How fashion brands are tapping into the music industry for cultural cred

Fashion icon Lil Nas X is now curating his own collections for a brand. Photo: Coach

Musicians have long been the faces of fashion labels. Aside from taking on the role of ambassadors, they also flaunt designer outfits at red carpet events.

For the fashion industry, it is not enough though. Brands are leaning into showbiz to build a formidable cultural relevance.

Just recently, Coach released a special collection curated by rapper, singer and songwriter Lil Nas X. It references his individual style and aesthetic.

Coach’s creative director Stuart Vevers worked with the artiste to select and customise his favourite pieces.

The partnership resulted in shearling coats in pop colours, graphics inspired by concert merchandise, and an American varsity jacket personalised with patches with symbols from Lil Nas X’s life – like his pet cats and zodiac sign, Aries.

There are even special clothes that can play music on your phone when scanned. Photo: Balenciaga

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“To create the collection, we twisted the Coach archives and were also inspired by Lil Nas X’s connection to music and nightlife,” Coach’s creative director Stuart Vevers enthused.

Lil Nas X is recognised as a fashion icon in his own right. His daring fashion sense has been making waves since he first shot to stardom in 2019.

Balenciaga even gave clothes their own soundtrack back in November. The luxury label worked with British trip-hop band Archive to launch a collection of NFC (near-field communication) ready-to-wear designs.

Each piece comes embedded with a chip. Wearers can scan the chip with a smartphone and access Archive’s music, specifically Patterns, a track created exclusively for Balenciaga by the band, as well as a special playlist.

“This project marks a first for each entity: Balenciaga has not previously released new music and Archive have not, in their 25-year history as a band, written a song intended for a limited audience or collaborated with a fashion brand until now,” the description read.

In 2022, Diesel and electronic radio station NTS hosted a free 17-hour rave in London. The initiative then grew into an ongoing thing, whereby Diesel released monthly music mixes, as well as organised parties around the world.

Diesel has toured the globe with this. The most recent collaborative rave took place in Beijing last November.

“The energy and community of rave culture is everything to me. I believe in the freedom to party, at the core of the Diesel global democracy,” explained Diesel’s creative director Glenn Martens.

For its Spring/Summer 2024 collection, Diesel threw a mega rave as a showcase show of sorts. The brand hosted an all-night party with 7,000 guests in total (6,000 tickets were released to the public).

Runway show or music rave? Sometimes it take the form of both. Photo: Diesel

Fashion houses are working with music platforms to engage their communities. Photo: Burberry

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If not with the musicians themselves, fashion houses are also working with music platforms. One good example is how Burberry worked with Colors – known for its emerging artiste discovery.

The collaboration started back in 2021, where it highlighted young artistes. For the series, the then Burberry creative director Riccardo Tisci dressed each of the musicians in designs from the brand’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection.

This is seen as a way of accessing the music industry’s community of fans.

Colors, for example, has over 7.1 million subscribers on YouTube and 1.6 million followers on Instagram. It amounts to a huge market that a fashion brand can tap into to further sell its wares.