Search on Fashionbi
Luxury brands are expanding beyond fashion into art, dining experiences, sport, hospitality, and travel, creating new ways for consumers to engage with their identities and values.
Sectors & Markets
12 November, 2026
Table of contents
Luxury brands are increasingly extending their presence beyond traditional fashion categories, entering cultural, sporting, gastronomic and travel environments. Rather than relying exclusively on collections and retail spaces, fashion houses are developing new platforms through which their identities can be experienced in different contexts. From artistic collaborations and immersive flagships to sporting partnerships and luxury travel, these initiatives illustrate how fashion is becoming increasingly interconnected with other industries.
This expansion reflects a broader approach to brand positioning: instead of communicating their values exclusively through products, luxury houses are translating their heritage, aesthetics and creative vision into experiences. These initiatives can strengthen brand recognition, attract audiences beyond traditional fashion consumers and create additional points of contact with existing customers.
However, this strategy takes different forms depending on the sector involved. While some brands use art and cultural institutions to reinforce their creative identity, others explore retail, sport, hospitality and travel as opportunities to make their lifestyle proposition tangible.
Art has long been an important reference for luxury fashion, but collaborations between fashion houses and artists increasingly go beyond visual inspiration. Through exhibitions, cultural spaces and creative partnerships, brands can position themselves as participants in contemporary culture while presenting their heritage through different artistic perspectives.
Loewe offers a relevant example of this approach through its continued engagement with craftsmanship and contemporary art. The brand's relationship with artistic creation is reflected in initiatives such as the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize, which recognizes contemporary craft practitioners and highlights the cultural value of material experimentation and artisanal techniques. This connection between art and retail is also reflected in CASA LOEWE, the brand's store concept, where artworks, design objects and handcrafted pieces are integrated into the shopping environment. Through these initiatives, Loewe reinforces a brand identity built around creativity, craftsmanship and artistic expression, extending its presence beyond the fashion industry.
A more recent example is Prada Galleria, which opened in September 2026 inside Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Spanning eight floors, the project brings together retail, hospitality, art and the history of the fashion house. Among its main features is Pradasphere, a permanent exhibition tracing more than a century of Prada's creative development through archival pieces and projects connected to art, architecture, cinema and culture. The complex also includes Marchesi 1824, Osservatorio Fondazione Prada and spaces dedicated to private events and hospitality. Rather than functioning as a conventional flagship store, Prada Galleria presents the brand as a cultural destination where visitors can explore different aspects of its identity.
Louis Vuitton has expanded its presence in the cultural sector through exhibitions and dedicated artistic spaces in major cities worldwide. The Espace Louis Vuitton network, with venues in Tokyo, Munich, Venice, Beijing, Seoul and Osaka, hosts free exhibitions devoted to contemporary artists and works from the Fondation Louis Vuitton collection.
Beyond these spaces, the Maison has developed immersive exhibitions exploring its heritage in art, travel and craftsmanship. Visionary Journeys, created for its 170th anniversary, began in Bangkok and Shanghai, where it became part of The Louis, a ship-shaped destination combining an exhibition space, a store and Le Café Louis Vuitton. It then reached Osaka in summer 2025, featuring more than 1,000 objects across twelve thematic sections, and opened in Seoul in December 2025 through LV The Place Seoul. Through these initiatives, Louis Vuitton engages international audiences, communicates its heritage and positions the Maison beyond traditional fashion retail.
The traditional role of a flagship store is also evolving. Beyond presenting collections and facilitating purchases, store openings and retail spaces are increasingly designed as opportunities for brands to communicate their identities through events, hospitality and local cultural references.
Jacquemus has developed a distinctive approach to this strategy by connecting store openings with experiences inspired by the character of each location. For its London opening, the brand introduced a tea-themed activation that reflected the city's association with afternoon tea. In Los Angeles, the opening of its boutique was accompanied by Jacquemus Market, featuring bouquets and banana ice cream, a playful reference to the brand's visual language and recurring use of food-inspired imagery. These activations transformed the opening of a retail space into a moment of interaction, encouraging visitors to engage with the brand beyond its collections.
A similar strategy was adopted by AMIRI for the opening of its first European flagship in Milan in February 2026. Inspired by the aesthetics of Hollywood's Golden Age and the brand's Californian heritage, the event featured candy tastings, a vintage-style photo booth, personalized biscuits and popcorn, themed cocktails and live portrait illustrations for guests. The opening was followed by a private dinner and an after-party, extending the celebration beyond the retail environment. By incorporating entertainment and interactive elements into the launch, AMIRI transformed its new boutique into an event that communicated the brand's identity while creating opportunities for social engagement.
Sport offers luxury brands an opportunity to connect with established communities, traditions and lifestyles. Through partnerships with tournaments, athletes and sporting organizations, fashion houses can associate themselves with values such as performance, heritage and excellence, while creating experiences beyond traditional sponsorships.
