Are Fashion and Hospitality Collabs Reaching a Tipping Point?
Beyond, brand allegiance or fandom, is there any other reason to visit these places? I love a well-made latte, so I was a regular of Ralph’s Coffee in New York, first at its camper van at Rockefeller Center, then making pit stops at the flagship store on Fifth Avenue. Sharp branding, well-trained staff, and a consistent product led me to return over and over. I can say the same for lunch at Monsieur Dior, a wonderfully posh restaurant inside the fashion house’s store on Avenue Montaigne in Paris, where I enjoyed a meal including a dirty martini and chocolate tart that would have made the self-proclaimed gourmand Christian Dior proud.
At the Gucci Osteria in Florence, inside a beautiful jewel‑box space, I had a leisurely paced lunch that included the Parmigiano tortellini, a staple of star chef Massimo Bottura’s Emilia-Romagna cuisine; the Emilia burger, originally a product of the chef’s collaboration with Shake Shack; and a pork-belly filled brioche bun, a dish by Japanese chef Taka Kondo, who has helmed the restaurant since opening day. At the sister location in Beverly Hills, perched on top of the Gucci flagship on Rodeo Drive, cherry‑red velvet banquettes and star‑spangled ceilings dominate the space. It was so different from Florence, with a Gucci-stamped old Hollywood feel. Seated on a terrace decked in Italian marble mosaic flooring, I had the insalata mare, a seafood appetizer; and the “risotto camouflaged as pizza,” a Bottura classic, in which rice is cooked with fragrant tomato water. Here on a plate were the same commitment to high standards and artistic creativity as found in the fashion Gucci produces. And now I got to be a part of it all.
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As I visited more of these fashion-in-hospitality establishments, my travel habits began to shift. In Seoul and Tokyo, I actively sought out the Gucci Osterias; in Doha or Hong Kong, I kept my eyes peeled for a Ralph’s; I hunted for that Dior chocolate tart anywhere I could. Why? In my opinion, I’ve found that these places are selling not only the brand but also a certain high standard. Inside these spaces, there’s the same devotion to all things well-made, whether a latte or a scallop salad, that goes into high-end couture.
True, they are living and breathing advertisements selling an aspirational lifestyle—and high fashion has always been about aspiration. The same could be said of travel. It’s a partnership that has endured and will continue to endure. This decades-long tend is reaching critical mass, and most will come and go. But as with institutions like Polo Bar and Bulgari Hotels and Vuitton’s cafés, time will prove to be the final judge of these collaborations’ success. A pair of Gucci loafers will last generations. I think Bottura’s burgers at the Osterias will as well.
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