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With its divisive outfits and outlandish storylines, megawatt Netflix series Emily in Paris is back on screens today. And as the frenzy around the show grows, more luxury brands are taking note.
Previous seasons of the show, which follows the life of luxury marketing executive Emily Cooper (Lily Collins), have launched trends and caused searches to spike for everything from Kangol bucket hats to Rimowa luggage, alongside offering a platform for fashion’s emerging names. This season gives even more air time to luxury labels including Ami Paris, Augustinus Bader, Baccarat and Boucheron, as well as resale platform Vestiaire Collective. And while the show’s marketing agency Agence Grateau is fictional, it’s creating real-world impact for the brands and retailers involved.
The show’s fashion focus and present-day setting makes it a compelling vehicle for luxury brands, observers say. “Emily in Paris leverages Paris’s reputation as the global fashion capital, making it a powerful platform for luxury brands to reach aspirational customers,” says Alex Caceres, US head of marketing for social media management firm Metricool, which analysed brand activity on social media following the first drop of season four. “The show’s global audience — comprising millennials, Gen Z, fashion enthusiasts and style-conscious consumers — is captivated by its luxurious-yet-relatable aesthetic.”
Emily in Paris is one of Netflix’s most popular shows. The first season, released in 2020, was streamed by 58 million households worldwide, according to Netflix. Season two was the most-watched Netflix show of 2022. The first half of season four, released 15 August, reached the top of the global TV chart that week, debuting with 19.9 million views in its first four days of streaming (though it lags behind shows including Bridgerton, Stranger Things and Wednesday).
Season four features labels such as Carven, Vivienne Westwood, Jacquemus, Ganni, Ralph Lauren and Nina Ricci. The show has birthed scores of Instagram accounts like @EmilyInParisOutfits (170,000 followers), @LilyCollinsStyle (31,900 followers) and @EmilyInParisOutfit (25,600 followers), which break down and identify looks from the show. On TikTok, there are seven million posts featuring the term “Emily in Paris clothes”. To capitalise on demand, Netflix teamed up with Google Lens this season to allow fans to use the image recognition technology to shop looks or find similar pieces to those featured in the show.
On global shopping platform Lyst, searches for “Jacquemus cardigans” are up 18 per cent month-on-month, while searches for “Ganni bags” are up 15 per cent month-on-month from August to September. Searches for styles worn in the show like “sailor caps” and “checked coats” are up 46 per cent and 53 per cent, respectively.
It’s not just the show itself: Collins wore Cartier during the Emily in Paris press tours and red carpet premieres, as well as on the September issue of Harper’s Bazaar Australia and on the August cover of Harper’s Bazaar Thailand while promoting the show, generating 57.6 million engagements and $2.3 million in earned media value for the high jewellery maison, according to influencer analytics platform WeArisma.
Organic storytelling
Emily in Paris has also found success in going beyond product placement and integrating brands into its storylines. The showrunners largely select brands beloved by themselves, the cast and the crew, to feature in the show, resulting in organic exposure.
In episode one of season four, for example, character Mindy Chen (Ashley Park) resells a pink couture look gifted by her rich boyfriend (the heir to fictional conglomerate JVMA), in order to fund her upcoming Eurovision performance. She walks into a heavily branded (fictional) Vestiaire Collective resale concession store, where she’s offered €3,000 for the outfit. Emily in Paris costume director Marylin Fitoussi regularly sources pieces from Vestiaire for the show IRL, the platform says, so the partnership evolved naturally.
The Emily in Paris partnership is part of Vestiaire Collective’s broader strategy to grow its presence in the American market, which today represents 20 per cent of sales, says Vestiaire Collective co-founder and CEO Fanny Moizant. “Vestiaire Collective’s feature in [Emily in Paris] positions the company as a trusted fashion authority and brings our message to an audience passionate about fashion,” Moizant adds.
Vestiaire Collective has gained over 22,000 followers since the episode premiered, according to Metricool, the most of any of the brands featured in the show to date. In the US, Google searches for “Vestiaire Collective” nearly doubled versus the year prior in the week following Emily in Paris’s season four release (+85 per cent), according to the resale company. “Not only did the show inspire people to sell like Mindy, it also triggered purchases on the platform (increase in the number of ‘new sellers’ and ‘new buyers’, as well as followers on our social networks),” says Moizant. “We noticed significant growth, which is a testament in today’s challenging luxury market.”
The show’s premise — centring on an American navigating the Parisian fashion (and dating) scene — adds a compelling layer to this strategy. “Emily’s role as an outsider provides viewers with a relatable and aspirational perspective on high-end fashion, which resonates especially well with US audiences,” says Metricool’s Caceres. “Brands should aim to replicate such viral moments, ensuring their content is both relatable and aspirational to humanise the brand and keep it top of mind for consumers.”
High-end skincare label Augustinus Bader appeared as a client of Agence Grateau in episode four, as Emily and her co-workers ideated on a campaign. This tie-in was also organic, says Augustinus Bader co-founder and CEO Charles Roiser. Since the show aired, the brand has posted various TikToks referencing its links to the show, attaining tens of thousands of views. “It was an organic storyline integration. We love the show and were excited when the producers reached out for us to be part of the story,” Roiser says.
Other companies that have benefitted from association with the show include beauty cleansing brand Foreo, whose Luna 4 Mini cleansing tool appeared in the trailer for season two, on Emily’s bathroom sink. “Foreo’s appearance in Emily in Paris was a pleasant surprise for us since it wasn’t part of any paid collaboration or product placement,” says Dalija Tot, the brand’s head of marketing communication. The response has been “overwhelmingly positive”, she says. “Following the feature, we saw an increase in global visibility and interest, particularly among key target consumers. This exposure generated significant buzz, resulting in a spike in brand awareness and a significant boost in sales.”
Foreo is used by Emily in Paris’s lead makeup artists, per The Independent, suggesting that savvy gifting and seeding to casts and crews of major shows could result in organic on-screen appearances.
Tot says the show’s “binge-worthy format and massive streaming viewership” boost brand visibility and drive consumer engagement beyond traditional media channels. “The positive response to Foreo’s placement in Emily in Paris highlights the possible impact of TV partnerships in reaching a highly targeted and engaged audience, especially when it’s integrated into the storylines that resonate with our audience. We will definitely explore such opportunities further.”
“While brand deals have been a part of TV in the past, they are more intentional and strategic now with how heavy of an influence social media has on consumers,” says Caceres. “Fashion-TV tie-ups help audiences have more exposure to fashion brands and put them at the forefront of their own experiences in shopping.”
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