One of the most established examples is Ralph Lauren's partnership with Wimbledon. Since 2006, the American brand has served as the tournament's Official Outfitter, designing uniforms for on-court officials and other personnel. Extended in June 2026 for another multi-year period, the partnership has entered its third decade. Ralph Lauren also introduces annual collections inspired by Wimbledon's visual identity, connecting its fashion offering with the tournament's traditions and wider experience.
More recently, Audemars Piguet has expanded its sporting presence into padel. In May 2026, the Swiss watchmaker became the Official Timekeeper of the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour and partnered with professional player Agustín Tapia. Its involvement also includes branded tournament elements and community initiatives. In September, the Maison opened the Audemars Piguet Padel Pop-Up Club in Singapore, a three-day activation combining public playing sessions with a courtside lounge. This approach demonstrates how a luxury brand can use sport to create opportunities for direct engagement with its community.
Formula 1 has also become an important platform for luxury brands seeking international visibility. In 2025, LVMH signed a ten-year global partnership with the championship, involving Maisons such as Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer and Moët Hennessy. Their contributions include bespoke trophy trunks for race winners, official timekeeping and podium celebrations, bringing the group's craftsmanship and heritage into the motorsport environment.
Sailing also offers luxury brands an opportunity to connect with a lifestyle associated with craftsmanship, performance and the sea. Prada has developed a long-standing presence in competitive sailing through the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team, founded in 1997 and preparing for its seventh America's Cup campaign in Naples in 2027. Beyond competition, the project reflects the brand's interest in technological innovation and includes environmental initiatives such as SEA BEYOND, developed with UNESCO to promote ocean literacy. Similarly, Loro Piana supported the Tre Golfi Sailing Week in May 2026, an international regatta held off the coast of Sorrento that attracted more than 120 boats. While Prada's involvement centers on long-term sporting competition and innovation, Loro Piana connects its identity with sailing culture and the Mediterranean lifestyle. Both examples demonstrate how luxury brands can use sport to communicate values that extend beyond their traditional product categories.
Hospitality and travel allow luxury brands to extend their identities into environments where consumers can interact with them in a more immersive way. Restaurants, cafés, hotels and yachts offer opportunities to translate a brand's aesthetic into spaces, services and experiences that go beyond fashion consumption.
In Milan, Louis Vuitton expanded its presence through the reopening of its historic flagship at Palazzo Taverna in 2025. Alongside its retail spaces, the location introduced Da Vittorio Café Louis Vuitton and DaV by Da Vittorio Louis Vuitton, developed in partnership with the three-Michelin-starred Da Vittorio restaurant group. The project brings together fashion and Italian gastronomy, creating a destination where visitors can experience the Maison through both its products and a culinary offering.
A similar approach can be seen in Dior's hospitality projects. In Beverly Hills, the House of Dior introduced Monsieur Dior, its first restaurant outside Paris, with a culinary concept led by chef Dominique Crenn. The restaurant translates elements of the Maison's identity into a dining environment, connecting fashion, design and gastronomy through a shared focus on presentation and craftsmanship.This strategy was further developed in September 2026, when Dior opened Monsieur Dior by Enrico Bartolini, its first restaurant in Italy, inside its renovated flagship boutique at 12 Via Monte Napoleone in Milan. Led by Italian chef Enrico Bartolini, the concept draws inspiration from Dior's creative archives, translating the Maison's garments, patterns and visual codes into culinary creations. By integrating gastronomy into its retail environment, Dior extends its brand identity beyond fashion, turning the boutique into a broader lifestyle destination.
Luxury brands are also exploring travel through collaborations in the yachting industry. In December 2025, the first 72-meter Admiral Giorgio Armani megayacht was delivered as part of a partnership between Giorgio Armani and The Italian Sea Group. The designer developed the concept for both the exterior and interior, while Armani/Casa contributed to the interior design. The project demonstrates how a fashion house's aesthetic can be translated into a different luxury category, in this case through architecture, interiors and maritime experiences.
The expansion of luxury brands into art, retail experiences, sport, hospitality and travel reflects a broader evolution in how fashion houses communicate their identities. Products remain central to their business models, but they are increasingly supported by experiences that allow consumers to engage with the brand in different environments.
Whether through cultural exhibitions, artist collaborations, sporting partnerships, restaurants or luxury yachts, these initiatives create additional opportunities to communicate brand heritage and creative values. They also demonstrate that luxury positioning is no longer defined exclusively by what a brand sells, but increasingly by the wider world it builds around its products.
As fashion houses continue to explore new sectors, the ability to create coherent experiences across different industries may become an increasingly important element of brand differentiation and long-term consumer engagement.
Cover Image: BOAT International's website.
Interested in more insights like this?
Read Luxury Brands Expand Into Hospitality