Articles on brand strategy and positioning

Tesla & SpaceX | 15 October 2026

Tesla and SpaceX build the last best driver's car

Tesla presents the Roadster as its last best driver's car, the one manual model in an autonomous line-up, built with SpaceX thrusters.

10 June 2026

Heinz and Heineken make their first pairing official

Heinz and Heineken launch their first collaboration, a limited six-pack of five beers and one ketchup bottle timed to the World Cup.

Ferrari | 25 May 2026

Ferrari presents Luce, its first electric car, designed with Jony Ive

Ferrari presents Luce, its first electric car, designed by Jony Ive and Marc Newson's LoveFrom over five years.

teenage engineering & Supreme | 12 March 2026

Supreme puts its logo on a teenage engineering sampler

Supreme sells a white EP-133 K.O. II with its red logo across the top, and the teenage engineering sampler sells out on the day of release.

SpaceX | 2 February 2026

SpaceX acquires xAI, Musk's AI company

SpaceX acquires xAI in a share exchange that values the combined company at $1.25 trillion, reshaping the brand.

Louis Vuitton | 20 January 2026

Drophaus at the Fondation

Pharrell Williams stages the Louis Vuitton Fall 2026 menswear show at the Fondation Louis Vuitton with Not a Hotel's Drophaus.

Steiff | 5 November 2025

Steiff and BOSS launch a holiday capsule and three collector bears

Steiff and HUGO BOSS introduce a holiday capsule pairing tailored ready to wear with three limited edition teddy bears for the 2025 season.

Levis & Barbour | 30 October 2025

Levi's and Barbour launch first joint collection

Levi's and Barbour release their first joint collection, blending denim heritage with waxed cotton craftsmanship from 30 October 2025.

Ray-Ban | 30 September 2025

Ray-Ban and Meta turn eyewear into a platform

Ray-Ban and Meta extend their partnership from camera glasses to AI display eyewear, recasting a heritage brand as tech.

Trade Republic | 19 August 2025

Trade Republic and Kappa print Retire Rich on a jersey

A limited jersey carries a pension argument, and a quarter of the proceeds go to financial literacy because a statistic says a quarter.

Nothing | 1 July 2025

Nothing, KEF and the Headphone (1)

Nothing launches its first over-ear headphones with British hi-fi maker KEF, whose name appears on the earcup as Sound by KEF.

Loewe | 29 May 2025

Loewe reissues the Puzzle bag for its 10th year

Loewe marked ten years of the Puzzle bag with 19 archive reissues, a new Confetti design, and a full digital retrospective.

Uniqlo | 12 May 2025

Roger Federer designs his first collection for Uniqlo

Seven years after leaving Nike for Uniqlo, Roger Federer co-designs his own collection with creative director Clare Waight Keller.

Ferrari | 24 April 2024

Ferrari names its F1 team Scuderia Ferrari HP

Ferrari takes a title partner into its Formula 1 team name for the first time since the tobacco era, racing as Scuderia Ferrari HP from 2024.

Trade Republic & Visa | 9 January 2024

A million wait for Trade Republic's mirror card

A broker's first physical object draws more than a million people onto a waitlist, and pays 1 percent of every payment into a savings plan.

teenage engineering | 9 January 2024

teenage engineering co-designs the orange Rabbit r1

teenage engineering co-designs the orange Rabbit r1, whose look helps it sell out at CES before reviews turn on what the device can do.

Polestar | 23 May 2023

Polestar and Candela build a flying boat

The Candela C-8 Polestar edition takes Polestar's battery, colours and design onto the water, on gold hydrofoils that lift the hull.

Louis Vuitton | 6 January 2023

Yayoi Kusama returns with a giant sculpture and a global window takeover

Louis Vuitton's second Yayoi Kusama collaboration covers the Champs-Élysées flagship in dots and installs animatronic Kusama robots in global windows.

adidas | 25 October 2022

adidas ends its Yeezy partnership with Kanye West

adidas ends its Yeezy partnership with Kanye West in 2022, closing a line that generated billions and exposing the risk of celebrity brands.

