Spaces to Live the Fashion Brands (original) (raw)

Abstract

The current society of hyperconsumption, as described by Gilles Lipovetsky, is characterized by the pursuit of welfare and happiness, what even justifies the consumption of objects. Nowadays, we buy things not so much to boast about them, to show a social position, but to satisfy emotional, physical, sensory, aesthetic, relational, healthy, playful and recreational needs. We desire products “to live” rather than display. To satisfy this consumer’s desire, products and services for sale are imbued with sensations and messages, by the incorporation of a brand: a set of meanings as well as emotional and aesthetic associations tied to the offer. The adoption of the brand allows the stimulation of feelings of happiness and the expression of identities through the consumption of products and services. The same are permitted by the spaces, through the incorporation of the brand values by the process of visual merchandising: the space planning in order to attract consumers. Brand management, or branding, is responsible for creating and managing emotional ties with consumers. Rather than worry about the logo and visual identity, branding today have turned increasingly to the global environment that involves the relationship between brand and consumers. In this context, the importance of physical spaces has increased, since they are points of contact that engage the consumer on a physical and emotional relationship with the brand. The space can imbue soul, personality and sensory appeal, transmitting the brand values through the architecture, furniture, color and shapes. This article offers a brief literature reflection about hyperconsumption society and links this subject with fashion brands, which, by the appreciation of ephemerality and their time, stimulate the consumption selling more than products: change, novelty and happiness. Fashion, in this context, is considered the desire for the New and the appreciation of change, the present time, the aesthetic variability and sensitivity. Fashion brands incorporate these values in the spaces of contact with consumers, especially in stores, and most evidently in the so-called flagship stores, which are characterized by transmitting at a space the whole imaginary associated with the brand. The research method employed in this article is the literature search that covers the areas of philosophy – which deals with the consumer society -, fashion, branding and visual merchandising. The aim of this paper is to perform a literature reflection about the current hyperconsumption society under the bias of fashion brands, relating them with visual merchandising of stores and other branded spaces.

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