Gucci and LACMA build friendship through partnership

MIAMI – Creating a long-term partnership allows brands to create not only a collaboration, but also a friendship with organizations that can lead to multi-year campaigns, according to an executive from Gucci at The New York Times International Conference Dec. 2.

Gucci and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have teamed together for a number of years to help combine art and film within Los Angeles. The long-term relationship between Gucci and LACMA has established roots and built relationships within the film and art worlds, allowing them to consistently interact and change the industries.

“It is really important, always, to find a very serious organization to partner with, because of course we need to provide technology and social media and we need to reach so many people around the world,” said Frida Giannini, creative director of Gucci.

Make new friends

In Los Angeles there are two separate worlds, the art world and the film world. LACMA, in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, decided to combine the two industries.

“Film was business and then there is art, film has enough history now and is art and that was the idea to bring them together has had incredible results,” said Michael Govan, CEO of LACMA. “Filmmakers are artists, artists make films.”

The inherent nature of film and art allow this collaboration to meld for LACMA. The museum of art will sit side-by-side with the museum for film on a horizontal plane, allowing the two to be equal in the same city.

Gucci teamed with LACMA to bring art and film together, because cinema has always been part of the brand’s DNA.

The New York Times International Luxury Conference

“Gucci and the partnership and interests with cinema and this community dates back to the 40s and 50s when famous actors and actresses were approaching the brand,” Ms. Giannini said.

The brand used its history to create this relationship with the Los Angeles industries and LACMA.

This year, Gucci was the sponsor of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s fourth annual Art+Film Gala.

The gala honored artist Barbara Kruger and filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, and was co-chaired by actor Leonardo DiCaprio and LACMA trustee Eva Chow. Through the event, Gucci had a presence with Ms. Giannini as gala host committee chair (see story).

With a joint goal of honoring art and film, Gucci and LACMA grew a friendship out of the partnership.

“We are friends in ways,” Ms. Giannini said. “We share ideas together, we don’t feel like just a sponsor.”

In fact, Gucci’s sponsorship is understated at the LACMA events, focusing on the relationship the fashion brand has created with the actors and artists present and LACMA, rather than the sponsorship aspects of the events.

Close to home
The friendship, relationship and partnership has fused into one for Gucci and LACMA in this long-term collaboration. The brand’s dedication to its partnership has extended into other aspects of film and art as well.

For instance, Gucci continued its film restoration project with The Film Foundation and Warner Bros. Entertainment that showcased the brand’s appreciation for and support of cinematic arts.

Facilitating the restoration of director Nicholas Ray’s film “Rebel Without a Cause” allows the brand to show its enthusiasts a side not based in fashion. Artistic collaborations give brands a way to connect with and change the perceptions of consumers outside their niche (see story).

Gucci’s dedication to the film world, a place where the brand has a storied history, allows the brand to take something from its core and create relationships and partnerships with other like-minded companies. The restoration of film allows Gucci to work with many different companies, organizations and people from the film and art world to save the medium and the brand’s past.

“You have to save as many films as possible and time is ticking and it is really dissolving, film is the most powerful and the most fugitive media,” Mr. Govan said.

Final Take
Nancy Buckley, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York