Why brands are building archives

Emilio Pucci

Although the fashion brand Emilio Pucci was purchased by luxury conglomerate LVMH in 2021, the family company has retained full rights to its archive, which it displays in a palazzo in Florence. The 13th-century building, located on 6 Via de’ Pucci, was opened to the public in 2018 and serves as a living archive to the brand’s past and future collections. In addition to preserving the company’s legacy, the building is also a research centre and incubator for special projects. With the ascent of the resale market, the brand is now planning to use the setting to provide authentication services, illustrating how archives can have practical applications beyond knowledge-sharing.

Paco Rabanne

In April 2022, luxury fashion brand Paco Rabanne began selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of its vintage designs to raise money to purchase items for its physical archive. The NFTs, which were created in partnership with department store retailer Selfridges, feature 12 opulent designs from Paco Rabanne’s first show in 1966. By developing NFTs of conceptual clothing, the brand is bringing hard-to-wear items into the virtual world, where it will be easier for avatars to wear them. All the proceeds of the sale went towards the brand’s archive, showing how emerging technologies can be used to help fundraise and build historic collections.