Luxury Briefing, Art and Retail

Contemporary art has become an established feature of the affluent lifestyle, with rising levels of wealth globally driving prices higher. Reflecting their customers' interests, luxury brands have started to take this sector very seriously indeed. BETTINA VON HASE, a consultant advising several luxury brands in this area, looks at the intersection of art and retail

The contemporary art phenomenon has dramatically changed our cultural landscape, not just in the UK, but globally. It goes well beyond the 2000 opening of Tate Modern, the largest modern art museum in the world with more than five million visitors a year, or the launch of the Frieze Art Fair, now in its sixth year. Everyone talks about art, and art is everywhere, not just in the traditional gallery spaces, but also in window displays, on scaffolding, on brick walls, in department stores and marketing campaigns, in print, and on television and the internet. In London, the contemporary art market has grown from zero to £1 billion in 10 years; then, there were only a few galleries, but now there are over 200 and their number is growing. Fuelled by the stock market and the explosion of hedge funds, customers have emerged from new markets such as Russia, China and India to give European and US collectors a run for their money.

Luxury brands have been sitting up and noticing. Their customers are interested in art, and collecting has often become a crucial part of their lifestyle, a fact that brands have to understand and communicate. While art is accessible to much higher numbers than before, at the top end it is still aspirational, even for billionaires. The definition of luxury has evolved significantly since the 1980s and 1990s, with knowledge and access as two or the key differentiators. "Art is the ultimate luxury, there's no end to what you can spend, and there’s always something you can't have," is how Matthew Slotover, co-founder of the Frieze Art Fair, describes it. The 'can't-have' element is the tabasco in the Bloody Mary, something which luxury brands make part of their strategy.

They have developed toolkits for attracting and holding the interest of their customers, often creating temples of shopping, such as the architectural masterpieces for Prada by Rem Koolhaas (in New York) and Herzog and de Meuron (Tokyo), who also transformed Tate Modern. Architecture bestows intellectual credibility and authority, an 'instant pedigree'. Then there are limited editions of products, often designed by artists; custom-made goods; and stylists who put it all together in a desirable way, whether in a store or on a person. Art and retail have had a close relationship ever since the birth of the department store in the late 19th century, but never more so than now, when traditional boundaries between creative disciplines are falling away because of new technology and new forms of communication. You can buy art over the internet, sip your latte with artists' quotes on your coffee cup, and browse magazines from Time to Tatler  who feature artists like celebrities.

Celebrities, in turn, like nothing better than being seen with or becoming artists themselves, David Bowie and Paul McCartney to name but two. Celebrities also love being seen at art fairs, a year-round marathon for the well-heeled and hip crowd as well as for art professionals. Artists have become financially savvy and in some cases have consciously turned themselves into a 'brand', such as the YBA (Young British Artists) generation, led by Damien Hirst. It is considered cool for artists to work with retailers: Sam Taylor-Wood famously 'wrapped' a giant photographic work around Selfridges; Olafur Eliasson did a window installation called 'Eye See You', and Takashi Murakami created handbags for Louis Vuitton. The company also commissioned the windows last Christmas from students at Central Saint Martins.

It is also on-trend for luxury brands to be inspired by, display and sponsor art. My art consultancy. Nine AM, creates and brokers collaborations between companies on the one hand, and artists and institutions on the other: not the old kind of sponsorship, where the art institution held out its hand for financial support, but a partnership where both sides learn from each other in a win-win situation.

Often a charity is in the mix which benefits from a given proiect, for a wide range of causes: diseases, the environment, the wellbeing of children. This month Bono and Hirst have organised an auction of art works (including seven or Hirst's own, donated, paintings) at Sotheby's New York in collaboration with the ‘Red’ initiative for Africa. Eliasson worked with Vuitton, which in turn supported the Ethiopian orphanage with which the artist is involved. The explorer David de Rothschild has his own gallery, Adventure Ecology, which shows artists whose works draw attention to the environment. In these cases, the artist creates something he or she would not have done otherwise; the company or brand gains profile and attracts customers; and, most importantly, there is the feel-good factor of doing something worthwhile and lasting.

Building up something that lasts is also part of what luxury represents. "Art is in our DNA," says Christine Watts, director of communications at Selfridges, which opened a Room' for luxury brands in its Street flagship. "The innovative spirit of our founder, Gordon Selfridge, gives us the mandate to do things you perhaps wouldn't expect in a store. We want customers to have fascinating and different experiences.”

The store has a project space, the Ultralounge, where recent projects developed by Nine AM with the store's creative team included Brian Eno's ‘Luminous’ light and sound installation; the 'Surrealism' collaboration with the V&A; and the artist Conrad Shawcross’s ‘Lattice’ sculptures, an investigation into the tetrahedron shape. during Frieze. This month the store launches ‘Exactitudes’, a photography project with The Photographers' Gallery; and opens 'Anticipation', the graduate show curated by Kay Saatchi. in May.

"Artists are keen to get their message out into the world, and if it’s on a T-shirt, then that's great," says lwona Blazwick, director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery, Hogan sponsored last year's Art Plus Drama at the Whitechapel, an exceptional one-off-event which celebrated the fusion of and other cultural forms. This year Tod’s will sponsor the next in the series, Art Plus Film, scheduled for March 6. The gallery also runs the Max-Mara art prize for women. “We are in the public sector, a charity, and we put everything back into art and the community. We are not just there for the sales; it's a mutual respect," Blazwick says. This respect is also seen in the strong connection between luxury brands and art foundations. There is a long tradition of private foundations supporting the arts, but the Cartier Foundation, launched in 1984, was the first institution run by a luxury brand to do so. In 1991 the foundation opened a huge minimalist gallery in Paris. built by Jean Nouvel, with two 16,000 sq ft double-height exhibition spaces.

Some luxury brands arc referred to as the modern Medicis, for their engagement in art and their commissioning prowess, which in turn feeds back positively into their businesses. Prada, MaxMara and Trussardi also operate foundations, as does Francois Pinault, owner of the auction house Christie's and founder of Artemis, a holding company which includes Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Sergio Rossi. Pinault is a major collector of contemporary art, who commissioned Tadao Ando to restore the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, previously owned by the Agnelli family, owners of Fiat. In 2009 Pinault will open the Punta Della Dogana, another art space in Venice, while Chanel will tour a 'Contemporary Art Container' in all its markets, built by Zaha Hadid, to show 10 artists selected by Karl Lagerfeld.

Pinault's competitor and fellow collector is Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH, the luxury goods group which will open the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation in 2010, built by Frank Gehry, creator of the Bilbao Guggenheim. Louis Vuitton has been involved with art since the company was established in 1854. “This energy to continuously create and renew. while maintaining and transmitting the history and identity of the brand. has inspired artists of their time, who have in turn inspired the company to create new ideas, new concepts and new products," says Susan Whiteley, managing director of Louis Vuitton UK, sums up what is true the whole sector: This cross-fertilization is “very exciting. not only the future of luxury, but also for the art world."

Bettina ton Hase is founder/director of art consultancy Nine AM, and a writer on art and culture. www.nineam.co.uk