La Ligne — Luxury · Brand Strategy #01
MARCH 2026 by Justine Grosset
Luxury is no longer owned. It is orchestrated.
March put words to something many luxury brands have long sensed without quite knowing how to name it. The data cited by NellyRodi is unambiguous: since 2023, experiences alone have driven positive growth in luxury spending, with an estimated +4% progression in 2025. The product remains the foundation but it no longer creates desirability on its own. This is not a trend. It is a structural shift in the model — one with concrete implications for the way luxury brands build their identity, their client relationships, and their content strategy. Product-centric thinking is over. The experience era has begun.
The invisible orchestration: what is felt without being explained
Clara de Pirey (NellyRodi) names it precisely: "invisible orchestration." Ultra-luxury clients — 2% of luxury customer base, 40% of spending — no longer expect to be impressed. They expect never to feel the slightest friction. Zero friction. Anticipation. Memory. The distinction is built in what cannot be seen. The counter-example is everywhere: how many brands project a premium image while delivering an ordinary, even clunky, customer journey? An unanswered contact form, a generic e-commerce experience, an after-sales team with no memory of who you are, multiple interlocutors and no continuity. The gap between brand discourse and lived experience has become the primary signal of dissonance for the discerning client. This, in my view, is where AI comes in — not as a tech subject, but as a discreet strategic lever. Enriched client knowledge, anticipated recommendations, effortless personalisation. The brands that integrate AI into the architecture of their customer journeys — without showing it — will be the ones that feel the most human. The central paradox of contemporary luxury.
Sant Roch, Azuma Farm : two proofs that identity outranks concept
Two March openings illustrate, better than any discourse, what it means to have a solid brand platform before launching a place. In Paris, Jules and Chloé Bouscatel (founders of Monday Sports Club) just opened Sant Roch, facing the Tuileries. 400 square metres of contrast therapy: the largest sauna in France, five cold plunge pools, guided rituals, meticulous artistic direction. Neither a traditional spa nor a gym. A space conceived as a culture with the explicit ambition of building a community around a practice, not selling sessions. The identity precedes the place. The place embodies the identity.
In Iwate, Japan, Adrian Zecha — 92 years old, founder of Aman — is about to open Azuma Farm Koiwai. 24 rooms within a century-old farm, materials sourced from the estate, a "farm life" philosophy. Where others build wellness resorts on blank land, Zecha starts from an existing territory with over 130 years of agricultural heritage and makes it the narrative foundation of the place. At $1,500 a night, it is not scarcity that justifies the price. It is coherence.
Both are the opposite of the generic wellness wave that flooded the market from 2020 onwards. What sets them apart: an identity defined clearly enough that every decision — materials, ritual, architecture, pricing — reads as the expression of a single vision.
Rolex discontinues the Pepsi: a masterclass in managed desirability
Rolex has ended production of the GMT-Master II Pepsi, one of its most iconic watch references. The pre-owned watch market reacted immediately: prices surged. This classic mechanism, organised scarcity that amplifies desire rather than frustrating it, is a near-perfect demonstration of what only brands with a solid identity can afford to do. Discontinuing a product without weakening the affection the market holds for the maison. Rare.
Question of the week:
If your brand vanished tomorrow, what would your clients truly miss: the product, or what you made them feel?
Justine Grosset is a French brand strategist and editorial director, specialising in luxury and the art of living. She works with executives and entrepreneurs on building their brand identity and digital expression.
