The golden era of creativity
Originality eats wabi-sabi
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We are entering the golden era of creativity.
Last year, Hermès commissioned social media art from more than 50 artists. The point was not the work of human hands or the imperfection of art.
It was the originality of the creative process.
There has been a lot of conversation around the “messiness” and “wabi-sabi” of content as the competitive advantage for brands and the signal in the cultural market overrun by polished AI slop. The argument is as superficial as the output it argues against.
Anything that can be copied by AI will be copied, including the “wabi-sabi” look. Rather than looking at the evolution of content formats, look at the evolution of creative process behind them. Or, rather, the lack of it.
Creative process has always been, and still is, about originality, surprise, nuance, double entendres, complexity, a sense of humor. This ambiguity of the creative process, and not its output, is the differentiation.
The messy side of creativity is in the gritty and human affair of creation. Creative process can generate an unexpected number of ideas, random breakthroughs, and inspiration from unlikely sources. That’s the real, inimitable fun of it.
The outcome of creativity can be copied, the complexity and unpredictability of the creative act can’t.
Creative process matters. From Boss x PaperJulia to Francesco Clemente’s Saint Laurent’s Summer ‘25 to L’Atelier Sonore by Valentino to Toteme’s “Silhouettes” art exhibition in Japan to Fujifilm’s Eras Dial, brands have taken a definitive turn towards the analog craft.
This is not surprising. Consumers are bored and creativity is commodified. Everyone is a marketing expert, literate in tactics, formats, and messages. We know how we are influenced, and why. Everyone is also a creator, savvy in the execution of tactics, formats, and messages. We know how to exert influence, and to what end.
Analog craft is, aesthetically, not a durable competitive advantage. The analog craft look can be copied, replicated, and emulated by AI — but the originality behind it is what what makes every creative process unique and hard to reverse-engineer.
When everyone has the same tools and the same fluency, originality differentiates.
The Turing test is not in the “rawness” of the content, but in the originality of the thinking behind it. Original thinking can be iterated on, interpreted in multiple formats, executed through different tactics, and it still stands out over time. It’s also hard to imitate.
Ease of aesthetic replicability pushes brands into making tangible cultural products like merch, experiences, games, art, music, movies, collectibles or games. It is not
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