How fashion found its funny side

Fashion is often perceived to be a serious business, but a wave of brands and creatives are tapping into their sense of humour for ad campaigns and visual communications. We explore what has prompted the industry’s changing tastes

High-end fashion has historically not been a place for laughs. “Humour definitely isn’t the usual territory for luxury brands, because luxury generally projects an elevated image, an image of desire, and not of accessibility,” explains Florence Bellisson, president of BETC Étoile Rouge, the luxury arm of agency BETC, which has a roster of luxury clients including Louis Vuitton, Lanvin and Yves Saint Laurent Beauty.

Yet with our rapidly changing times, fashion has been forced to enter more universal waters of late. With streetwear aesthetics dominating the 2010s, the playful influence of these labels has translated into how luxury brands present themselves and speak to the world. In recent years, fashion has not only been in on the joke, it has been the one making it.