What are you buying – the heritage, or the story behind it?

We are living in the golden era of marketing, which is precisely why understanding the difference is so important.

A fashion house’s age does not necessarily equate to heritage. The industry is counting on you not knowing the difference. Unfortunately, some of the oldest fashion houses have no heritage left. What do I mean by that? They sold it over time, quietly and gradually, but kept the date on the label so the average consumer wouldn’t notice.

The date represents age; it’s just a number, whereas heritage is a living relationship between a fashion house, its craft and archive, and the people who carry it forward. Heritage without continued craft is simply memory.

A brand can be 200 years old and have no heritage, yet another could be 40 years old and already have it. There are three main factors at play that need to work together: firstly, a genuinely original founding vision; secondly, a mastered craft or technique that has been passed down; and thirdly, continuity and change. Remove any one of these and you have history, not heritage.

Those that have remained faithful to their origins remain key players in their niche. With creative directors changing so frequently today, the best ones understand the house’s archives and do not ignore them.

A house either has an atelier or it doesn’t, and its artisans are either trained internally or they aren’t. Those that remain today have perfected their art by learning from their superiors, and they can now pass on the secrets of the house to the new generation.

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Hermès has introduced new materials and silhouettes since its inception, but the logic of the hand, tension and precision has remained consistent throughout, not because it was founded in 1837, but because the precision of its original saddle-making still informs how it constructs a Birkin today.

So, over time, the craft has travelled, but its identity has remained intact, and that is heritage.

Some brands sell you their founding date as if it’s a guarantee, yet if the atelier has closed, the artisans have been replaced and the archive has been neglected, then what exactly are you buying?

You’re buying the story of heritage, not heritage itself. Most consumers are unaware of this, some brands justify it with the price. Yet the price of heritage is much different to the price of history.

As someone who loves fashion, it is important to know when the meaning of a luxury item is real versus when it has just been beautifully packaged to appear that way.

Which fashion house do you think has true heritage, and which is merely capitalising on its age?

Let me know in the comments below.