist), that then the entire brand's future is pinned on.

The secret here is this...don't try to be all things to all people; have...or at least, develop the confidence to go all-in on just one idea / product. Now that you know this keep it hush hush, otherwise every marketer will be doing it and the spell will be broken forever.