In a time when most companies are replacing entire departments with AI softwares, fashion houses continue betting on traditional productivity. They continue employing artisan labor, they prioritize quality over speed of production, there is intense design labor behind every single item they produce, and there is often a story or ideology behind the materials they choose to use, which are often premium or higher-quality. So it makes sense these brands are shifting towards the slow trends, the introspective, and the timeless. Books, and good stories themselves, are now a positioning tool. Having a good book in hand is an immediate sign of good taste; what was once a private act (reading) has now become a full-blown statement. The same way wearing a gorgeous jacket calls for attention, having a copy of a Simone De Beauvoir book in hand immediately screams “I am introspective! I know my worth as a woman! I can explain existentialism with my eyes closed!” Is that necessarily true? Probably not. By turning books into a statement, we’ve also welcomed performativity into the chat. If I’m wearing a Dior tote bag with the cover of Frankenstein, does that mean I read the book? Am I an expert in monstrosity now? Is Mary Shelley’s ghost speaking through me?
On the one hand, there’s the performativity of these new book products, which isn’t necessarily something bad. It’s the same thing as using a t-shirt of your favorite band. We wear what we love, period. (I am personally eager to buy one of Coach’s new book key chains.) On the other hand, we have Miu Miu’s Literary Club, which started in 2023 in Milan. Their first edition centered on The Writing Life and it was curated by Olga Campofreda, a writer and researcher in Italian culture, language, and literature. The purpose here was less about selling clothes and more about building intellectual identity, and created an intersection between beauty, feminism, and literary curation. By capturing this audience, formed mainly of intellectuals, Miu Miu bet on the audience that might not have the resources to buy their products yet. But eventually, they will. And they will turn to look at Miu Miu before any other luxury brand. Is the Literary Club itself a product? Ish. But it’s an experiential product, modeled after the historic Parisian salons women created when their ideas had no place in society. Miu Miu’s Literary Club included panels, discussions, readings, performances, and incredibly profound conversations with some of the most famous names in lesser-known industries, always focusing on the female experience, autonomy, sexuality, identity, and desirability. And what do women (mainly) use to communicate all of these things I just mentioned? You guessed it. Clothes. Accessories. Make up. Miu Miu’s Literary Club was the perfect marriage between literature and luxury. In 2025, the focus was “A Woman’s Education” where they explored works such as Simone De Beauvoiur’s The Inseparables and Fumiko Enchi’s The Waiting Years. With these thought-provoking experiences, which are invitation-only of course, Miu Miu used the power of literature to position themselves as a timeless brand that is in-tune with the inner workings of our lives. At long last, a household name has escaped the hellhole of tone-deaf campaigns.
Another case study of interest is Prada’s Ten Protagonists, written by the infamous Ottessa Moshfegh. The coolest writer out there, if you ask… well, anyone. For Prada’s S/S 2025 campaign, the luxury brand aimed to create “a Prada for every individual.” The campaign was spearheaded by Carey Mulligan, British actress and avid reader herself, and shot by Steven Meisel. Mulligan was shot in ten different outfits, or ten different versions of herself. At the runway show itself, Prada presented about 49 different looks to celebrate the idea of transformation, but they layered in a special, final piece to the campaign: they commissioned Moshfegh to write stories behind the ten looks worn by Mulligan, called Ten Protagonists. “The idea, says Prada, is to flesh out the various protagonists through ‘stories of women, invented by a woman’. Giving each a name – among them ‘Patricia’, ‘Fanny’ and ‘Alina’ – their imagined lives include working as a programmer, photographer and corporate translator.” The point? To flesh out the identities wearing the clothes, creating another perfect marriage between luxury and literature. The clothes we wear are no longer just passing pieces of fabric. They are threads in the fabric of our selves.
I know you’re probably thinking, literature in the fashion industry is nothing new. And you’re 100% right. Endless shows and campaigns have taken inspiration from a myriad of stories— from classics like Shakespeare’s A Midnight Summer’s Dream, to Alice in Wonderland, and even The Bell Jar. But what was once just a slightly-theatrical nudge has turned into a much more solid presence at fashion shows. A good example is Joseph Altuzarra’s tradition of leaving books on guest’s seats at his shows, in order to give context and key references on what inspired the collection. In Winter 2025, it was Wuthering Heights. The Fall 2026 show was inspired by How To be Both by Ali Smith, a 2014 novel with two distinct/inter-connected narratives that can be read in different order, in order to explore duality and genre-bending style. The shows become less thematic and more intellectual in an organic way, and by gifting the books to their guests, the designer is almost forcing the audience to join his bookworm-y boat. To gift a book is to gift a new perspective, which is quite literally priceless. You’re giving people the opportunity of practicing empathy, and showing them what it’s like to walk in other people’s shoes. Back when I was in school, you were immediately catalogued as a “nerd” if someone caught you red-handed with a book. Now? Not having books in your house might actually send your one-night stand running out the door. Reading is finally hot, ladies and gentlemen.
Now, with luxury houses centering themselves in the literary space, I can’t help but ask: is literature the new luxury item? Is critical knowledge only accesible to the higher classes? Who is this luxury literature content for? Writers are just another breed of starving artists, until they’re not. So who is consuming these products inspired by the starving artist’s revolutionary thoughts? Is it a performance, or is it truly a tool of internal exploration? And I think the answer to all these questions does center on the fact that in 2026, authenticity precedes performance. We’re no longer interested in the theatrical acts offstage. But in a time when entertainment is valued like art, and performance is the substitute of cultural value, is there still a place for creativity without commerce?
