It’s been a big start to 2026. Between campaign launches, activations, and a handful of moments that genuinely made us stop and take notice, the Concierge team had plenty to talk about. Below, we share the marketing moves that caught our attention – the campaigns, collabs, and events we think did something worth paying attention to, and why.
Celebrity and brand collaborations have reached a saturation point in 2026, which means the ones that actually cut through have to be doing something genuinely unexpected. My favourite of Q1 was Reformation’s partnership with Hollywood divorce attorney Laura Wasser for “The Divorce Collection,” launched (perfectly) for Valentine’s Day.
Rather than leaning on a celebrity who has lived through a high-profile split, Reformation went to the woman who guides you through one. We’ve seen the celebrity. This was the behind-the-scenes. There’s also something worth noting in who they chose to centre: a 57-year-old woman at the absolute height of her career, radiating the kind of authority and confidence that women are so typically shamed of during a divorce.
And then there’s the timing. In a season drowning in roses and pink frilly everything, “The Divorce Collection” arrived with completely opposite energy — which is exactly what made it impossible to ignore.
The marketing moment that caught my eye during Q1 was Alix Earle’s billboard launch for Real Actives in New York – where the brand revealed itself piece by piece through a puzzle format over 24 hours, building anticipation before anyone even knew what they were looking at. It was a smart way to generate hype in one of the world’s most watched cities, and it worked because the mechanic matched the talent – Alix’s audience is used to following along, waiting for the next update, and this execution translated that behaviour into an OOH format. By the time the full image landed, people were already invested.
A marketing moment that caught my eye during Q1 was the collaboration between 818 and Salt & Stone. If you’re not familiar, Kendall Jenner’s tequila brand partnered with the body care label to create a custom scent inspired by the notes of 818 Tequila – and on the surface, it sounds completely random. But the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. Scent is the first thing you associate with both products: you smell tequila before you drink it, and you want your body wash to smell good. I think brand narratives are often heading for success when they focus on one of the five senses, in this case scent.
What sealed it for me was the campaign itself – girls getting ready for a night out, which captures that very specific ritual of drinking while you get ready. It tied both brands together in a way that spoke to human experience as opposed to manufacturing that experience.
Now I just have to wait for it to become available in Australia!
The Marketing Moment I Can’t Stop Thinking About: Karl Lagerfeld x Paris Hilton. Pairing a legacy fashion house with one of the early 2000s’ most iconic faces sounds like a nostalgia play.
But From Paris with Love is sharper than that. What makes it work is that the connection was never manufactured. Both Paris Hilton and Karl Lagerfeld built empires on the power of image and reinvention. The visuals shift between VHS and HD, nodding deliberately to the era of Hilton’s rise. It doesn’t shy away from the past. It embraces it.
The best brand narratives speak to human experience rather than manufacturing it – and this one does exactly that. Two icons, one shared understanding of what image means.It’s also a perfect nod to the cultural moment we’re in. The Y2K revival is well underway – digital cameras, big belts, low-rise denim. The question now is what comes next, in fashion and in the campaigns brave enough to reflect it.
The Concierge Agency is a Sydney-based creative public relations agency specialising in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle. If you’re looking for a PR partner who leads with strategy and executes with creativity, we’d love to hear from you.
