Fashion on Film: The Latest in Fashiontainment

From cinematic campaigns to full-scale film productions, luxury brands are doubling down on entertainment. Where content used to be a side-channel, it’s now a core communications strategy, spanning product placement, original storytelling and strategic talent partnerships rooted in pop culture.  

Executive Summary: 

• Almost half of Gen Z and Millennial consumers look for style inspiration from entertainment, while 97% of brands deemed entertaining reported revenue growth. 

• As brands increasingly understand the value in aligning with entertainment, they’re elaborating their product placement strategies, partnering with film directors, and betting on talent rooted in popular culture. 

• Best-in-class strategies include Coach ’s successful bet on ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’, Tiffany & Co. ’s win with ‘Frankenstein’ and GENTLE MONSTER ’s new cinematic campaign. 

In a world saturated with content, how can brands successfully communicate their value and meaningfully add to consumers’ conversations? 

For many, the solution is clear: borrow from the world of cinema, work with its creatives and align with talent who have cultural affinity in the space. In our whitepaper, Luxury’s Great Reset, commissioned by The Independents , we outlined the shift in how subtle brand placement, alongside narrative driven world-building, was key in driving relevance and creating a brand rich with meaning and lore. Since then, luxury players have invested further into cinema, embedding themselves via product placements or real-life cameos in buzzy films like ‘Frankenstein’ or ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, and outfitting press tours à la Dior with ‘Die My Love’. Some have taken the strategy a step further, creating their own cinematic universes and experiences, providing new ways for audiences to immerse themselves in brand worlds.  

The reward for brands is evident: according to a study by Small World and Tracksuit, 97% of brands deemed entertaining reported revenue growth in 2024. Meanwhile, 77% of Gen Z and 79% of Millennials seek style inspiration monthly, with almost half looking for it from entertainment-based projects (Archrival, 2025).  

As luxury brands vie to be entertainment’s next breakthrough act, which projects and strategies are actually capturing attention? 

Coach's Bet on ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ 

Coach has been on a mission to conquer Gen Z, and its bet on ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ proved a winning tactic. Building on its existing ambassadorship with the show’s lead actress, Lola Tung, Coach rolled out a fully embedded placement strategy for the shows final season: every episode started with a Coach advert, while signature bags appeared throughout the series. Coach reaped the benefits: the series attracted 25 million viewers worldwide in the week after its premiere, marking a 40% increase on season 2. Coincidently, Coach reported a growth in revenue by 22%, largely attributed to its newfound Gen Z audience, boosting Tapestry’s overall group performance – no small feat in the current climate. 

Tiffany & Co Adorns ‘Frankenstein’ 

Attracting 33.8 million views and a total of 85.5 million hours watched according to Netflix, Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ provided a huge opportunity for brand exposure. Tiffany & Co. opened its archives to costumer designer Kate Hawley, who chose two archival pieces to adorn Mia Goth’s character of Elizabeth, including a piece that hadn’t been worn since 1900. To extend the storytelling, the brand created a multi-sensory immersive installation at their New York flagship, showcasing the pieces featured in the film, Tiffany & Co.’s first Netflix partnership integrates archival jewelry, timepieces and objects into Frankensteinas well as hosting a special screening, merging product placement with world building.  

This partnership marked the first high-jewellery collaboration with Netflix , establishing Tiffany & Co’s clear move to reach younger online audiences, becoming engrained in a cultural conversation which resonated with millions.  

Bottega Veneta also leant into the momentum behind the Frankenstein movie, celebrating its brand ambassador and lead actor Jacob Elordi by hosting a special screening in partnership with Club Ciné. Held at the Curzon Mayfair cinema in London, the event opened with the actor’s campaign film ‘What are Dreams’ directed by Duane Michals. By celebrating their ambassador in this way, Bottega positioned itself as a patron not only of the film, but of the talent behind it. 

Prada Steps into the World of Yorgos Lanthimos 

Prada , recognised for its high culture strategy, continues to deepen its ties in film. The brand consistently collaborates with both established and emerging actors across campaigns and fashion shows, and recently echoed the approach for its Prada Mode event held during Frieze London. It has also built relationships with renowned film directors, enlisting them to direct its campaigns and has even partnered with cult director Wong Kar Wa on a restaurant concept in Asia.  

Its latest move saw the brand tap director Yorgos Lanthimos – behind Bugonia, one of the rumoured Oscar 2026 nominees – to direct its new campaign starring Scarlett Johansson. In true Lanthimos fashion, the campaign sees the actress clone herself via a witchy and fantastical recipe, with the featured Galleria bag appearing as a prop, but never dominating the scene. The product remains secondary to the film, providing a clear example of how brands can leverage cinematic storytelling to entertain audiences and appear in their feeds without overt commercial messaging. Social reactions underscore the campaigns success: one comment reads, ‘This is legit the best stuff I’ve seen all year.’ 

Gentle Monster’s Campaign Game 

This month, GENTLE MONSTER released ‘The Hunt’, a horror-themed short film starring Euphoria actress Hunter Schafer, directed by Nadia Lee Cohen. Alongside the film, the brand launched an interactive game on its website, allowing audiences to experience the campaign in an agentic, first-hand way as they search for clues in a haunted house. The game’s design is simple, emulating an early 2000s decision-based story gameplay, yet it effectively adds another layer of engagement with the brand and product. Gentle Monster has built a reputation not only as an eyewear brand, but as an artistic trailblazer through its use of uncanny, larger-than-life installations, and the game serves to extend this world and offer audiences a way in through their screens which is accessible, engaging and easy to understand. 

Dolce & Gabbana Sets the Scene for ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ 

Tapping into the power of nostalgia, two decades after its initial release, the cult-classic fashion film ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ is returning with much anticipation. Promotion has varied from paparazzi pictures of actors filming in the streets of New York, captured in costume wearing brands such as Khaite and Jacquemus, to characters taking to the FROW at Dolce & Gabbana’s SS26 show in Milan. The moment featuring Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Simone Ashley generated $8.2M in Earned Media Value (EMV), according to Lefty data, surpassing the visibility of some of the most revered runways. The buzz around the moment demonstrates the success of how audiences react when fictional characters appear in real-life settings, causing an interplay between entertainment and reality.  

Rewriting the Script: Gucci’s ‘The Tiger’ 

Also capitalising on entertainment’s cultural currency, Demna introduced himself at Gucci with an innovative creative direction. The SS26 campaign was developed into a short film, The Tiger, starring Oscar-winning actress Demi Moore and directed by the acclaimed Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn. Foregoing a traditional runway, Gucci premiered the film at Milan Fashion Week and it became the talk of the town after being opened to the public. Yet, even before the film was announced, the characters were presented in the form of a campaign editorial, setting the scene for the world of ‘Demna’s Gucci’ that would roll out. The takeaway? Not all brands need to launch into film production to tap into entertainment and cinematic storytelling – it can be as simple as building characters around your products that consumers want to invest in and follow.  

Interested in Learning More?    

As experts hail entertainment as the next key avenue for luxury brands, reach out to us today to start a bespoke world-building strategy, starting with industry insights through to creative concepts, brand partnership, events management and talent. 

Insights by Karla Otto offers an unparalleled understanding of the communications and marketing landscape, fuelled by over 40 years of expertise across creative sectors. We help brand leaders navigate the key drivers of change with data-backed evidence combined with cultural intelligence.

To explore how we can support your business, reach out to insights@karlaotto.com today.