Author Archives: mabouportant

Cultural Capital in the Age of Cultural Co-Creation Part 3: Performing

This is the third part of a research conducted over the course of a year covering “Cultural Capital in the Age of Cultural Co-Creation” in the luxury industry. This first part covers Performing: Prestige Through Participation. Marketing in luxury today hinges on curated participation. This article analyzes how semiotic fluency, discursive performance, and symbolic filtersContinue reading “Cultural Capital in the Age of Cultural Co-Creation Part 3: Performing”

Friggitello alla Moda

Art x Fashion Edit #43 Massimo Catalani magnifies the simplicity of peppers by painting them monumental. Born in Rome in 1960 and trained as an architect, he spent years designing spaces before turning fully to painting. That background never left him. You can see it in his canvases: the rigor of scale, the geometry ofContinue reading “Friggitello alla Moda”

Cultural Capital in the Age of Cultural Co-Creation Part 2: Retailing

This is the second part of a research conducted over the course of a year covering “Cultural Capital in the Age of Cultural Co-Creation” in the luxury industry. This first part covers Retailing: From Museumification to Cultural ROI. Luxury retail today operates as both architecture and rhetoric. Stores and brand activations no longer merely facilitateContinue reading “Cultural Capital in the Age of Cultural Co-Creation Part 2: Retailing”

Hayez’ Kiss

Art x Fashion Edit #42 Francesco Hayez’s The Kiss (1859) is one of those paintings that lures you in with romance, then hits you with politics. Cloaked figures, a shadowy corner, a kiss so urgent it feels stolen: it’s the most iconic image of Italian Romanticism. But behind the tenderness lies a manifesto. Painted at the heightContinue reading “Hayez’ Kiss”

Cultural Capital in the Age of Cultural Co-Creation Part 1: Theoretical Foundations

This is the first part of a research conducted over the course of a year covering “Cultural Capital in the Age of Cultural Co-Creation” in the luxury industry. This first part covers Theoretical Foundations: Cultural Capital, Field Dynamics, and Brand Visibility. Luxury, once governed by scarcity, craftsmanship, and lineage, now finds itself in a landscapeContinue reading “Cultural Capital in the Age of Cultural Co-Creation Part 1: Theoretical Foundations”

Nikki’s Summer Party

Art x Outfits Edit #41 Some places do more than just inspire an outfit, they are the outfit. Nikki de Saint Phalle’s Jardin des Tarots in Tuscany is one of them. A labyrinth of monumental arcana, all glittering mosaics and surreal curves. It is a place where you walk into a sculpture and the sculpture stares right back atContinue reading “Nikki’s Summer Party”

Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami – Encore

In 2003, Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton launched one of the most radical and commercially successful collaborations in fashion history. At the time, the Maison was dabbing with collaborations with contemporary artists under the creative leadership of Marc Jacobs. This year, it’s back. Reissued. Reframed. Repositioned. Or maybe just repackaged. What is certain is thatContinue reading “Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami – Encore”

Hockney’s Blues

Art x Outfits Edit #40 David Hockney’s A Bigger Interior with Blue Terrace and Garden, 2017, feels like a mood board for dressing like your imagination got loose in the South of France, or, for that matter, California. It is a long, narrow canvas, almost awkward in shape like it is refusing to fit neatly on aContinue reading “Hockney’s Blues”