Premiumization of Wine as Art

In March 2017, modern artist David Hockney created a label for the Rothschild family's Château Mouton Rothschild 2014 vintage. This is now a regular occurrence for French wine, spirits and even water brands. In 2013, Dom Pérignon partnered with Jeff Koons and Perrier developed limited edition bottles in collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation. It strikes me that this is yet another example of how Rothschild is seeking ways to effectively position its wine as a premium product. 

While joyful and whimsical in nature, this label marks the anniversary of Baroness Philippine de Rothschild’s death. David Hockney was chosen, according to Philippe de Rothschild by way of Women Wears Daily, as Hockney was friends with the baroness. "They met 30 years ago, when they performed in a play for a small New York-based theater company together and kept in touch until the baroness’ death." As Director of Development and Strategy Jean-Luc Vincent said in "Domaines Barons de Rothschild Lafite: Plus ça change...", "this is a conservative family operation with a great deal of pride in maintaining its unique quality reputation [...]." This branding decision is a way to open up the privacy of the Rothschild family to their consumers to promote a sense of exclusivity.

The selection of Hockney as a way to represent the vintage is no coincidence. In 2017, Hockney had a major retrospective at the Tate Modern in London, an opening at Centre Pompidou in Paris and a show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The exhibit at the Met is open through February 25th!

Source: http://wwd.com.gsbproxy.stanford.edu/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/david-hockney-chateau-mouton-rothschild-wine-label-10837672/