A Semiotic Perspective on Fashion Films and Brand Ethos: The Case of Hermès’ La Flânerie

Abstract

Contemporary literature perceives fashion films as a hybrid communication genre. However, the semiotic mechanisms through which luxury brands construct and transmit their ethos via fashion films remain underexplored. This paper argues that fashion films serve more than just promotion. They are symbolic devices that articulate a luxury brand's ethos and propose new consumer-brand relationships. Drawing on the Greimas School of Semiotics, specifically Rastier's interpretative semantics and Floch's semiotic square of consumer values, the paper analyzes La Flânerie by Hermès (2015). The analysis reveals how the film combines values of playfulness, nonchalance, and the "art of slowness" with Hermès' traditional codes of craftsmanship and heritage. The fashion film enables Hermès to articulate a broader socio-aesthetic and ethico-philosophical vision. This paper contributes to the literature on luxury branding, fashion communication, and semiotic approaches to brand analysis, showing how a fashion film offers a distinctive media form for a luxury brand to update its values, redefine luxury, and strengthen consumer relationships.