There’s something fascinating about how the home became as important a brand expression territory as clothing. Thirty years ago, buying an Hermès piece of furniture was an eccentricity. Today, Hermès Maison is a coherent line, Fendi Casa furnishes entire apartments, and Armani Casa appears in luxury hotels.
How did the home become an extension of brand identity?
The logic of luxury moving indoors
For luxury houses, a home line is first a logical extension of their codes: noble materials (leather, linen, silk for Hermès), signature colors, visible craftsmanship. An Hermès cushion at €500 isn’t purchased for its functionality — it’s purchased as a signal, as identity, as the coherence of the brand’s universe extended to the interior.
Margins on these products are structurally high. A luxury cushion or vase has production costs well below a leather goods bag, and can sell at a similar perceived value price point.
It also makes for intelligent diversification: the luxury house no longer depends solely on fashion accessories or jewelry — it has a presence in every living space of the affluent consumer.
IKEA as benchmark and inspiration
At the other end of the spectrum, IKEA is the player that most transformed how consumers think about accessible design. The idea that a product can be beautiful AND affordable — that design isn’t reserved for the wealthy — is deeply IKEA.
Its collaborations with recognized designers (Friso Kramer, Ilse Crawford, Hay) created collections that generated queues and secondary market premiums. These collaborations serve a dual purpose: they elevate brand perception, and they give the designer exposure to tens of millions of consumers that no gallery can offer.
IKEA has also shaped the taste of several generations. A student who furnished their first apartment with IKEA in the 2000s learned, without knowing it, notions of proportion, functionality, and minimalist design that influence their subsequent consumption choices.
The middle segment: the tension zone
Between luxury home and IKEA exists a middle segment — brands like HAY, Muuto, Made.com (in its various incarnations), or retailers like The Conran Shop — that seek to position quality design at prices more accessible than luxury but above IKEA.
This segment is structurally difficult. The consumer can go toward luxury for aspiration, or toward IKEA for efficiency. The middle must justify its pricing differently.
What this says about domestic consumption
The home has become, in the sociology of post-COVID consumption, a priority investment space. People spent more time at home, devoted more attention and budget to it.
For brands, this is a territory that deserves a coherent strategy — not simply an additional line to diversify revenue. The domestic space touches something more permanent and more personal than fashion clothing.