JACQUEMUS: How to Break the Rules Like a Luxury Brand Icon
How to build a cult personal brand by defying norms and doing everything the corporate marketing suits told you not to do.
I knew I had to write about Jacquemus the minute summer hit.
Not because it’s trending. But because it’s the perfect case study in how to build a brand that feels like something — long before anyone knows what you’re selling.
Sun-soaked, slightly chaotic, and dripping in charm — Jacquemus is proof that playful rebellion is a luxury strategy.
So if your personal brand is craving more emotion, more edge, and way less beige? This one’s for you.
Because this week’s breakdown is all about how to Jacquemus your brand — and become unignorable on your own terms.
Summer’s here… ⛱️
You’ve tried to follow all the branding and marketing advice — niche down, post daily, polish everything. But your brand still doesn’t feel like it has iconic status.
Because here’s the truth: playing by the rules is what’s making you invisible. You’re blending in with people you’re miles ahead of.
Jacquemus didn’t build one of the most iconic modern luxury brands by playing it safe — he broke every rule in the book. And it worked.
This post is for high-end service providers and creative personal brands who know they’re not meant to look like everyone else.
If you’re tired of being told to “be consistent” 🤮 when you’re built to be unforgettable — this is your permission slip to do it differently.
What Makes Jacquemus Different?
Jacquemus built a luxury empire not by fitting in, but by making us feel something — often before we even knew what he was selling.
He didn’t start with a polished logo, a runway budget, or a crystal-clear marketing plan... or even financial backing. He started with a feeling.
A sun-drenched, soft-focus nostalgia for his childhood in the South of France. It wasn’t a strategy, it was a story — and that made it unforgettable. While most brands were perfecting product lines and Instagram grids, Jacquemus was building mythology.
He made the dream real before the product had weight. He staged fashion protests instead of press releases. He opened shows in lavender fields before he had a flagship store. The brand didn’t say, “Here’s why you should want this.” It whispered, “You already do, you just haven’t seen it yet.” That’s luxury. Not explaining. Evoking.
And while heritage brands leaned into authority and legacy, Jacquemus leaned into playful intimacy. Sometimes intentionally “unpolished,” his approach felt human, reachable — but still unattainable. That tension? It made his world magnetic and dreamy AF.
→ Here’s the plot twist: what luxury once defined as “perfect and distant,” Jacquemus proved could be “imperfect but iconic.” He reminded the world that exclusivity can come from emotion, not price tags. A longing for long summer days and the romance of the South of France.
So, instead of obsessing over what makes your brand look legit, ask what makes your brand feel unforgettable. Own the moment before the method.
Because being remembered beats being professional — and that’s the most luxurious thing of all.
Why Rulebreaking Works in Luxury Branding
Most of what you’ve been taught about “building a brand” is basically corporate cosplay. Templates. Funnels. Messaging hierarchies. Vision statements. Brand voice guides with five adjectives and zero soul.
It’s safe. It’s systematised. It’s a word salad in a suit. And it’s completely incompatible with luxury.
News flash: the most iconic luxury brands don’t follow rules — they break them.
Jacquemus didn’t find success by filling out a brand archetype worksheet (can you imagine!?). He made fashion feel emotional, unpredictable, even unreasonable. And that’s exactly what made it magnetic.
Traditional brand-building rules come from business school logic: segment the audience, define the niche, craft the USP, validate the offer, scale through consistency. Sounds solid. Works for toothpaste and lightbulbs. Not for desire-driven brands.
Couple that with generational shifts in how culture is consumed — where virality, irony, and aesthetic identity all intersect — and you get a branding landscape where logic doesn’t just fall short, it gets completely ignored.
Emotion becomes the algorithm. Personality becomes the positioning.
Luxury, by definition, resists logic.
It’s not about what makes sense (hey, logic 🖕🏼) — it’s about what makes you feel. That’s why rulebreaking isn’t a risk. It’s a strategy. It signals status. It creates culture. It builds obsession.
Think about it: when someone breaks the rules and it works, we pay attention. We assign charisma. Authority. Vision. That’s not an accident — that’s behavioral psychology 101. It’s called a status violation. In luxury branding, it’s everything.
So if your brand feels a little too obedient right now (esp. if you’re playing the good girl) — too polished, too safe, too well-behaved — maybe it’s not a strategy problem. Maybe it’s a permission problem.
Oooooooooh!
→ Because the brands we remember don’t just market differently.
They move differently.
The next section? It’s a masterclass in how Jacquemus broke every rule and built every ounce of demand.
Not by being smart — but by being unforgettable.
Rulebreaker Moves That Built the Jacquemus Brand
Jacquemus didn’t rewrite the rules of luxury branding. He burned them in a field of lavender and invited the world to come watch. Each chapter of his rise wasn’t just a business decision — it was a cultural statement. Here are the moves that made the man a myth.
1. The Dior Protest: Marketing by Mayhem
While most designers beg for a seat at fashion week, Jacquemus made his own. Literally. He staged a fake protest outside Dior during Vogue’s Fashion Night Out — with handmade signs and a message that made fashion insiders stop and stare.
