The Power of Corporate Visual Identity: How Patou Can Reclaim Its Place in Fashion

Fashion is all about individual perception of our senses and the personal interaction with stimuli. A childhood memory sparked by a familiar scent, a colour tied to the passion of a first love or a special celebration, the feel of a soft fabric against the skin; memories stained into our own perception and interaction with the world. Sensations which are deeply rooted in psychology and memory, transforming something as simple as a shade of colour into a powerful trigger for recognition, emotion, and loyalty.

Similarly, when we encounter a brand, our senses are the first to respond. Our eyes register its associated colour, the play of light, the silhouette of a garment. A familiar sound may instantly call its identity to mind. Yet raw sensation is only the starting point. What truly matters is perception ;  the way our brain filters these inputs through memory and experience. Two people might see the same shade of blue, but while one recalls the calm of the sea, another is reminded of the timeless luxury of Tiffany’s iconic box.

This is where brands can win or lose.  On a distinctive sensory signature, which capitalises on particular visual or sensory elements, which strengthen the brands Corporate Visual Identity (CVI), using cues as deliberate tools to communicate a brand’s story and purpose. A strong Corporate Visual Identity (CVI) doesn’t just make a company recognizable; it embeds meaning into colour, typography, and symbols.

Colour, in particular, plays an outsized role in consumer decisions. Studies suggest it influences as much as 85% of purchase choices, while also shaping mood and capturing attention. In fashion, where emotion drives buying behaviour, colour becomes one of the most important differentiators. Think of Tiffany & Co.’s robin-egg blue or Hermès’ signature orange, they’re shorthand for heritage, quality, and emotional connection. Valentino’s bold “Pink PP,” created with Pantone in 2022, redefined the brand’s visual identity, boosted visibility, and directly contributed to a 15% increase in sales.

It is thus evident that fashion brands have long capitalised on colour as a way to communicate their values and purpose within the industry. This tool becomes especially powerful during periods of revival or renewal, where rebranding and reinterpreting the past can help secure relevance for the future. Through the repetitive use of a particular shade, a fashion house can express its purpose to a new generation but also reinforce its corporate foundation, ensuring longevity in an ever-changing industry.

For this reason, I present an example to illustrate how colour can strengthen a brand, focusing in particular on the revival of the House of Patou, which was brought back by LVMH in 2018;  a brand once at the heart of Parisian Haute Couture and associated with iconic labels like Dior and Chanel. Alike the House of Schiaparelli, which was reintroduced to the public in 2017, after nearly seven decades, “the sleeping beauty brand...was little more than a mythical name” (Guilbault, 2023). This meant that the new generation of consumers was unfamiliar with the original Patou identity, and thus, the legacy of the past had to be entirely reimagined and reintroduced to a new audience.

Althought Patou has achieved notable successes in its revival, the brand’s Corporate Visual Identity and associative visual elements remain somewhat vulnerable. Years of absence from the public eye have limited consistent exposure to its sensory cues, making it harder to sustain strong consumer associations. This presents an ongoing challenge of adaptability for its creative direction — one that has proven difficult for other heritage houses, such as Worth and Vionnet, which struggled to align with the evolving expectations of contemporary consumers.

However, while challenging, the revival and rebranding of a fashion house can lead to enormous success. Through carefully calculated strategies, brands such as Gucci, Balenciaga, and Mugler have successfully evolved their original identities, transforming them into billion- dollar successes by capitalising on the associative visual elements of their foundations while reimagining the past. Therefore, the rebranding or revival of a house must be carefully orchestrated, honouring its original consumers and staying true to its blueprint, while also meeting the needs of today’s consumers and building a connection with the new generation. As a result, the associative sensory elements that help individuals categorise and recognise these sensations must be strengthen.

In line with this, the following article will analyse a key visual element of Patou that the brand can use to build strong associations through strategic branding and repeated public exposure.

Psychology shows us that three principles in particular shape how consumers respond to these sensory cues. First, the Mere Exposure Effect, the more often we encounter a stimulus, the more familiar and likable it becomes. Second, Associative Learning ,  our brains naturally link repeated experiences together, so a colour or symbol shown often enough becomes inseparable from the brand itself. And third, Conditioning , where even neutral stimuli, like a shade of purple, can trigger emotional reactions if consistently paired with a brand experience.

The immediate response of our sensory receptors, such as the eyes, ears, and mouth, to stimuli like light, colour, and texture is known as sensation. The processing and organization of these raw sensations, as well as the assignment of meaning based on an individual’s unique experiences, is referred to as perception. Each person interprets stimuli through the lens of their past encounters, with the brain connecting new sensations to those already stored in memory.

