top of page
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
The context was Maison Margiela, a fashion house whose integrity is rooted in the "original" deconstructive codes of its founder.
This project investigated a core challenge in affective and cultural design:
Does prioritizing authentic heritage and conceptual depth over commercial spectacle foster a different, more lasting form of user engagement?
My hypothesis was that deliberately reconnecting to this heritage (high cultural fidelity) – through subtle artistic expression – would trade immediate, superficial engagement (virality) for deep cultural resonance and long-term brand trust.
Methodology:
Strategic Resistance & Controlled Positioning
Our approach employed Strategic Resistance, intentionally avoiding conventional advertising strategies to isolate the effect of cultural authenticity.
Heritage Anchoring
Deliberately reintroduced Margiela’s early aesthetic codes (fragmentation, layering, absence of spectacle) as the primary affective cue.
Artistic Method
Partnering with artist Katarina Jebb formalized deconstruction as the visual methodology, ensuring aesthetic fidelity to core conceptual values.
Experimental Positioning
The campaign was framed as art documentation, testing whether audiences would invest cognitive resources without overt persuasive signals.
Findings & Theoretical Insights
The project did not generate wide viral reach, but the audience response affirmed the hypothesis of a successful trade-off, providing critical data for defining alternative metrics in design research.
A. The Attention-Resonance Trade-off
The work generated low immediate breadth (limited viral reach) but high profound depth (deep insider resonance).
Insight
Spectacle optimizes for Immediate Attention. Authenticity optimizes for Long-term Memory Formation, Cultural Validation, and Affective Alignment.
B. Cultural Alignment as a Success Metric
The work functioned as cultural preservation, not promotion, cultivating deep trust within the insider community.
Resonance Insight
Success is measured by Resonance—the campaign's ability to create affective fidelity and cultural alignment between the product and the user's identity.
C. Redefining Failure as Data
The initial "failure" in immediate attention was reframed as valuable, quantifiable evidence of the limits of attention in a spectacle space, confirming that cultural memory has a measurable value in driving sustainable engagement.
Proof of the Trade-off
The low initial metrics proved that we successfully resisted the psychological levers of mass engagement, thus creating the necessary conditions to measure true resonance.
Authenticity and Resonance:
A Design Experiment in Cultural Alignment
2023
bottom of page