🧨 Rule Broken: “Earn credibility before visibility.”
💡 Why It Worked: He became the story, not just part of one.
💥 Icon Status Move: Turned guerrilla performance into press-worthy art.
Translation for you: Instead of waiting to be featured, become the feature. Make your positioning provocative enough that people can’t ignore you — even if they don’t know your name yet.
2. Direct-to-Dreamworld: DTC Before It Was Cool
Before Shopify was a verb and “DTC” was VC catnip, Jacquemus launched his own e-commerce site. No retailers. No gatekeepers. Just his world, on his terms.
🧨 Rule Broken: “Get stocked in legacy stores to gain legitimacy.”
💡 Why It Worked: Created intimacy and ownership — luxury without middlemen.
💥 Icon Status Move: Built brand equity from pixel one.
Translation for you: Own your space. Whether it’s a microsite, private client portal, or a signature experience, give your audience a place where you control the story — and the sale.
Sure, he had a slight leg up from Dover Street Market — but going DTC signalled he was building his own world, with or without Harrods or Selfridges. No gatekeepers. No compromises.
3. Scarcity as Spectacle: The Bag No One Could Use — But Everyone Wanted
The Chiquito bag. It was tiny. Impractical. Almost a joke. And then it became a status symbol. Scarcity, absurdity, and design collided to create something people didn’t need — but desperately wanted.
🧨 Rule Broken: “Form follows function.”
💡 Why It Worked: It was emotional, meme-able, totally unique, and ridiculous.
💥 Icon Status Move: Made uselessness a feature, not a flaw.
Translation for you: Not everything needs to be “useful.” What if your lead magnet, visual identity, or method name was iconic instead of explanatory?
→ He also went to the other extreme with the ‘Jacquebus’ — a fantasy tour bus turned branding stunt that proved just how big his tiny bag could go, even if only as a 3D rendering.
4. Runways That Felt Like Romance: From Catwalks to Lavender Fields
Jacquemus took his 10-year anniversary show to a lavender field in Provence. No stark runways. No front-row scramble. Just wide-angle magic and poetic rebellion.
🧨 Rule Broken: “Luxury must look urban, polished, and prestigious.”
💡 Why It Worked: He sold feeling, not just fabric. Frolicking in fields, sign me up!
💥 Icon Status Move: Reframed luxury as emotional experience, not elitist access.
Translation for you: Stage your brand moments in a way that’s emotional, not just impressive. Use story, surprise, and soul to make your work feel like art.
5. The Founder is the Fantasy: Self Before Product
Simon Jacquemus is the brand. He documents his life in Provence, his boyfriend, his art, his meals — not just the clothes. The audience doesn’t just buy a bag. They buy into him.
🧨 Rule Broken: “Separate brand and founder for professionalism.”
💡 Why It Worked: Humanised luxury. Made it feel like intimacy, not marketing.
💥 Icon Status Move: Became the main character of his brand world.
Translation for you: Show more of you. Not your deliverables — your desires. Your obsessions. Your aesthetics. Let people fall in love with the person behind the polish.
These weren’t just stunts. They were signals. Each move told the world: “Luxury is changing — and I’m already where it’s going.”
You don’t need to copy Jacquemus play by play.
But you do need to stop following the marketing rule book.
Why Playing It Safe Is Hurting Your Brand
Luxury doesn’t whisper politely. It haunts you. It shows up in your dreams. It makes your pulse quicken. Safe brands don’t do that — and that’s exactly the problem.
Let’s be honest: most high-end service providers like you have incredible results, amazing taste, and clients who love them — but a brand presence that could put you to sleep. Polished? Yes. Precise? Sure. But unforgettable? Not really.
And the reason? You're playing by rules that were never made for you. the same rules everyone else is following.
You’ve been told to be consistent. To be clear. To follow the 3 C’s of brand voice. To never confuse the market. To use beige-and-sage Canva templates and approved luxury fonts. Show you're part of the luxury crowd. Basically, to blend in — beautifully 🥸
But that’s not luxury. That’s compliance.
Here’s the thing no one tells you: safety feels affordable and practical. Familiar. Predictable. It doesn’t feel high-end — it feels like you're trying to be high-end. True luxury branding invites mystery, polarity, emotional reaction. It plays with tension. It breaks its own mould.
And when you don’t allow yourself to do that — when you over-polish, over-strategise, over-niche — you create something safe… and forgettable. It’s hard to charge premium prices for a brand no one remembers.
This doesn’t mean being chaotic for chaos’ sake. It means being undeniably you — even if that means surprising people. Alienating a few. Making the occasional eyebrow raise 🤨
Because no one pays luxury prices for someone who blends in.
They pay for the one they can’t stop thinking about.
And that’s where we say goodbye to the free subscribers—and hello to the paid subscribers who get the afterparty, the strategy, and the transformation that turns compliant brands into cult brands.
I’m such a tease… ;)
Join today for the price of your daily 1-shot oat latte and remix your brand from forgettable to cult status.