Aesop | 22 August 2022

Waldorf Astoria makes Aesop its global amenity brand

Waldorf Astoria becomes the first global hotel brand to carry full-size Aesop amenities across its properties.

adidas | 7 June 2022

adidas and Gucci merge sport and luxury logos

adidas and Gucci launched a 2022 collaboration blending the Trefoil and three stripes with Gucci's monogram, uniting sport and luxury.

Omega | 26 March 2022

Omega lends the Speedmaster to Swatch

OMEGA let its sibling brand build a plastic Speedmaster for a fraction of the price, and sold more of the original because of it.

Aesop | 21 March 2022

Rick Owens and Aesop create a fragrance called Stoic

Fashion designer Rick Owens and Aesop release a candle, travel kit, and fragrance called Stoic in March 2022.

Lacoste | 12 March 2022

Lacoste and Minecraft launch a co-designed wardrobe and Croco Island

Lacoste and Minecraft team up on a pixelated capsule and a Croco Island map, framed under the slogan 'It all begins with play'.

The North Face | 27 December 2021

The North Face and Gucci go to Iceland

The second Gucci x The North Face chapter is shot in Iceland by Jalan and Jibril Durimel and sold in The North Face stores too.

Polestar | 6 September 2021

Polestar puts its name on a CAKE electric moped

The Makka, Polestar edition by CAKE, carries the car brand's colours and design onto two wheels and charges from a Polestar 2.

Nothing & teenage engineering | 27 July 2021

Nothing and teenage engineering make see-through earbuds

Nothing launches the transparent Ear (1), designed with founding partner teenage engineering, and finds the visual signature of its brand.

Nothing | 27 January 2021

Carl Pei calls his new company Nothing

Carl Pei launches Nothing in London with a name, a mission and a list of investors, months before the company has a product to show.

The North Face | 22 December 2020

The North Face and Gucci

Gucci and The North Face present a joint collection built on the outdoor brand's 1970s archive, with a shared logo label.

McDonald's | 8 September 2020

Famous orders and the Travis Scott meal

Wieden+Kennedy turned individual celebrity meal orders into a platform that resets McDonald's relationship with culture.

Barbour & Supreme | 7 May 2020

Supreme and Barbour wax a Bedale for spring 2020

Supreme and Barbour release a Bedale-derived waxed cotton capsule, paired in leopard print, archive black and Supreme orange.

Samsung | 11 February 2020

Samsung takes the Galaxy Z Flip to New York Fashion Week

Samsung sells its first Thom Browne edition through NET-A-PORTER, MR PORTER and Harrods alongside Samsung.com, putting a phone into luxury fashion retail.

teenage engineering | 2020

teenage engineering makes party speakers for IKEA

teenage engineering designs FREKVENS, a modular party speaker and light range for IKEA, in IKEA stores from February 2020.

teenage engineering | 28 May 2019

teenage engineering makes a Rick and Morty Pocket Operator

teenage engineering opened the Pocket Operator to Rick and Morty in 2019, then to Street Fighter, Mega Man and a Google Pixel app.

teenage engineering | 22 May 2019

teenage engineering puts a crank on the Playdate

teenage engineering designed the Playdate for Panic and gave the yellow handheld its crank, while the name on the console stayed Panic's.

Supreme | 13 August 2018

Supreme wraps the New York Post for the FW18 announcement

Supreme wrapped the 13 August 2018 edition of the New York Post in a single red box logo to announce its FW18 collection.

IKEA | 7 June 2018

IKEA previews MARKERAD with Virgil Abloh at Democratic Design Days

IKEA revealed MARKERAD with Virgil Abloh at Democratic Design Days 2018, a 15 piece collection that turned a cash receipt into a rug.

