Walk into a fashion week runway show and you’ll notice something immediately: fashion doesn’t just sell clothes. It sells a point of view, a feeling, a world you want to step into. Every detail - from the lighting to the soundtrack to the choreography - is curated to connect with the audience on a visceral level.
Advertising, on the other hand, often gets stuck in its own cycle of efficiency: KPIs, impressions, clicks. Useful, yes. But where’s the magic? Where’s the cultural electricity that makes people not only see a brand, but really feel it? Connect with it? Desire it?
Fashion thrives because it understands that connection is an art form. And if advertising wants to keep its place in culture, it can learn a lot from fashion’s playbook. There are four lessons in particular that I think stand out.
Lesson 1. Embrace trend awareness
The fashion industry is inherently cyclical. Seasons change, hemlines rise and fall, colours shift from neon to neutrals in the space of a few months. Fashion houses survive because they anticipate these shifts, not just react to them.
In advertising, trend awareness often gets mistaken for “being on TikTok.” But the principle is bigger than any one platform. It’s about having your finger on the cultural pulse - from design aesthetics and music styles to social causes and humour trends - and understanding why they matter to people right now.
Fashion brands know that missing a trend window can make a campaign feel instantly dated. Agencies can apply the same discipline by actively scanning social media, reading industry publications, and attending cultural events - not just marketing conferences - to inform creative strategy.
Cultural relevance isn’t a garnish; it’s the ingredient that makes a campaign resonate in the moment.
Lesson 2. Prioritise visual storytelling
Fashion’s product is visual by nature, but the real skill is using that visual appeal to tell stories that spark desire. A new handbag isn’t just shown; it’s photographed in golden-hour light on a cobbled Parisian street, hinting at the life you could live if only this handbag were yours.
Agencies sometimes forget that audiences are moved by images long before they process copy. While product benefits and features have their place, leading with aesthetics can create a stronger emotional hook.
The lesson from fashion is simple: invest in visuals that stop people mid-scroll. This means stylised photography, thoughtful art direction, and design choices that are as strategic as they are beautiful. And it means thinking beyond functional product shots to create aspirational worlds people want to be part of.
Visual storytelling isn’t just about looking good. It’s about creating a mood that lingers long after the ad is gone.
Lesson 3. Focus on brand behaviour, not empty adjectives
Fashion brands have long understood that credibility comes from what you do, not what you say. Limited-edition drops, unexpected collaborations, or brand-produced films speak volumes about a brand’s identity. Actions like these are tangible - they can be seen, touched, and shared.
In advertising, we sometimes lean too heavily on slogans or adjectives that claim values instead of proving them. Fashion shows us that behaviour is the proof point. Sustainability commitments are demonstrated through recycled fabrics or ethical sourcing partnerships. A commitment to inclusivity is shown through diverse casting, not just a line in a mission statement.
For agencies, this means encouraging clients to build campaigns around meaningful action. It’s about creating moments where the brand lives its values publicly, so audiences don’t just hear the message - they believe it.
Lesson 4. Understand the power of influencer marketing
In fashion, influencer partnerships aren’t an afterthought - they’re a core distribution channel. From global celebrities to niche micro-influencers, these collaborations give campaigns instant credibility and social proof.
The best partnerships go beyond a product placement. They are about alignment: pairing a brand with someone whose personal style, values, and audience match the brand’s vision. The result is a campaign that feels authentic rather than transactional.
For agencies, the takeaway is to approach influencer marketing with the same creative energy as any other channel. This means identifying partners who can extend the brand’s story, not just amplify it, and collaborating with them to co-create content that feels native to their audience.
The bigger picture
When you look closely, these lessons are connected by one principle: fashion doesn’t just advertise; it participates. It doesn’t sit on the sidelines, hoping people will engage. It steps into the conversation, sets the tone, and invites people into its world.
Advertising can do the same - but it requires a shift in mindset. It means replacing a purely transactional view of campaigns with one that values cultural relevance, aesthetic power, authentic action, and credible voices. It means remembering that at the end of every media placement is a person, not just a target.
Closing the gap
The fashion industry understands that to sell a product, you first have to sell a dream. And dreams aren’t built on CPMs or click-through rates; they’re built on emotional resonance, desirability, and the sense that a brand “gets” you.
If advertising can blend fashion’s cultural intuition with its own strategic precision, it can create campaigns that don’t just reach audiences - they move them. And in a market where attention is fleeting, that’s the real runway worth walking.
At our core, we don’t just admire the way fashion connects, disrupts, and inspires - we aspire to build this in everything we do. We don’t just talk about relevance, we make it part of the brief. We don’t just watch trends, we anticipate them. And we don’t just produce advertising - we create work that earns its place in people’s lives, the way great fashion earns its place in their wardrobes.
Because in today’s market, it’s not enough to be seen. You have to be wanted.
And that’s exactly what we, at Ebony+Ivory endeavour to deliver.
