Innovating without compromising our values

The luxury sector is not lagging behind technologically; it is undergoing a crisis of coherence. Against a backdrop of rising prices and heightened expectations, value is being questioned more than ever. Yet over the past decade, flashy innovations—from the metaverse to generative AI and immersive experiences—have done more to undermine this perception than to reinforce it. The issue is not so much innovation itself as the way it fits—or fails to fit—into the brand’s overall coherence.

When Innovation Dilutes Value

Who still remembers Vertu? Launched in the early 2000s, the brand applied the hallmarks of luxury—handcrafted design, precious materials, prices running into the tens of thousands of euros—to a technological device. Who buys a phone at that price knowing it will be obsolete in just a few years? Vertu stumbled over what technology imposes on luxury: a pace of renewal incompatible with longevity. When usability declines, perceived value cannot hold up.

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The metaverse was the next big thing. A race for innovation that bordered on collective hallucination. Fashion houses saw it as a new frontier of desire and, within a few months, invested heavily: virtual flagship stores, digital fashion shows, immersive experiences. The craze took off quickly. The pullback was just as swift. According to GEEIQ, investments have plummeted by more than 70% since 2022. This decline reveals a structural disconnect: innovation designed to be seen, but not to be experienced.

Generative AI follows the same logic. At Valentino, the DeVain campaign features an AI-generated face—the first fashion house to launch a campaign entirely driven by AI, without a strong artistic vision or narrative necessity. The image is polished, but it doesn’t hold up. Not because the technology fails, but because it doesn’t build on anything. No gesture, no intention, no vision. The move stems less from a deliberate choice than from convenience.

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At Prada, with Jordan Wolfson, the approach is more structured. There’s a visual tension, an air of strangeness that intrigues. But the interpretation remains unclear: artistic experimentation or a technological showcase—the brand doesn’t make a clear choice. And in the luxury sector, failing to make a clear choice weakens the message. Photographer Jack Davison sums up the unease: “More AI that nobody needs.”

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These examples do not reflect a rejection of innovation. They reveal an expectation of consistency. An innovation that is visible but serves no purpose undermines its impact. An innovation that can be easily replicated makes no difference. A familiar innovation immediately ceases to signal something rare.

This is where the confusion with fashion becomes problematic. Fashion absorbs, tests, and accelerates. Luxury works the opposite way. It doesn’t follow the times; it transcends them. The Houses that have weathered the recent period best are not those that have sought most to demonstrate their technological advancement. Bottega Veneta and Loewe have continued to incorporate innovations, but without flaunting them as proof. The focus is no longer on modernity. It is on consistency.

Renew from the inside out

The current shift stems from a simple tension: how to integrate the new without undermining what has endured. For a decade, the luxury industry has played by the rules of the attention economy: producing images, capturing the eye, and demonstrating its modernity. This model is reaching its limits—not because it no longer works, but because it no longer sets itself apart.

What is emerging is an economy of presence. Value no longer lies solely in being seen, but in the quality of the experience. Customers no longer seek to be impressed; they seek to be connected with. The more artificial the environment becomes, the more the perception of reality becomes a deciding factor.

In this context, innovation is less about adding something new than about transforming what already exists. The word itself suggests this. In Latin, *innovare* does not mean to create something new. It means to renew from within. To shift without breaking.

This involves rethinking our practices—not to simplify them, but to make them more authentic. It also involves our regional presence: luxury is no longer limited to the product or the store; it extends to gastronomy, hospitality, and culture—provided that these extensions reinforce the brand’s cohesion rather than diluting it. Through customer journeys, which must be enriched rather than multiplied, giving depth to every interaction. And above all, through time: reintroducing the long-term perspective where efficiency has gradually eroded it.

At Hermès, artificial intelligence isn’t just for show. It is overseen by a dedicated governance committee, with specific operational metrics. AI is neither a product nor a campaign, nor an external signal. It is treated as an internal discipline. That is exactly what “renewing from within” means.

‍Amplify without showing yourself

Innovation in the luxury sector is now organized around three areas, the relative importance of which is shifting.

The first is to make an impression. It captures attention, fuels communication, and projects an image of modernity. It remains useful, but is no longer enough to create lasting value, precisely because it is replicable. Here, an innovation is valuable only in the moment. When a brand is the first to explore a new territory, it creates a breakthrough. When it arrives later, it is often merely following a trend. In the first case, innovation creates value. In the second, it tends to dilute it.

The second approach involves enhancement. This is where AI finds its place in the luxury sector: not as a substitute, but as a means of intensification. It does not take over production. Instead, it prepares, connects, and refines.

At Zegna, in partnership with Microsoft, AI is used upstream. It enables sales associates to organize their knowledge of customers, anticipate visits, and tailor their recommendations. The interaction remains human. The relationship remains central. But it becomes more precise.

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That is where the fine line lies. Visible, replacement-style AI suggests that creation can be produced effortlessly, without time or effort—something the luxury sector cannot afford to imply. Conversely, integrated, discreet AI that supports employees operates where the customer cannot see it, yet feels its effects. The question, then, is not whether to use AI, but where it can enhance without altering.

The third type of innovation is revelatory. It does not involve introducing a visible novelty, but rather transforming perception. It is an innovation that is not measured in terms of features, but in terms of transformation. Soneva, a hotel group focused on understated, experiential luxury, offers the clearest example of this. The experience relies neither on spectacular effects nor on distinctive technology. It influences the relationship with time, silence, and attention. It slows things down, disconnects, and reorganizes the guest’s priorities during and after their stay. Bare luxury follows this logic: not accumulating signs of luxury, but stripping them away to reinforce what matters. The proof that such innovation has worked is not that it is noticed. It is that the guest leaves changed without quite knowing why. This type of transformation can neither be standardized nor compared. And that is precisely what will become decisive.

The rise of AI—and more specifically, agent-based systems—will make this shift more apparent. In the future, part of the shopping journey will no longer begin on Google, Instagram, or in-store, but in interfaces capable of comparing, filtering, and ranking options on the customer’s behalf: price, availability, delivery times, materials, and similar alternatives. This shift is already underway: nearly 58% of searches today are influenced by recommendation algorithms or AI-driven environments. As Business of Fashion and McKinsey anticipate in the State of Fashion 2026, AI is no longer content to simply influence choice—it structures it.

In this context, anything that can be compared tends to become interchangeable. A bag can be evaluated by its features, a service by its performance, an experience by its ratings. But what underpins a brand’s value defies this logic. Artisanal craftsmanship cannot be categorized as a mere feature. The relationship with an advisor cannot be reduced to a personalization score. A community is not activated through targeting; it is built through repetition, rituals, and a sense of belonging.

The value of luxury is shifting toward the incomparable.

Innovation is no longer about what a brand adds. It’s about what it changes for the customer.

Opinion column for Luxus+