Not long ago, it seemed that logos no longer mattered—a few capital letters without serifs were enough, and every brand looked the same. Since 2018, this trend has been called "blandification," meaning the "flattening" or "neutralization" of visual identity. It all started in 2012, when Hedi Slimane shortened Yves Saint Laurent to simply Saint Laurent Paris and switched to a simple sans serif font. But back then, no one knew that an entire generation of brands would follow suit: Burberry, Fendi, Balenciaga, Ferragamo, Zegna, Givenchy... Brands were trying to be legible on phone screens, simplify their branding for social media, and speak a universal language that was understandable and "young."

But today, something is changing. Saint Laurent has been using an older serif font again for some time, Burberry came up with a new logo after Daniel Lee took over, Dior dusted off a small font for Jonathan Anderson's collections, Louis Vuitton began varying its monograms and logos into various forms after Pharrell's arrival, and Celine, under Michael Rider, returned to the historic "C" monograms on scarves and handbags, although the official Celine logo remains unchanged for now.

Why all this nostalgia?

The transformation of logos is closely linked to the change in the entire fashion cycle. A decade-long democratization of luxury, which ended, at least symbolically, during the pandemic and with the death of Virgil Abloh, has been replaced by a phase in which brands are once again narrowing their circle. Fashion, which once opened its doors to a wider audience, is now trying to remind us that it is exclusive and has a clear identity.

And the logo is the fastest way to express this ambition. At a time when hundreds of brands look the same at first glance (sans serif font, capital letters, minimalist packaging), the most valuable thing is disappearing: distinctiveness. It is no coincidence that these changes are coming at a time when the entire industry is restarting—the arrivals of Jonathan Anderson, Michael Rider, Glenn Martens, and Demna's anticipated debut at Gucci signal that it is not just creative leadership that is changing, but also the entire management and communication strategies.

Does the return of character have a chance of succeeding?

The question is whether the new (and actually old) logos can rekindle interest and create the kind of aspirational relationship that luxury needs. Perhaps we have simply had our fill of uniform minimalism and fashion houses have finally understood that in order to survive, they must understand themselves and rediscover their own identity. After all, the logo is the most visible part of a brand. And if luxury is really in for a transformation, it starts right here.