For much of the alcohol industry’s history, consumer choice was driven primarily by taste and tradition. Whisky drinkers were loyal to particular blends, tequila was a party staple, while gin belonged to cocktail culture.
That formula is changing. Increasingly, luxury spirits are being positioned as lifestyle markers — products with cultural cachet that help consumers express identity, much like fashion. It follows the bold moves made by alcohol brands at fashion week this season. Johnnie Walker partnered with stylist Law Roach, who has co-created four cocktails for the brand and co-hosted a party alongside Perfect Magazine. Belvedere Vodka supplied drinks for Fashion East’s 25th anniversary runway show and the afterparty with Dazed. Beer, too, is muscling in: 1664 Blanc, principal partner of London Fashion Week, funded the British Fashion Council’s (BFC) Citywide Celebration ‘At Home With’ series, a programme of talks and panels spotlighting designers like Labrum and Aaron Esh.
“If you look at both industries [luxury fashion and luxury spirits] individually, it’s about craftsmanship, heritage and storytelling,” says Hinesh Shah, managing director of Diageo’s luxury division, which owns premium spirit brands like Don Julio, Casamigos and Johnnie Walker. “But it’s also about inspiring culture and the next generation. That’s why we see alignment.” He notes the rise of style-conscious drinkers who now see their choice of alcohol as an extension of their identity, much like the traditional fashion consumer. “That’s why you’re seeing this cross-pollination — not just with our brands, but across spirits and fashion more broadly.”
This repositioning reflects a broader shift in luxury consumption. Today’s consumers expect brands to carry cultural meaning: to connect to culture as much as to product quality. In fashion, that expectation has long been a given. For spirits, it represents a fundamental transformation of how value is created and communicated.
Fashion as a growth engine
For Diageo, Johnnie Walker has become a case study on how to leverage fashion as a growth engine. “Historically, Scotch has been a bit elitist. It’s been about scarcity, about what’s rare,” says Shah. “But now, people are thinking beyond the glass. They want to know what it stands for and what it says about them.”
Partnerships with figures like Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing, Indian couturist Rahul Mishra and stylist Roach have extended whisky’s reach to new demographics — reframing it from an intimidating legacy drink into a contemporary lifestyle choice. “Some may see whisky as something their father drank, not them,” Shah notes. “But when Johnnie Walker partners with people they admire, it becomes more approachable and accessible. It makes them want to be part of the movement.”
That strategy was on full display at Park Chinois in London’s Mayfair last Sunday, where Perfect Magazine and Roach helped to launch Black Ruby, a new blended Scotch whisky expression by Johnnie Walker first introduced in 2024, and now rolled out globally. Designers, editors and tastemakers filled the room, positioning the whisky at the heart of London’s cultural calendar.
Other collaborations reinforce the approach. The Harrods Johnnie Walker Vault, unveiled during London Fashion Week, spotlighted the brand’s craftsmanship in a luxury retail context. And earlier this spring, Johnnie Walker x Olivier Rousteing debuted with four distinct blends timed to fashion’s seasonal calendar — a nod to exclusivity and collectability. Later this year, Johnnie Walker Blue Label x Rahul Mishra will fuse Indian couture with Scotch heritage in a capsule collection and custom bottle design, which will be available worldwide in October and November.
The results speak for themselves: Johnnie Walker’s net sales are up 20 per cent year-on-year, per Diageo, buoyed by rising brand equity, cultural talkability and consumer impressions. “The brand is stronger and more people are coming into it,” Shah says.
Other luxury spirit companies are taking a similar approach. Seventy One Gin, a high-end entrant into the category, has embedded itself directly into fashion’s ecosystem. “Fashion people are the earliest adopters of trends. They are discerning, exacting and relentless in their pursuit of the best,” says Tasso Ferreira, Seventy One managing director and co-founder. “As connoisseurs of craft and uniqueness, their cultural gaze extends well beyond the runway into music, art, dance and performance.”
That philosophy shaped the brand’s presence at London Fashion Week, when Seventy One partnered with The London Edition hotel, a hub for creators and celebrities, to curate a limited-edition menu designed for the moment.
Other entrants are also turning to fashion, often aligning with emerging designers to establish cultural credibility. Badwater Tequila has embedded itself squarely on fashion’s stage, with co-founder Cora Delaney framing collaborations as essential to relevance. The brand collaborated with Maximilian Raynor on his debut show, serving tequila backstage while models got ready and at the official afterparty. “As one of fashion’s rising names, Maximilian’s shows are theatrical, immersive and this season’s theme was literally a party — the perfect reflection of tequila’s energy and the spirit we aim to bring to every moment. Supporting creatives like Maximilian is key to us: we want to be where new voices are shaping culture.”
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Beyond the runway, Badwater has activated partnerships across East London with concept store LN-CC, New York based artist Frank Dorey and Lacoste over the course of London Fashion Week. For Delaney, these moments extend fashion’s influence into nightlife and community. “Fashion week has become more than a runway — it’s a stage for cultural connection, where our audience discovers what’s next. For Badwater, showing up in those IRL moments makes us relevant both in-store and in culture, driving our audience from seeing us in the scene to picking us up in the supermarket.”
The challenge for legacy players lies in balancing reinvention with authenticity. Spirits like whisky trade heavily on history and heritage, and innovation must respect that DNA while appealing to modern consumers.
“At Diageo, we have a saying: we’re standing on the shoulders of giants,” Shah says. “That means yes, these brands are 200 years old — specifically Johnnie Walker — but our task is to reinvent them for the new consumer. When Johnnie Walker Black Label was created, it wasn’t aimed at the consumer we’re targeting today. I see it as both a responsibility and privilege to attract the next generation.”
This belief underpins the launch of Johnnie Walker Black Ruby, the brand’s first new expression in more than a decade. It reflects continuity and change in equal measure. “We don’t constantly evolve just for the sake of it. We stay true to our roots, but we amplify them and widen the consumer base,” says Shah. “Yes, we need to innovate, but it’s not about churning out something new every season. We want partners who help us build on that heritage, but also challenge us to bring Johnnie Walker into modern times and to different audiences.”
For legacy players, the task is to make centuries-old brands feel modern without losing their roots. For newcomers, the opportunity lies in forging cultural capital through partnerships with emerging designers and tastemakers. Both strategies point to the same conclusion: in the luxury market today, product quality alone is not enough. Consumers want meaning and the sense that a bottle belongs as much on a fashion week table as it does on a bar shelf.
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