Haute Hospitality: The trend of luxury brand collaborations within the hospitality industry

We are seeing a strategic shift in luxury brand marketing. With luxury consumers increasingly prioritising travel and dining (and Instagrammable) experiences over the purchase of physical goods, many luxury fashion brands are spotting this as an opportunity to diversify their marketing strategies through collaborations with hotels and other hospitality businesses. Such collaborations can allow luxury fashion brands to engage with consumers beyond the shop floor in a way that focuses on the “experience” of a brand, with the aim of increasing brand exposure.

No longer the preserve of the super-rich, luxury tourism is a fast-growing industry, due in part to the increase in aspirational travellers favouring travel experiences over other luxuries. High-end hotels such as those within the Belmond group and the Dorchester Collection are targeting a similar market of aspirational consumers to those targeted by luxury fashion brands, so there is clearly a lot of potential for successful strategic partnerships to form. 

In this article, we take a look at some specific examples of these collaborations, and explore some of the legal and commercial considerations arising from them. 

Collaboration Models

One of the first considerations is the structure of the collaboration. For some brands, full ownership of own-branded hotels has been the way forward. In the early 2000s Versace and Bulgari opened the first fully-branded fashion hotels, with opulent interiors, furnishings and colour schemes that reflect their brand identities. Other fashion houses followed suit, for example, Armani has its own hotels in Milan and Dubai and LVMH operates the Cheval Blanc Hotels.

However, for many brands, collaborations with established luxury hotels (that are household names in their own right) are the better alternative and have led to the development of sophisticated brand partnerships. 

Dior has capitalised on this opportunity – from its redesign of the poolside at the Dorchester Collection’s Beverly Hills Hotel in 2024 (think Dior-branded sun-lounger cushions and umbrellas); to the Dior Spa on Belmond Trains such as the Royal Scotsman, and more recently with the opening of a new Dior Spa at the Splendido Hotel in Portofino. 

Other partnerships have taken the form of fashion collaborations, such as the partnership between Hotel Du Cap-Eden Roc x Lacoste which launched an exclusive capsule collection in April 2024 and the Ritz Hotel Paris partnering with casual-wear brand, Frame, which launched a clothing range featuring the Ritz Paris logo. Collaborations such as these can allow a hotel to enhance its brand visibility and reach a new audience. 

Contractual arrangements

The form that the collaboration takes will determine the type of contractual arrangements that the parties will need to put in place. For example, the parties may use a management agreement if the brand intends to partner with a hotel management company to open its own branded hotel (as was the case with Versace and Bulgari). 

Alternatively, co-branding or brand licensing agreements may be required to grant the hotel and the luxury brand the right to use each other’s name and intellectual property in their respective marketing materials, merchandise and other outputs from the collaboration. Agreements should also set out any royalties and profit-sharing arrangements, specifying the proportion of the profits each party can expect to receive. 

Irrespective of the type of collaboration, to minimise potential disputes down the line, parties should have in place clearly drafted contracts setting out how the parties will work together day-to-day (via governance clauses), how the benefits of the partnership will be shared and what the division of responsibilities and obligations are.

Key terms

The collaboration arrangement will inevitably involve some form of intellectual property licensing. There are a number of things that will need to be specified in such licences, including: 

• the duration of the licence; 
• any usage limitations (for example, to avoid brand dilution, the brand may specify that its intellectual property may only be used on the hotel’s premises and its official website or only in certain territories); and
• quality control rights (such as specific approval rights for the licensor over marketing materials, or requirements to comply with the licensor’s brand guidelines to maintain brand integrity). 

If the collaboration involves the creation of marketing materials or new products and furnishings, then the agreement should also specify who will own any copyright or other intellectual property rights that subsist in those new assets. 

Partnerships between companies that have similar values and strategic goals are often key to a mutually beneficial collaboration. For high-end, luxury brands and hotels, maintaining their brand reputation is vital. In the event that any quality standards set out in the contract are not respected, or (perhaps most importantly) if there is brand misalignment, the contract should allow the collaboration to be terminated in a way that minimises adverse publicity as much as possible. 

Each party should also consider the need to protect rights to claim alternative remedies such as injunctive relief, to allow a licensor to stop the licensee’s use of the licensed brand and force marketing materials to be withdrawn if the licensor suffers severe reputational harm, for example. Clauses requiring mediation and arbitration may also be advantageous in agreements such as these, to ensure any disputes are kept out of court and the public eye. 

Final thoughts

The increase in fashion brands collaborating with hotels in recent years reflects a broader trend driven by consumers choosing high-quality experiences over material goods, and shows no signs of slow-down. This, as we’ve explored, is for good reason as these collaborations offer a unique marketing opportunity for both the hospitality and the luxury fashion brand. However, as with all collaborations, the benefits these arrangements bring are not without risks. Detailed contractual terms covering the full spectrum of the relationship – from the establishment of the partnership to its termination and beyond will be key to mitigating these risks and maximising the benefits of the collaboration. 

These luxury brand collaborations within the hospitality sector are just one example of the cross-industry partnerships that we are seeing fashion houses and other high-end labels enter into with players in “experience-driven” sectors. Other examples include arrangements with the sports and film and entertainment industries, which you can read more about here.