Tiffany and Co. is teasing a new venture – with athletic company Nike, there’s no press release, no big announcement, except for social media channels. The jeweler brand has been targeting a younger generation – that’s no secret. Earlier this week Fast Company reported, “the NBA released an Instagram video showing LeBron James walking underneath Madison Square Garden fully decked out in pieces from the new Tiffany & Co x Nike collaboration that won’t drop till March 7.
One of the key findings from a Bain & Company report on generation z’s spending habits was
“The luxury industry has entered a “new normal,” characterized by lower growth. To succeed in the next decade, brands will need to refocus on their customers to better anticipate and cater to their needs. The younger generation will be key: New research by Bain & Company and Farfetch estimates that millennials will represent 40% of the global personal luxury goods market by 2025.” They also found that “…stores will continue to play a critical role in the luxury market, with 75% of purchases still occurring in a physical location by 2025.” And finally, “It found that Gen Zers are buying luxury items at around age 15, which is three to five years earlier than millennials.”
Tiffany is about an experience, more than simply a name. It’s about leaning into the brand’s 178 year history, prestige, and significance of both aspirational wealth and having ‘arrived’. It’s also specifically about American luxury – at its founding in 1837, the United States was 61 years young – this wasn’t about ‘old’ money, this was affluence that was allegedly accessible to all.
The original version of Gossip Girl, about the moneyed and less moneyed New Yorkers, leaned heavily into what the brand stands for. This collaboration with Nike is a delightful combination – mixing old-school affluence with the brand that invented Just do it, ˆ and made Air Jordons, the ultimate must-haves. After all Blair Waldorf needs her Tiffanys, but Serena Van der Woodsen is all about reinventing herself, changing her mind, and unexpected pairings! xoxo
Vijaya Prasad 