Luxury Fashion
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What is a Fresh Kid? How Street Culture made Luxury Fashion a Billion Dollar Industry
04 August 2023
My moniker is called 'The Fresh Kid' and i often get asked what that phrase means.
I chose the name because for me it captures who i am, what i do and why 'The Fresh Kid' exists.
Fresh Kids are the reasons why Luxury Fashion houses for the last 20 years have become billion dollar business.
Successful Luxury Fashion houses hire Fresh Kids.
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The term 'Fresh Kid' comes from Street Culture.
Street Culture being the hobbies and interests of young people living in mainly urban cities.
Graffiti, Skateboarding, collecting rare sneakers, hip hop, punk, rock and roll, rave, club culture, Grime music, tattoo culture.
These are all part of street culture.
A fresh kid is some one who is a part of and understands street culture.
1997
LVMH hires Marc Jacobs as Creative Director of Louis Vuitton
1997
LVMH hires Marc Jacobs as Creative Director of Louis Vuitton
LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault hired a young unknown Miami creative be the creative director of Louis Vuitton.
His name was Marc Jacobs.
At the time Louis Vuitton was just a modest luggage and leathers goods company trying to change its fortunes.
2004
Marc Jacobs transforms Louis Vuitton into a billion dollar company
2004
Marc Jacobs transforms Louis Vuitton into a billion dollar company
By 2004 Marc Jacobs had grown Louis Vuitton into a global billion dollar company increasing revenue by 400%.
He transformed Louis Vuitton by understanding what young people liked.
Graffiti, Pop Art, Hip Hop, Skateboarding.
He made products with the popular artists from these cultural scenes.
Marc created the brand collaboration culture which is so popular today in Luxury Fashion.
One of his product collaborations at the time was with Hip Hop producer and rapper Pharrell Williams.
23 years later Pharrell Williams was to become the creative director of Louis Vuitton
2017
Louis Vuitton collaborates with Streetwear brand Supreme
2017
Louis Vuitton collaborates with Streetwear brand Supreme
This collaboration was a key moment in Louis Vuitton and luxury fashions future.
The collaboration was a big commercial success for LVMH. It also brought them a new type of customer.
The young, street culture loving millennial.
Unlike the traditional LV customer they loved sneakers and backpacks.
Many of them also came from emerging markets like China, Japan & South Korea.
Supreme and other streetwear brands had been using what is called 'The Drop' Business Model.
Instead of releasing products in seasons like normal fashion they would create huge scarcity and customer demand by releasing products in very small numbers with little notice every few weeks and months.
Often collaborating with other lifestyle brands.
This trend of 'Drops' became widespread in the Luxury Fashion Industry and still is popular today.
2018
Virgil Abloh is appointed Creative Director of Louis Vuitton
2018
Virgil Abloh is appointed Creative Director of Louis Vuitton
After the success of the Supreme Collaboration Louis Vuitton hired Virgil Abloh.
A DJ, Architect, Graphic Designer Virgil was one of the most successful streetwear designers at the time.
His luxury streetwear brand Offwhite was one of the most popular brands in the world and a collaboration with Nike had created the most commercially successful ad valuable luxury sneaker collaboration to date.
As a fresh kid and his knowledge of street culture and the luxury sneaker customer (sneakerhead) was to transform LVMH as a company.
2022
LVMH posts highest profit and revenue figures in the history of Luxury
2022
LVMH posts highest profit and revenue figures in the history of Luxury
In 2021 LVMH Group turned over 64 Billion Euros and 17 Billion Euros in Profit a revenue and profit record for any luxury company.
Virgils work at Louis Vuitton was a main reason for this success.
Louis Vuittons Fashion & Leather goods broke previous records and grew 51% compared to 2019.
Growth in Asia and online sales where the main reasons given by LVMH for it's record breaking year.
Virgil had made LVMH the world's most successful Luxury House by attracting young, online shopping, street wear loving customers.
In 2022 LVMH became the most valuable company in Europe by market capital.
2023
Pharrell Williams appointed Creative Director of Louis Vuitton
2023
Pharrell Williams appointed Creative Director of Louis Vuitton
Tragically Virgil Abloh died at the end of 2021 and in 2023 Louis Vuitton again hired a Fresh Kid to replace him.
The music producer, rapper and designer Pharrell Williams.
