Luxury Unfiltered: Intimate storytelling is the new status symbol in luxury

June 18, 2025

Daniel Langer is the founder and CEO of consulting firm Équité

Luxury is no longer defined by visibility but by emotional closeness.

In a world oversaturated with content, the most powerful brands aren’t the ones who shout the loudest. Instead, they are the ones who connect the deepest.

At the heart of this shift is storytelling, but not the kind that comes from marketing departments or seasonal campaigns.

Beyond product: What are you really selling?
What sets today’s leading brands apart is their ability to tell stories that reflect core values, create intimacy and build desire through authenticity.

That’s brand storytelling at its best. It’s about the role a brand plays in the life of a client, told authentically and with high relevance, so that people care.

Today’s luxury clients, especially Gen Z and millennial high net worth individuals, aren’t just buying craftsmanship or heritage. Both are a given.

They are buying into meaning. A watch, a handbag, a residence or a hotel experience becomes a signal of personal identity, emotional alignment and cultural insight.

This is where many brands fall short. They speak in polished slogans but leave clients emotionally untouched.

The future of luxury belongs to those who treat storytelling not as a tactic but as the very substance of the brand.

The power of emotional proximity
Few brands have achieved the level of emotional closeness that Loewe did under former creative director Jonathan Anderson.

Through his direct creative involvement, Anderson didn’t just design collections; he told stories. He made clients feel close to the brand’s cultural heartbeat.

Whether through imaginative campaigns, curated digital presence or the recontextualization of craft, Loewe became a brand that felt human. With Anderson’s recent departure, the critical question arises: can Loewe maintain this emotional proximity without the creative anchor that made the story feel so real?

It’s a reminder to all luxury brands: storytelling cannot be easily delegated. It must come from the core, and it must be sustained intentionally.

Reaching across verticals, Nobu is another example of a brand that tells a story without a single word.

From restaurants to hotels, the Nobu world is one of calm intensity, refined service and cultural fusion. Its strength lies not in marketing but in experience.

The aesthetic, the tone and the hospitality are all part of a larger narrative that elevates the brand into a feeling, represented by chef Nobu Matsuhisa himself.

Smaller in scale, Los Angeles-based independent eyewear designer Jacques Marie Mage exemplifies how storytelling can transform a product into an artifact of culture.

Each piece is part of a limited narrative rooted in a unique mindset fusing Japan and LA, aiding its design philosophy and vision. The founder’s voice is central, and every communication reflects that clarity.

It’s not about volume or exposure. It’s about meaning, scarcity and connection. When a client wears Jacques Marie Mage, they are participating in a story that is deeply personal, precisely curated and emotionally resonant.

What brands must do now
Luxury clients don’t need to be told what Nobu is. They feel it, and that’s the point.

The best stories are the ones that don’t need explaining. The true marker of a luxury brand today is not how often it shows up but how it makes people feel when it does.

Luxury brand storytelling in this new era must be rooted in core values that define the brand beyond its products, expressed through consistent, intimate touchpoints that build emotional connection, designed to create emotional proximity, not mass engagement.

It’s no longer about controlling perception through campaigns. It’s about curating a brand world that feels deeply personal to those invited in.

Research has shown that more than 95 percent of the value is in the story when brands get it right. And yet, it’s an area often neglected.

A shortcoming no brand can afford anymore. Every luxury brand must now ask: Are we telling a story that truly reflects who we are?

Do our clients feel close to us or merely marketed to? Do our actions and experiences speak louder than our ads, and are we training our teams enough to enable and lead the change?

In a world where luxury is everywhere, intimacy is rare. That’s why brands that dare to be emotionally precise, culturally intelligent and profoundly personal will be the ones that lead.

In the end, the greatest luxury isn’t the product. It’s the story you feel part of.

Luxury Unfiltered is a weekly column by Daniel Langer. He is the CEO of Équité, a global luxury strategy and creative brand activation firm, where he is the advisor to some of the most iconic luxury brands. He is recognized as a global top-five luxury key opinion leader. He serves as the executive professor of luxury strategy and pricing at Pepperdine University in Malibu and as a professor of luxury at New York University, New York. Dr. Langer has authored best-selling books on luxury management in English and Chinese and is a respected global keynote speaker.

Dr. Langer conducts masterclass management training on various luxury topics around the world. As a luxury expert featured on Bloomberg TV, Financial Times, The New York Times, Forbes, The Economist and others, Mr. Langer holds an MBA and a Ph.D. in luxury management and has received education from Harvard Business School. Follow him on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen to his Future of Luxury Podcast.

Share your thoughts. Click here

Luxury Unfiltered: Intimate storytelling is the new status symbol in luxury

Rosewood London launches seasonal seafood dining experience

Rolls-Royce supports youth education in West Sussex

Prada CEO to step down

Live music centers latest launch from Burberry

Singapore becoming premier luxury destination: Vista Global

Dolce & Gabbana launches new season of resort takeover series

LVMH wins Luxury Grand Prix at Cannes Lions for Paris 2024

Versace Home completes Marbella villa project

Farfetch enhances advertising solutions service

Financial turbulence to be luxury’s next baseline: Bain