Why are all fashion logos becoming the same?

Matteo Modica 17.12.2018 5 MIN. READ

Maybe you’ve seen it too: a few days ago on BoingBoing appeared an article entitled “Interesting logos are being replaced by boring ones”, which highlights, graphics in hand, how fashion logos are all becoming a bit similar. Let’s talk about recent redesign that have raised quite a few criticisms: YvesSaintLaurent, Burberry, Balenciaga, Berluti, Balmain (by the way, almost all with a B!). But we could also add Céline.

That they all look alike is incontrovertible. But BoingBoing‘s thesis is that it depends on a lack of imagination of designers. I don’t entirely agree with that, I think there are several forces at work.

luxury fashion digital experience

Photo by Derick Anies on Unsplash

The Millennials are a no-logo generation

The millennials, we know, are the luxury market’s future and partial present. And millennials have a special relationship with logos and brands: grown up in an overabundance of logos, they have developed a healthy resistance to the pressures of branding and prefer neutral and almost invisible brands that they can customize as they like. Logos are used ostentatiously only in an ironic way, while the absence of the logo is a value.

There is a strong need for modernity

Luxury is updated, like any other industry, but its logos often remain behind for understandable reasons of heritage and brand value. But if we look at the logos of Burberry and YSL we all agree that they convey an idea of ancient, aristocratic luxury.

The market is global

Today’s luxury markets are global: China, first and foremost, but India is also starting to make its way. And the logos of fashion houses often betray a strongly European heritage (Burberry was super British, YSL extra French). For a long time we assumed this was an advantage. Today, however, global markets are no longer in awe of European brands (think of the recent case of Dolce&Gabbana), so even luxury loses some of its roots and becomes global, therefore more neutral.

The digital drives

Do you want a logo that works well on mobile, can be read at every resolution and you have no time or desire to imagine it responsive? Well, then these logos are perfect.

luxury brands rush

Photo by Boris Stefanik on Unsplash

Even luxury brands are in a hurry

That’s a sore point. In a fast economy, nobody has time anymore. When Riccardo Tisci, Burberry‘s creative director, asked designer Peter Saville (who isn’t exactly the latest arrival) for a new identity, he asked him for four months. Tisci gave him four weeks. Not content, he also jokingly posted the email exchange on Burberry’s Instagram profile.

This is perhaps the saddest aspect of the story: while many of the forces at work are strategic, the compression of the time allowed for branding is, in my opinion, short-sighted. It creates very similar logos because designers, deprived of time, rightly rely on simplicity. But it is the same for everyone.

AUTHOR:

Matteo Modica —
Founder & Creative Director

A tireless purveyor of quality, Matteo manages every branding and communication project down to the details, leading creative teams to always express their best.

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