PARIS — Call it the Pharrell effect: The growing synergies between fashion and entertainment are driving worldwide interest within the Paris fashion weeks, as brands tap right into a globalized cultural conversation with spectacular shows and celebrity-filled front rows.

Pharrell Williams’ bells-and-whistles debut for Louis Vuitton, featuring a gospel choir and a live set by Jay-Z, put the brand in pole position in the course of the most up-to-date round of men’s shows, in line with the newest tallies from Launchmetrics.

Meanwhile, Maria Grazia Chiuri’s quiet luxury collection for Dior, which drew guests including Natalie Portman, Elizabeth Debicki and Alexandra Daddario, propelled the brand to the highest of the chart for Paris Couture Week, it said.

The information research and insights company’s proprietary media impact value figure calculates the impact of relevant media placements on all channels (online, social and print), inclusive of paid, owned and earned mediums.

In a separate report released concurrently with the rankings, Launchmetrics found that overall, each menswear and high fashion saw a formidable increase in MIV in comparison with 2022, fueled by celebrities, specifically those from Asia.

In parallel, brands’ own channels have gotten increasingly effective at relaying their runway events, overtaking influencers to turn into the second most significant voice after media.

In a webinar on Friday, Michael Jais, chief executive officer of Launchmetrics, and Pascal Morand, executive president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, said the figures show that fashion and entertainment are merging, with brands turning into media channels that harness the facility of music and film stars to advertise their collections.

Morand said the Vuitton show, which shut down a complete section of central Paris, marked a watershed for the industry.

“It was a latest paradigm. It doesn’t mean that fashion shall be less vital, nevertheless it witnesses and emphasizes fashion at the guts of the culture industry,” said the chief. “It opens latest ways and it enlarges the chances.”

Jais concurred. “Marketing is integrating more entertainment into their techniques. I see and I hear an increasing number of brands in fashion, but in addition in beauty, talking about brand entertainment strategies,” he said.

The challenge for designers is to take care of a high level of creativity at the guts of those increasingly ambitious marketing efforts, Morand said. “The entire story for designers, the artistic directors and types, shouldn’t be to be integrated, absorbed by entertainment,” he cautioned.

Indeed, the showbiz-ification of fashion has prompted some designers to go for the other approach by specializing in their craft, an approach that was particularly evident in the course of the couture shows, which extolled quiet luxury – whilst Cardi B did the rounds, helping to drive engagement around shows by the likes of Schiaparelli, Thom Browne, Fendi and Gaurav Gupta.

“It’s beyond her talent. It shows that – and it is going to be an increasing number of like that – couture may be very attractive because there may be this type of purity of truth,” commented Morand.

“At this moment of the digital society, what matters is the hand, the sensory perception, the distinctiveness, the know-how, and that is something very absolute, regardless of the price is, just in the way in which it’s done, so it makes it very attractive,” he added, noting this human touch was a draw each when it comes to social influence and celebrities.

The high fashion week in July generated $187.2 million in MIV, up 58 percent year-on-year. Owned media accounted for 13.8 percent of the whole, versus 13.3 percent for influencers and 9.2 percent for celebrities. By comparison last 12 months, owned media represented 16 percent, below influencers at 16.4 percent, while celebrities had a share of just 4.5 percent.

“While all voices have demonstrated considerable growth since last 12 months, the celebrity voice grew essentially the most – tripling its results since 2022,” the report found.

Reflecting that power, luxury brands are increasing their presence within the cultural sphere, said Jais, citing the instance of Saint Laurent launching a movie production arm at this 12 months’s Cannes Film Festival.

“This interconnection between brand and cultural events is something that can also be a subject that needs to be taken under consideration into the long run,” he said. “The investment in all media channels is growing and I believe it is going to be a critical a part of the strategies of the brands.”

Launchmetrics noted that lower than half of the couturiers presenting in Paris were French, reflected by a stark rise in global coverage of the event.

High fashion is resonating especially across Asia, with social media channel Weibo generating 2.5 times more MIV than it did in 2022, contributing to a 58 percent increase in MIV generated by China. India reported a 320 percent jump in MIV versus last 12 months, while Thailand’s MIV was multiplied by eight, Launchmetrics said.

Among the many celebrities from the Asia-Pacific region, the highest placement went to Filipino actress, singer and businesswoman Heart Evangelista, who generated $1.27 million in MIV with 11 placements. An in depth second was Indian actress and model Urvashi Rautela, who scored $1.24 million in MIV through just five placements.

The MIV for men’s fashion week in June totaled $163.5 million, up 97 percent versus the prior 12 months. “Tellingly, the brand lineup remained the identical, proving that brand performance is what’s driving MIV,” Launchmetrics said. “Brands are working even harder to beat the competition by increasing impact across all channels.”

Here too, Asia was a driving force with Thailand leading the way in which with $11.7 million, an eightfold increase versus 2022, followed by South Korea at $10 million, representing an annual increase of 297 percent.

This reflected star sightings including Thai actors Nattawin Wattanagitiphat, higher often called Apo, and Phakphum Romsaithong, nicknamed Mile, alongside K-pop star Cha Eun-woo, a member of boy band Astro, at Dior; and Taeyong, a member and leader of South Korean boy band NCT, at Loewe.

Celebrities accounted for an 18.5 percent share of voice, topping owned media at 17.8 percent and influencers at 8.1 percent. This represented a 397 percent jump versus 2022.

Morand noted that after the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, which forced brands to pivot to digital formats, the return of physical shows is attracting crowds comparable to those on the Cannes Film Festival or concert events.

“It’s not latest that fashion is linked to the popular culture, specifically, nevertheless it’s like this global cultural event,” he said. “That’s something very strong, which raises some problems of security, I have to say, and so we are going to give an increasing number of guidelines.”

Jay-Z’s performance at Vuitton achieved $8.7 million in MIV, while Beyoncé’s attendance at the identical show generated $9.2 million, and Rihanna accounted for $9.4 million, although she arrived midway in the course of the event. Overall, Vuitton generated $42.6 million in MIV, leading the lads’s top five rating ahead of Dior, Loewe, Ami and Givenchy. 

During Paris Couture Week, Dior totaled $27.3 million in MIV, followed by Chanel, Valentino, Schiaparelli and Fendi.

One other key trend is the growing influence of TikTok, the report found. The app is now the second highest earning platform when it comes to MIV, generating $16.5 million and overtaking YouTube because the predominant video content channel for Men’s Paris Fashion Week. 

“Each video has 40 percent more impact than on Instagram,” said Jais.

“If you talk with TikTok executives, they let you know that their competitors usually are not fashion media platforms but entertainment platforms reminiscent of Netflix and others. So again, it’s probably also one other connection between fashion and entertainment,” he concluded.