This rentrée, knowledge is the real luxury

From Dior masterclasses to Miu Miu book clubs, education is fast becoming one of the most powerful loyalty strategies in luxury.

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As we turn into September, the mornings are starting to feel more crisp and cool, the sunlight a darker kind of golden. We’re breaking out our sweaters, sending our kids off to school again: it’s the rentrée, as we say in France.

Here at Al Dente, this has got us thinking about the power of learning, and why so many of us still long after our school days. More and more, we’re seeking out knowledge about what we’re passionate about, and look for courses, workshops, and a sense of community around these interests.

Initiatives like Off-Campus in Paris are rising to the occasion. Opened this year in the 11th arrondissement, Off-Campus is a stylishly designed coffeeshop-bookshop that’s gaining loyal fans for also offering courses, in classrooms, with real professors. The breadth of these courses is absolutely fantastic, spanning everything from geopolitics, literature, astronomy, cinema and far beyond (currently on offer: a seminar that dives into the facts & fictions of Cleopatra; short story writing workshops; a course on nationalistic politics in Europe). 

Across the Atlantic, USAL is an initiative that’s getting successful Angelinos and New Yorkers out of their comfort zones and into exploring new hobbies. Ultra-niche workshops regularly quickly sell out on everything from ‘fire-cooking’ to ‘mushroom foraging’ to ‘spoon carving.’ 

Together, these initiatives show how knowledge,  even when playful or highly specialized, is deeply valued. In luxury, this same desire for learning is increasingly visible: Hermès has offered yoga class pop-ups, Montblanc runs calligraphy workshops, and Prada curates global salons mixing art, panels, and community.

Luxury is winning when it’s more experiential, yet educational initiatives are often overlooked compared to the more obviously ‘Instagrammable’ activations. And while there is certainly value in creating an aesthetically beautiful external experience for your brand (which truly great coffeeshop activations can for example do), there’s also a different and even deeper form of loyalty that can be unlocked when you’re not only spending mere minutes drinking a brand’s latte, but are spending meaningful time learning something that’ll forever stay with you.

We asked Eva Bellinghausen, Program Director of the Master New Luxury & Art de Vivre at Sciences Po Paris, for her thoughts on the future of the value of education in today’s luxury landscape. “We must be extremely careful when we speak of ‘educating’ luxury customers,” she says. “It’s more about sharing than educating.” We don’t want to be top down, but immersive and interactive.

She believes meanwhile that “offering [consumers] the opportunity to enter [a brand’s] universe and learn about it is a great way to share the passion and create much closer attachments.”

Here at Al Dente, one way we feel brands can create these kinds of bonds is by providing chances to learn how to use products. Dior is one Maison who does this, with their ongoing Dior Beauty interactive masterclasses. Another way can be via immersively sharing the inspiration around a product. Aesop is doing this with their upcoming London event – a star-gazing-focused activation in support of the launch of their new fragrance ‘Above Us, Steorra,’ which is a star-inspired fragrance.

“A peek behind the scenes is a great privilege,” as Eva Bellinghausen tells us. “Visits of workshops, exchanges with artisans and highly skilled professionals give a whole new flavor to a luxury experience: we never look at our watch again in the same way if we understand its complications and we never drink champagne in the same way again after meeting the cellarmaster of a great champagne house.”

We can also extend the cultural reach of our brands via these kinds of initiatives – just look at Miu Miu’s successful book club series, for instance. Major brands such as Louis Vuitton and Cartier are also providing the public with inspiring exhibitions, reminding us of luxury’s roots as patrons of art and culture. “These exhibitions are a great opportunity to understand how deeply connected fashion and society are – any major evolution of society will translate into fashion at some point,” says Bellinghausen.

Brand podcasts (on everything from sustainability to arts & culture), workshops, exhibitions, courses – the ways to deeply, intimately engage with audiences are endless. Bentley even took their inspiration on the road with their ‘Extraordinary Journeys’ travel series, which gave exclusive access to their consumers to curated design, architecture, and hospitality trips in stunning locations around the world. As Caren Jochner, then Global Head of Brand Experience at Bentley Motors put it, it’s “an extraordinary journey and once in a lifetime experience that offers the opportunity to connect you with like-minded souls – an experience money alone can’t buy.

Today some consumers are reportedly losing trust in the value of luxury brands. It’s worthwhile to consider the kinds of activations and experiences that can renew and heighten brand loyalty in this market context.

For this rentrée, we can remind ourselves that wool, liquor, gold are physical commodities, but inspiration, legacy, and knowledge are immeasurable gifts, with no fixed price. 

If you’re interested in how your brand can imagine rich cultural experiences in this vein, we’d love to talk event & communication strategy with you. We welcome all inquiries at contact@aldenteparis.com.