Canada Goose | 27 February 2018

Canada Goose gets its own Pantone colour, PBI Blue

Canada Goose had the Pantone Color Institute define PBI Blue, the shade of its Polar Bears International collection since 2007.

SpaceX & Tesla | 6 February 2018

SpaceX, Starman and the Falcon Heavy spectacle

In 2018 SpaceX launched a cherry-red Tesla Roadster and Starman into space, a marketing moment watched worldwide.

Polestar & Volvo | 17 October 2017

Volvo turns Polestar into a brand of its own

Volvo's former racing and tuning partner returns as a standalone electric performance brand, with its own cars, retail and logo.

Uniqlo | 2017

Loewe's designer starts a line with Uniqlo

In September 2017 Uniqlo launched its first collection with JW Anderson, whose designer also led Loewe: British classics at Uniqlo prices.

IKEA & Apple | 19 September 2017

IKEA Place put the showroom inside the iPhone

Inter IKEA Systems and Apple launched IKEA Place on the day iOS 11 went live, an ARKit app that placed 2,000 catalogue products in real rooms.

Lacoste & Supreme | 16 March 2017

Lacoste and Supreme released their first joint collection in 2017

Lacoste and Supreme launched a co-branded Spring/Summer 2017 capsule that placed the crocodile on a New York skate-shop counter.

Supreme & Louis Vuitton | 19 January 2017

Supreme and Louis Vuitton stage the FW17 Friends and Heroes collaboration

Supreme and Louis Vuitton staged the FW17 Friends and Heroes show in Paris, legitimising the streetwear-luxury crossover.

Apple & Nike | 7 September 2016

Apple and Nike take their fitness pact to the Watch

Apple and Nike launched Apple Watch Nike+ in 2016, extending a fitness partnership that began with Nike+iPod a decade earlier.

Apple & Hermès | 9 September 2015

Apple and Hermès dress the Watch as a luxury object

Apple and Hermès presented the Apple Watch Hermès in 2015, Apple's first fashion collaboration and a bid to frame the Watch as luxury.

teenage engineering | 22 January 2015

teenage engineering launches a $59 synth with Cheap Monday

teenage engineering launched its $59 Pocket Operators with Cheap Monday, a jeans label, and took its look far beyond musicians.

Louis Vuitton | 14 October 2014

Six iconoclasts reinterpret the Monogram for Louis Vuitton's 160th anniversary

Louis Vuitton's 160th anniversary commissioned Karl Lagerfeld, Frank Gehry, Cindy Sherman, Marc Newson, Christian Louboutin and Rei Kawakubo to reinterpret the Monogram.

adidas | 13 February 2013

adidas turns Boost into a branded technology

adidas launched Boost in 2013, a cushioning technology developed with BASF that became a branded ingredient across its shoes.

Canada Goose | 17 January 2013

Canada Goose dresses the Sundance Film Festival

Film crews had worn Canada Goose for over 20 years. In 2013 the brand made it official, with more than 300 custom jackets at Sundance.

Louis Vuitton | 10 July 2012

Yayoi Kusama and the infinite dots

Marc Jacobs invited Yayoi Kusama to overlay the Monogram with her Infinity Dots in 2012, the boldest pattern intervention since Sprouse.

Supreme | 8 March 2012

Supreme x Comme des Garçons SHIRT: the first luxury bridge

SS 2012 paired Supreme with Comme des Garçons SHIRT and pre-tuned the brand for the Louis Vuitton arrival five years later.

Ferrari | 4 November 2010

Ferrari World and the licensed theme park

With Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Ferrari extended its brand into a licensed theme park, lending its name and identity to an experience built by others.

Steiff | 1 September 2008

Karl Lagerfeld becomes a Steiff bear at Colette in Paris

In September 2008 Karl Lagerfeld and Steiff released a 2,500-piece teddy bear that turned the designer's silhouette into a collector object.