The unique sensory qualities of a brand help it stand out from its competitors, particularly when it establishes a distinct association with those sensations. More specifically, Corporate Visual Identity (CVI) aims to visually differentiate a brand from others by focusing primarily on visual elements, such as logos, colours, and typography, to communicate key messages to consumers. Consequently, CVI plays a crucial role in establishing a brand's presence and purpose within its industry.

To understand the impact of a particular sensory stimulus linked with an association, it is essential to first consider some key principles of consumer psychology:

The Mere Exposure effect refers to the general tendency of individuals to develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar to them. This effect arises through a repeated exposure to a stimulus, which leads it to become more accessible to an individual's perception. The more an individual is exposed to a stimulus, the greater their preference for it tends to become. As a result, repeated sensory exposure can transform unfamiliar information into stored knowledge that is more easily accessed and recalled, becoming part of an individual's cognitive framework.

In the context of paired stimuli, associative learning refers to the development of new responses as a result of their repeated presentation together. This process can be described as the registration and linking of various mental elements, (such as ideas, sensations, and perceptions) within consciousness, so that the activation of one can evoke the response associated with another. The binding of information helps individuals learn how to respond to or interact with specific stimuli.

Finally, sensory conditioning refers to a specific type of learning in which an individual's response to a neutral stimulus is modified through repeated association with another stimulus, often leading to a conditioned sensory reaction. This process builds on the broader concept of conditioning, which involves the modification of an individual's reaction to particular stimuli through learning. Therefore, it is evident that through repeated exposure to such stimuli, individuals can learn to respond differently.

For Patou, a heritage Parisian house seeking to revive its position in the market, adopting a strong sensory identity could be transformative. And no colour carries as much potential as purple. The visible light spectrum is the segment of the electromagnetic scale that the human eye can perceive. At its shortest end lies violet light, which carries the highest frequency and energy, with a wavelength of approximately 380 nanometres. This heightened energy effect is evident in research showing that short-wavelength light can significantly increase heart rate and noticeably boost alertness levels.

Although the physical effects of coloured pigment differ from those of light itself, pigments suppress a considerable part of the light by which they are illuminated, becoming coloured by reflecting it. In this sense, the physical properties of pigmented colour share qualities with light and may therefore exert comparable effects on the human body. Supporting this, studies have shown that questionnaires printed in purple generated a notably higher response rate than those in other colours, suggesting violet can indeed elevate alertness.

Yet colour is never purely physiological. Reactions are shaped not only by wavelength but also by learned associations and cultural meanings. Symbolic associations often stem from the objects that reflect those specific wavelengths. Purple, for instance, has long been linked to luxury, wealth, and aristocracy due to the historical difficulty of extracting its pigment. In ancient Rome, Tyrian Purple symbolised ultimate status, worn by figures such as Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, and Julius Caesar. Across civilizations including Japan, Persia, Phoenicia, and China, purple similarly denoted royalty and high status.

Psychological studies highlight the primitive instincts behind colour associations, noting that red is tied to fire and danger while blue signifies calm and night. Violet, as a fusion of both, retains something of the properties of each. It represents a union between subject and object, a dreamlike state in which everything that is thought and desired feels as though it must become reality.

This symbolic duality resonates with the French Tricolour, where red, white, and blue are brought together in harmony. The flag embodies the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity — foundational democratic values that echo the notion of collective wishes fulfilled.

Given these associations, purple offers Patou a uniquely French opportunity to distinguish itself. While contemporary Parisian houses such as Jacquemus and Chloé emphasise femininity and Mediterranean aesthetics, purple — deeply tied to France and its lavender fields — could restore Patou to a position of historic prestige while communicating mysticism, freedom, and heritage. Pairing this colour with another sensory element, such as scent or touch, would reinforce its identity further.

The link between purple and French lavender further strengthens this narrative. It provides a textbook example of the mere exposure effect, whereby repeated encounters with a stimulus increase familiarity and preference. The more consistently consumers see Patou Purple, the more easily they will recall and connect it with the brand, deepening emotional attachment.

Layering additional sensory cues, such as a lavender scent, introduced in stores, the use of a particular texture alike lavender suede or specific type of purple wrapping paper — could create a conditioning effect, where the combined stimuli form a powerful, lasting brand association. Over time, consumers would not only recognize Patou by its colour but also develop an instinctive, conditioned response to the multisensory identity it represents.

In this way, Patou can strengthen its revival by establishing a consistent visual identity that remains relevant within the ever-changing fashion industry. At the same time, it can distinguish itself from French competitors by reinterpreting femininity and Parisian couture through the use of sensory stimuli and the subliminal messaging of the colour purple — giving rise to what may be called the Patou Purple vision.