Author: Iva Radmanovic
High-end fashion brands are increasingly turning their attention to food, blending culinary artistry with luxury aesthetics. Labels such as Miu Miu, Jacquemus, and Loewe are at the forefront of this shift, exploring how gastronomy can be integrated into the fashion world to create immersive, multi-sensory experiences.
A recent Vogue article explored this emerging convergence, suggesting that the next significant evolution in hospitality may unfold at the intersection of food and fashion. While food in art is not a new concept, lately it has been featured more and more as the main focus of marketing campaigns from important luxury brands.
Loewe is a great example of a brand connecting our love of food with what they are selling. Their collection of soaps, candles and perfumes promptly named “Tomato Leaves” is being promoted using the most simple and raw images of big ripe tomatoes to invoke a feeling of freshness and familiarity that will make us desire their products even more. And while tomatoes may not be our first association of “luxury food”, the Loewe tomato is much more reminiscent of an organic non-GMO produce rather than the standard supermarket budget option.
Jacquemus is another good example of food being utilized in unexpected ways. While some may look at a piece of toast and some butter being sent out in the place of a more traditional invitation for a fashion show as a simple marketing ploy meant to scandalize the internet, there is a deeper meaning behind it.
With mainstream influencers such as Nara Smith pushing the narrative of a tranquil life where you have time to bake your own bread and make butter from scratch, living in a cottage somewhere deep in nature, Jacquemus has recognized how powerfully our feelings are connected to even the idea of food.
They are being immensely provocative with their images of yellow butter and freshly baked
goods, telling you to add their product into your fantasy of “the perfect life” Aside from the most essential foods, brands are creating future brand loyalists through their usage of caffes. Many iconic brands -Dior, Armani, Louis Vuitton and Vivienne Westwood just to name a few – are opening caffes and inviting people to sample some of the brand’s luxury through consumption of overpriced coffee. Customers of these caffes may not have the money to buy their main products, but this “trial period” of being a part of their elite clientele may transform them into a life-long fan, who will later in life return with his or her hard-earned money and spend it on a more substantial purchase. This all is not to mention the free marketing these coffee-drinkers are doing by posting their visit on their numerous social media profiles.
Miu Miu has utilized this phenomenon of brand caffes in an interesting way. Even though their coffees made rounds on social media, when you search for “Miu Miu coffee” on google images the first three rows of results are their bags in the shade of coffee. Nonetheless, food marketing is not just tomatoes and bread. Luxury brands are still featuring the “traditional” luxury foods, such as macarons and caviar, which are exuding with elegance from the second we first see them. There is no need for a deeper analyzation of why we desire them, they are in our minds equivalent to the unattainability of the brands themselves. Still, these luxury powerhouses are going one step further, with culinary presentation (through plating, textures, and visual storytelling) being elevated to the status of high art, shaping the way luxury is expressed and consumed.
This cultural shift is perhaps best illustrated through the work of Balbosté, a Paris-based culinary creative agency featured in the Vogue piece. Originally founded in a modest apartment kitchen, Balbosté has since expanded into a full-scale research and development studio with a team of 20 professionals. Their collaborations with top fashion houses reveal a growing trend: brands are using food not simply as an accessory, but as a core element of their identity. What makes this new marketing development especially timely is the broader cultural context: the rising cost of groceries and increasing concerns around food access have begun to reframe how society perceives food itself. What was once considered everyday or ordinary is now, for many, becoming more rarefied.
As food inches closer to luxury status in the public consciousness, it’s no surprise that luxury brands are embracing it as a potent symbol, one that conveys care, creativity, and exclusivity. In this landscape, a meal is no longer just sustenance, it’s a form of storytelling, a visual experience, and a status symbol. As food becomes more scarce, more expensive, and more performative, it’s also becoming a new language for luxury.
