What happens when you bring two or more creative minds together and unleash their individual talents to produce a new offspring? Would you be able to successfully marry the attributes of each to accomplish something truly unique?

In the past 5 years, brands and platforms have increasingly crossed paths, foretelling a much larger opportunity through the power of collaboration. By integrating two different brands, designers can create “super audiences”, exposing each individual audience to the other and creating new revenue synergies.

When it comes to these partnerships – known as collaborations – no area is “off limits”; sports brands are intertwining with high fashion, artists and creatives are aligning with musicians, environmental groups are aligning with global apparel companies… the list goes on. Embracing everyone’s strengths to come together and provide a one-of-a-kind item, collection or experience that can unite and expand upon the respective fan bases is clearly where the real opportunities await. Why?  Because they allow audiences to grow organically without demanding wholesale changes in the way consumers behave. In order to understand how these get pulled off, it helps to take a little look back into the history of collaborations.

From Jimmy Choo to Spotify, collaborations have been around for a while, but they really became a mainstay in the world of fashion. Together with music, fashion is one of the biggest factors that influences culture across every platform, including: gaming, sports, content, entertainment, etc.. Both are seen as forms of self-expression and allow people to self-identify and connect with others. It’s nothing new for all types of creators, entertainers, and designers to be sought out to put their spin on products or be the face of a new one-of-a-kind item in order to expand the reach of all those involved. These techniques have been around since the dawn of advertising. What is new, however, is the recently acquired ability of these “audience influencers” to tap their audience, borrow brand equity, and truly “activate” huge audiences in service of a preset goal. Even further, certain brands themselves have begun to act in this “influencer” role by first accruing and then activating a highly-committed, deeply-engaged audience base.

In June of 2017, powerhouse fashion brand Louis Vuitton and the legendary street wear brand Supreme forged a groundbreaking collaboration. The approximately 60-piece collection contained specialty items ranging from $290-$4,350 and included t-shirts, sweat shirts, backpacks, luggage, bags, accessories, trunks, and bespoke skateboards. It is regarded as the first widely successful integration of a streetwear brand and a high-end luxury brand. Supreme started as a skater clothing brand. Fans of the brand have a dedication and energetic willingness to spend that is consistently displayed, what some have called the “epitome of a cult audience”. When you bring the likes of the streetwear king “Supreme” – which has a targeted millennial demographic that ranges from 18 to 25-years old – to one of the most upper echelon luxury brands in the world like “Louis Vuitton,” it bridges the gap between the cultures. [cite: https://www.nssmag.com/en/fashion/10196/ecco-i-prezzi-di-capi-ed-accessori-di-supreme-x-louis-vuitton The resultant business opportunity that comes out of these audience unifications is tremendous:

“Supreme is the only company anywhere, outside of like Tesla or some shit, where the sell-through rate is literally like 99 or 100 percent,” Lawrence Schlossman, brand director at the premier online reseller Grailed, told Wealthsimple. “I can't think of any other brand that's comparable. It’s hard to really put into words how much bigger the demand and want and audience is for Supreme products versus the amount of Supreme that exists in the world. Proportionally speaking, I can't think of another business that has been so successful employing scarcity on purpose.” :https://www.wealthsimple.com/en-us/magazine/data-supreme

Street wear has been around for decades, rooted in skateboard and hip-hop culture, but it wasn’t until Michael Burke, Louis Vuitton’s chairman and CEO came up with the idea to bring the two brands together that everyone in the mainstream media took notice.

As touched upon above, “recent” technology and media changes have made collaborations a much more feasible and lucrative endeavor. The main reason for the surge in street wear subculture seems to be social media. We are living in the image-centric age of Instagram.

Street wear’s trends make noise on social media and as younger shoppers are beginning to favor more limited and exclusive items, more and more brands are out to get a piece of the action by creating their own special collaborations for consumers. Instagram is well suited to visuals, fashion brands are creating a “community.” Purchases are generally linked to a feeling of belonging to a group and looking for a two-way dialogue with the brand. (cite: https://luxe.digital/digital-luxury-reports/when-streetwear-and-social-media-hype-win-over-luxury-fashion/)

The trending opportunity isn’t limited to Instagram. With the rise of esports and the popularity of gaming and streaming, video game creators have jumped in by integrating real world activations that allow clothing brands to create exclusive gear for in game. EA Sports NBA Live 18 created “LIVESTRIKE” which introduced new content releases in the form of exclusive events & challenges. In these LIVESTRIKES, players will be able to win exclusive shoes, apparel, and accessories while getting the opportunity to play on new exclusive courts.

EA sports teamed up with three street wear brands for these LIVESTRIKE events; Undefeated, A Bathing Ape (BAPE), and Pink Dolphin. Similar to real life fashion drops some items will be easy to get and others will be limited edition, of course most users have flocked to the items that are most rare. By owning the rare item, players are able to join an exclusive club and feel like an important part of a larger community.

The best example of esports collaboration is Japanese clothing brand BAPE (A Bathing Ape) teaming up with EA Sports on an expansive level.  Outside of the game, BAPE and EA Sports created an exclusive EA/BAPE-branded clothing collaboration to be sold online only until sold out. In game, players have their choice of BAPE jerseys for their personal avatar. With the rise in street wear brands’ demand in recent years owing to social media and gaming, collaborations like this afford brands a new engagement channel into and connection with the coveted millennial demographic.

Perhaps the most unexpected collaboration of 2018 was Post Malones’ signature edition Crocs, Posty Crocs.  The collaboration is a natural fit for the Crocs brand because Post is a long time Crocs fan. “I wear Crocs everywhere from the bar to the stage and I felt it was the perfect collaboration to get together with Crocs and give the fans what they’ve been asking for.” https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/post-malone-crocs-dimitri-clog-release-date-price-info/

The shoe sold out in 10 minutes and had custom designed “Jibbitz” charms (attachments to the holes in crocs) resembling Posts “Stay Away” tattoo and the Posty Co Logo. The iconic classic croc designed by Post himself features the Posty Co Logo. With the addition of Post Malone, collaborations have made Crocs coveted and arguably in fashion.  

The power and reach of collaborations in the modern age appears to be picking up speed, aided by the remarkable efficiency and engagement of new social media platforms that curate personalized content. In doing so, consumers are naturally segmented into self-selected (and not entirely exclusive) groups of consumption. The emerging opportunities in the months and years to come will be for brands and influencers to recombine this shifting audience landscape in new and creative ways. Doing so has, as we have seen, generated vast new revenue streams with sometimes very little effort. It has resurrected brands and even put long-time industry powerhouses out of business. As content becomes more personalized and fans more engaged, creators stand poised to capitalize on their brands and cash in like never before.