How luxury brands make people want what they sell: scarcity, storytelling, advertising, celebrity and the red carpet.
By Shreya S · Last reviewed 31 October 2026
On this page: The tools · Celebrity and the red carpet · The Ayerhs view
The tools
How do luxury brands create desire?
- Scarcity: limited production, waiting lists and products you cannot simply buy, as with the Hermès Birkin
- Storytelling: a founder’s legend, a heritage and a world to buy into
- Spectacle: runway shows and couture that few can afford but millions watch
- Image: campaigns, ambassadors and celebrity dressing
- Price: a high price itself signals value
Read on Ayerhs: How Fashion Brands Create Desire
Why do fashion brands spend millions on advertising?
Because luxury sells an idea before it sells a product. Big campaigns, shows and ambassadors keep the brand visible and aspirational, which supports sales of the entry products, such as perfume, sunglasses and small leather goods, that most customers actually buy.
Read on Ayerhs: Why Fashion Brands Spend Millions on Advertising
What is world-building in fashion?
Creating a complete universe around a brand, with its own characters, settings and codes, so that each show or campaign feels like a chapter in a story. Thom Browne, Jacquemus and Ralph Lauren are masters of it.
Read on Ayerhs: Why World-Building and Storytelling Trump Just Beautiful Clothes · The Vanishing Magic of Luxury Fashion
Why do luxury brands do collaborations?
Limited-edition collaborations, from Louis Vuitton with Supreme to artist projects, create urgency, reach new audiences and generate headlines that ordinary collections cannot.
Read on Ayerhs: The Future of Fashion Collaborations
Celebrity and the red carpet
How do celebrities influence luxury fashion?
From Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn to today’s paid house ambassadors, celebrities show luxury in motion. Brands dress stars for red carpets and sign them to campaigns because a single image can sell a bag or a dress around the world.
Read on Ayerhs: The Evolution of Celebrity Influence in Fashion · The Origins of Red Carpet Fashion · How Red Carpet Fashion Shapes What We Wear Next
Why does the Met Gala matter to luxury brands?
It is fashion’s biggest night of image-making: a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute where houses dress the guests and compete for the most talked-about looks.
Read on Ayerhs: How the Met Gala Became Fashion’s Most Powerful Night · Met Gala 2027
The Ayerhs view
Has luxury lost its magic?
In places. When every brand chases the same celebrities and the same commercial hits, desire fades. The houses that still feel magical are the ones that tell a real story and take creative risks.
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