is this a new playbook for luxury branding?

Chanel just partnered with
A$ap rocky.

Here’s what that means for luxury branding.

Chanel just dropped their ASAP Rocky collaboration, and it's basically a middle finger to everything luxury branding used to stand for.

And I, for one, am HERE FOR IT.
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For decades, luxury played hard-to-get.

The message was clear:

"You can look, but you can't touch until your bank account says otherwise."

Aspiration over association.

Exclusion over emotion.

But by partnering with A$AP Rocky, that's being turned upside down. Chanel isn't saying "buy this to become cool."

They're saying "if you're creative, if you're into fashion, music, culture—you already belong here."

This isn't your typical luxury fantasy with champagne fountains and marble everything. Instead, we get New York City grit, Mary Janes on concrete, and something luxury brands have been allergic to: genuine emotional safety.

It's the difference between aspiration and association. One makes you feel small until you can afford to play. The other makes you feel seen right now.

Why does this matter for your brand? Because culture is rejecting performative opulence faster than you can say "quiet luxury."

We're living through collective anxiety—cost of living, global uncertainty, existential dread—and people want hope that doesn't gaslight them about reality.

This campaign gives us gritty visuals with playful energy. It acknowledges the world we're actually living in while offering emotional refuge.

The takeaway isn't to slap a rapper in your next campaign (please don't).

It's about understanding that belonging beats aspiration every single time. Your audience doesn't want to admire your brand from afar—they want to see themselves in it.

So ask yourself: Is your brand creating perceived belonging or performative exclusion?

Because luxury just got a new blueprint, and it's walking through Brooklyn in designer shoes.