The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The American fashion brand said Monday it has inked a deal to outfit esports brand G2 Esports’ team of gamers.
The move is the latest sign of fashion’s growing interest in gaming and its community of young consumers. Though other brands have experimented with the format in the past, Ralph Lauren claimed to be the first luxury brand to officially outfit an esports team on a long-term basis.
G2 Esports was founded by League of Legends player Carlos Rodriguez and esports investor Jens Hilgers in 2015 and says it has a global fanbase of more than 32 million. Its team competes in titles including League of Legends, Fortnite and Valorant.
Ralph Lauren said the deal marks a “next generation addition” to its sports partnerships and will help it engage new consumers. The brand’s existing sponsorship deals include the US Olympic and Paralympic Teams and Wimbledon.
Four years ago, when the Trump administration threatened to ban TikTok in the US, its Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd. worked out a preliminary deal to sell the short video app’s business. Not this time.
Brands are using them for design tasks, in their marketing, on their e-commerce sites and in augmented-reality experiences such as virtual try-on, with more applications still emerging.
Brands including LVMH’s Fred, TAG Heuer and Prada, whose lab-grown diamond supplier Snow speaks for the first time, have all unveiled products with man-made stones as they look to technology for new creative possibilities.
Social networks are being blamed for the worrying decline in young people’s mental health. Brands may not think about the matter much, but they’re part of the content stream that keeps them hooked.