FactualFrom Versace to Balmain, via Givenchy, brands are increasingly adorned with letters or other symbols recognizable at first glance.
For his first collection for Moynat, a high-quality French trunk-maker founded in 1849, the Englishman Nicholas Knightly imagined plain travel bags, hand-held, over-the-shoulder … But he did not fail to add a micromalle and a Cylindrical canvas clutch, covered with the signature monogram, succession of bronze “M”, superimposed on a cognac background. “I left this canvas as it was when it was created in 1920, in its Art Deco spirit, says the creative director. In a century, there has been so much progress, technological developments, movements … And yet, it remains relevant. There are few things that, like her, do not become out of date with the passage of time. “
Like Moynat, the monogram comes more than ever to strike the spheres of luxury, like a seal of respectability. In recent weeks, Versace has launched Greca, a geometric pattern, which can be found from ready-to-wear to satchels; Balmain, bags and outfits drowned in intertwined “P” and “B”; Givenchy, a line of bags where we recognize, embossed, its 4 “G” in mirror effect. “Over the past three months, searches for monogrammed fashion pieces have increased by 85% on our site”, says one at Lyst, e-commerce platform. At a time when Louis Vuitton, the house which owns the best-identified monogrammed canvas in the world and also the one with the most colossal turnover (Kantar estimates the value of the brand at around 42.50 billion euros) , it is hardly surprising that everyone wants their own …
“The monogrammed canvas is an iconic element of luxury. It is both a more creative proposition than a simple logo, and more readable than a distinctive code that only insiders will understand, such as the color of a sole or the type of padding of a bag ”, underlines Anne Michaut, professor of marketing at HEC. According to Nicholas Knightly, who, before Moynat, managed the Vuitton leather goods store for sixteen years, “A monogrammed canvas is a graphic language that can be reinterpreted without tiring”.
Curves or crescent moon
Especially since, as long as the coat of arms has a few kilometers on the clock – such as Celine’s Triomphe canvas whose monogram dates back to 1972 – the whole guarantees a heritage depth to the subject. “Today, people not only want identity pieces, but which also enhance the heritage”, abounds Sandra Choi, artistic director of Jimmy Choo, who will draw in June, for its 25 years, bags or shoes dressed in a “JC” canvas. For months, Dior has been re-using its 1967 Oblique canvas in the same way.
It had already been reused in the early 2000s, a period when the monogram was a hit before the 2008 crisis swept away this ostentatious trend. “Even today, showing off one’s wealth is often frowned upon. In this sense, there is something counterintuitive about the return of the monogram, notes Anne Michaut. But, in 2021, we consume luxury differently: brands have become carriers of commitments, messages. ” Since then, “If a customer appreciates the brand and that it is consistent with its values, he will agree to support it” by displaying his monogram, completes the American Tory Burch who has just introduced her canvas “T”.
Like her, newcomers to this field pride themselves on shaping their version, relying on the initials of the founder (Burberry), curves (Casablanca) or a crescent moon (Marine Serre). “I wanted to create a monogram for a long time but it took me years, admits Emeric Tchatchoua of 3.Paradis. I thought about it, wrote down key words, values that I wanted to convey, such as unity. ” Then it took him weeks to get two “Ps” entangled, circled by “3”, endlessly reproduced on clothes. “It was when I was a candidate for the LVMH Prize in 2019 that I was advised to treat the‘identity visual. I already had the dove as a symbol. And, now, this canvas that I will be able to develop. ” And who knows, maybe keep it going for at least a century.