Supreme & The North Face | 15 February 2007

Supreme x The North Face: streetwear meets the summit

Supreme reworked the Summit Series Jacket in early 2007 and opened the longest running technical-streetwear axis in the category.

Louis Vuitton | 1 March 2003

Murakami remixes the Monogram in thirty-three colours

Marc Jacobs's Spring/Summer 2003 collection introduced Takashi Murakami's Multicolore Monogram in thirty-three colours.

Uniqlo | 2003

Uniqlo sells thermal underwear as HEATTECH

Uniqlo launched HEATTECH in 2003, then AIRism and Ultra Light Down. Toray makes the fibres; Fast Retailing owns the name.

adidas | 2003

adidas and Yohji Yamamoto create Y-3 in 2002

adidas launched Y-3 with Yohji Yamamoto in 2002, merging high fashion and sportswear and helping create the luxury athletic category.

Supreme & Nike | 1 October 2002

Supreme x Nike SB: the alliance that built skate streetwear

In 2002 the Nike SB Dunk Low arrived in a Supreme rework and opened the most consequential partnership in streetwear.

Louis Vuitton | 1 March 2001

Stephen Sprouse vandalises the monogram

Marc Jacobs invited Stephen Sprouse to spray-paint the LV monogram in 2001, reframing luxury as a host for street culture.

Steiff & Louis Vuitton | 14 October 2000

The Louis Vuitton Steiff bear sets the all-time auction record in Monaco

At Les Teddies de l'an 2000 in Monaco, a Steiff bear dressed by Louis Vuitton sold for 213,720 euros and entered the Guinness World Records.

Starbucks | 11 June 1999

Starbucks Became a Pop-Culture Punchline in “Austin Powers,” Even Featuring Dr. Evil’s Space Needle Café

Starbucks appeared in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me as part of Dr. Evil’s Space Needle lair, reflecting how the brand had become a recognizable symbol in mainstream pop culture.

Omega | 17 November 1995

James Bond and the Omega Seamaster

A costume designer chose the Seamaster for GoldenEye on a point of character logic, and Omega has held the role ever since.

adidas | 29 May 1986

Run-DMC and My Adidas rewrite sneaker endorsement

Run-DMC's 1986 song My Adidas and a 1.6 million dollar deal made the group the first non-athletes to earn a sneaker endorsement.

Visa | 1986

Visa becomes the only card at the Olympic Games

Visa joined the IOC's TOP programme in 1986 and became the only card accepted at Olympic venues, a slot American Express had turned down.

Ralph Lauren | 27 March 1974

Ralph Lauren and The Great Gatsby: how a film tailored a brand

Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby in chalkstripe and pink wool: Polo Ralph Lauren stepped onto the American style canon in 1974.

Rolex | 1963

Rolex put the name of a sponsored track on a watch

Rolex launched the Cosmograph in 1963. The name the watch carries today came off a speedway the company already sponsored.

Rolex | 23 January 1960

Rolex strapped its proof to the hull of the Trieste

Rolex sent an experimental watch to the deepest known point in the ocean on a hull, then engraved the date on a model it sold decades later.

Tiffany & Co. | 1959

Tiffany and Schlumberger create the Sixteen Stone

In 1959, Tiffany designer Jean Schlumberger created the Sixteen Stone ring, founding a named-designer tradition the house still relies on.

Hermès | 1937

Hermès designs its first silk carré in 1937

In 1937, Hermès produced its first silk carré, Jeu des Omnibus et Dames Blanches, founding a design tradition still active today.

Omega | 30 July 1932

Omega times a whole Olympics with 30 chronographs

One watchmaker and 30 chronographs covered every discipline in Los Angeles, and Omega has held the role for almost a century.

Steiff & Disney | 1931

Steiff and Walt Disney introduce the licensed Mickey Mouse

Walt Disney selects Steiff to produce the first commercially licensed Mickey Mouse plush, opening one of the longest running co-branding partnerships in toy history.

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