In this day and age, offering one product isn't the way to build customer loyalty; brands must diversify, and consumer base is pressuring them to do so. Whether this means permanently branching out into new areas or collaborating with other brands to bridge gaps between their products, fashion and luxury brands have been working to establish themselves as lifestyle brands for ages, and the newest wave of collaborative efforts is doing just that. 

Fashion brands have collaborated with many industries, but among the most fruitful is the automotive industry. Established luxury card brands– Lamborghini, Bentley, Ferrari– go way beyond just offering a vehicle; like many others, they want to sell you a lifestyle, not just a product. That’s where the trusty collabs come in; sure, they could hire a designer to craft garments, but working with an established name, it creates a brazen lust like no other. A Lamborghini line of clothing would sell, but it will sell even better if it’s not only Lamborghini, but Lamborghini and Versace. People love what they know, so working with established brands is lucrative for both parties. 

Of course, this hasn't stopped brands from branching out into the world of fashion on their own. There seem to be three distinct kinds of fashion-car crossovers. 

Luxury x Luxury

Collaborations of this nature are for existing fans of the brands involved. While the collaboration is meant to drive sales, it is not necessarily meant to appeal to a different demographic beyond the ones they already cater to. Even a non-car fanatic can spot the value and appeal in these kinds of collaborations; the branding and craftsmanship of each brand's products are the main reasons behind their success. And the only thing better than one brand's quality guarantee is two. 

Not only are the cars fashion-forward, but the clothes embody all of the traits that each brand carries. Plus, these collabs are always limited, which makes them even more desirable. The cars tend to be one-of-a-kind, and the garments are offered in limited quantities or time frames.

The first collaboration between fashion designers and car manufacturers began with an ongoing project in 1976, one that went on until 1993. Cartier, Bill Blass, Pucci and Givenchy collaborated with Ford. Lincoln Continental selected these four designers for the Continental Mark IV-VII. Over the years, the 4 designers stayed consistent, but Valentino and Versace were involved a few times. It was a huge success and is no doubt the reason why these kinds of collaborations continue to be successful and popular today.

Courtesy of Ford.

Hugo Boss and Aston Martin had their fourth collaboration for their Spring/Summer 2026 capsule collection. The pieces are sleek and stylish, featuring many closet staples that highlight the Aston Martin logo. The capsule offers clothing and accessory pieces from head to toe, and the collection is available while supplies last. Pieces from the collection are shown worn by Italian F1 driver Fernando Alonso, who races for the Aston Martin team. BOSS (a sub-label of Hugo Boss) is an official sponsor of the F1 team. 

Courtesy of BOSS.

Hermès and Bugatti worked with a private client to create this one-of-a-kind vehicle titled the ‘Chiron habillé par Hermès’ (Chiron dressed by Hermès). The car has custom cashmere fabric with a Hermès horse pattern adorning the door inserts. The cream colour that covers the car inside and out is derivative of Hermès’ highly sought-after ‘Craie’ leather shade. A one-of-one badge with "Dressed by Hermès" in French is on the dashboard, with multiple other badges on the interior and exterior. And the grille is made up of H's, just to really drive it home (no pun intended). 

Courtesy of Bugatti.

Yohji Yamamoto x Lamborghini. Lamborghini’s Lounge in Tokyo opened in 2020 with the unveiling of a special Aventador S and capsule collection created by Yohji Yamamoto. It was the second Lamborghini Lounge opened, the other in New York. The capsule collection had a mod coat, bomber jacket and hoodie. Quantities were limited to the opening event and were highly exclusive to VIP clients and attendees. The price and quantities of the pieces were never released. The car is used as an art piece in the Tokyo lounge and was never available for purchase.

Courtesy of Lamborghini.

Courtesy of Yohji Yamamoto.

Iris van Herpen x Rolls-Royce. This is a one-of-one Rolls-Royce Phantom called the Syntopia. It is painted in a custom iridescent paint, and the interior uses pieces by the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective and van Herpen's team. There's a custom silk-blend fabric on the rear seats. The ‘Weaving Water Starlight Headliner’ in the roof uses one large piece of leather, 162 petals made of glass organza, and nearly 1000 sparkling fibre-optic stars inside.

Courtesy of Rolls-Royce.

Streetwear x Luxury 

A major goal is to diversify clientele; By collaborating with modern and contemporary fashion brands, the hope is to draw in a younger audience. When marketing to a younger audience, it’s less about the cars and more about the edge and fashion. When someone invests in the fashion collab pieces, they are indirectly investing in the automotive brand, creating potential future customers.

Kith and BMW have collaborated three times, which already makes them a standout. Each collaboration has been based on a vintage car from BMW. Ronnie Fieg, the director and CEO of Kith, reimagines the models, and limited quantities are created and sold. Their first collaboration in 2020 had 150 units available and sold out in under 30 minutes. After the success of that partnership, they worked together again in 2022 and only offered 7 units, but Kith offered a 51-piece capsule collection, which also sold out. Most recently, in 2024, they made 47 units available for preorder, which sold out quickly, and another capsule collection was made available and sold out as well. 

Courtesy of BMW.

Courtesy of Kith.

London-based fashion and lifestyle brand PICANTE and Bentley worked together on ‘The Open Road’ capsule collection released in November 2024. The collection included 7 different pieces, but the pinnacle was the leather bomber jacket, which features the Bentley wings embossed onto cowhide, and only 20 units were made. The collection is sold out and did not have any associated vehicle available alongside the drop.

Courtesy of Bentley.

As an official sponsor of the Mercedes F1 team, it’s not surprising for Adidas to collaborate on creating exclusive gear and merchandise. The clothing is mainly focused on branded athleticwear, but also offers smaller accessories like hats, a wallet, and a tote bag. The collaboration seems to be mainly aimed towards F1 fans, rather than fashion enthusiasts. The products will appeal to younger athletes, grabbing the attention of a different audience than Mercedes on its own as a luxury brand might.

Courtesy of Adidas.

Solo Fashion Endeavours

Ferrari has fully branched out into garment creation. In this way, they’ve proven themselves to be the ultimate luxury lifestyle brand, as they can do it all on their own. They began the process in 2019, hiring Rocco Iannone to branch Ferrari into the world of fashion. He worked for Armani and Dolce & Gabbana before taking up his role with Ferrari. Now, they make seasonal ready-to-wear collections; their FW26-27 collection, titled ‘Skins I Am In,’ showed at Milan Fashion Week.

Courtesy of Ferrari.