A logo with your latté?

Blame it on a pitiful lack of fashion sense, or simply a bank balance with insufficient zeroes, but chances are good that I’ll never own an item with the intertwined lettering of Louis Vuitton emblazoned across it for all to see. And honestly, I’m fine with that.

But on that score, I’m perhaps an outsider. Many of us long to be sprinkled with the illusory gold dust of global fashion brands, wanting nothing more than to be part of the inner clique of LV or YSL acolytes, complete with all the bling to show for it. The only catch? Most of us lack the bucks to indulge in it.

And global fashion brands know it. Oh yes, they know all too well that for every shopper inside the store tapping a platinum credit card, there are many more outside with their noses pressed up against the glass. Why let that opportunity go to waste? The marketing mavens of global luxury no doubt thought. Why not offer a taste of the good life, a morsel from the table? Perhaps one day those hopeful onlookers will have the bank balance to make it past the bouncer.

Until then, serve them a latté by Ralph Lauren. Sweet treats from LV. Sushi in the basement of Yves’ atelier. A Tokyo omakase with a hint of Chanel. These are the bellwethers of a global trend seeing luxury fashion houses diversify into restaurants, bars and cafes, inviting a broader world of would-be clients into their orbit. And we just can’t seem to get enough, as the boundaries between fashion and gastronomy blur and meld.

The latest addition to the menu of brand-forward hospitality is in — surprise, surprise — Paris, where Yves Saint Laurent has opened the world’s first outpost of Sushi Park outside of West Hollywood. Sushi Park — the Los Angeles original beloved by the likes of Beyoncé and Bieber — offers a tightly curated omakase menu within YSL’s newly reopened Rive Droite flagship store. It’s a dark and moody space, immaculately curated with bespoke artworks and ceramics, and a menu with a price tag to match: €260 (R5,312) per person for dinner, with wine and sake pairing yours for an extra €85.

Paris has long been fertile ground for fashion brands flexing their hospitality muscle. Armani long ago opened a cafe on the Left Bank, while Ralph Lauren runs a bistro serving “iconic US cuisine” on Boulevard Saint-Germain. Zut alors!

Lauren is certainly savvy when it comes to taking his polished, urbane Americana beyond the clothes rail. Aside from his growing chain of global coffee shops, his restaurants and bars stretch from Europe to Asia and back to the US of A. He opened RL in Chicago as far back as 1999, and the latest Stateside addition is The Polo Bar in New York City, which recently reopened to much fanfare.

If Lauren is, as The New York Times dubbed him, “an architect of aesthetics and engineer of vibes”, then his restaurants — all panelled woods and dark leather — allow just about anyone to enjoy a brief taste of his signature preppy sophistication.

The same could be said for the Blue Box Café, just a few blocks away on Manhattan’s fabled Fifth Avenue. While few of us might ever hold one of Tiffany’s famous blue boxes — at least not outside the showroom — the sixth-floor cafe within The Landmark, Tiffany’s flagship store, lets you live inside one for a little while.

With a menu helmed by acclaimed chef Daniel Boulud, diners can opt for the iconic Breakfast at Tiffany’s ($68 or R1,216), Tea at Tiffany’s ($98), or dive into the seasonal à la carte menu, where lobster vol-au-vent will set you back $48. Still, that’s cheaper than the sparkles downstairs.

Tiffany’s isn’t the first to sign a big-name chef as a partner. In Tokyo, Chanel tapped into the star power of Alain Ducasse to open Beige in the Ginza district, while executive chef Daniele Castellano oversees the menu at Armani/Ristorante on Madison Avenue, one of 24 Armani restaurants worldwide.

Taking its aesthetic cue from Armani’s private yacht, so it’s said, the restaurant is a sleek and contemporary space that reflects the designer’s sartorial flair, with many of the fittings sourced from the Armani/Casa homeware line. Not sure what to order? Armani’s personal favourite is the spinach and ricotta tortelli Piacentini, served with melted butter and Grana Padano.

But if you’re going to splash out on a fashion-forward dining experience in New York, perhaps head over to East 57th Street, where Le Café Louis Vuitton opened in late 2024.

While the look leans academic, with a luxury library theme and shelves stacked with tomes, the menu is all about indulgence. What is “luxury snacking” you might ask? Think scallop soufflé with caviar or sliders au foie gras. Small plates, with price tags that are anything but.

And if you want those two lustworthy letters on your Instagram feed, you’ll need to end off with the Chocolate Entremet: L and V rendered in chocolate crémeux, a decadent taste of the good life. Just for a moment.