The Brief // What It Takes to Stand Out, Endure, and Reconnect.
Welcome to the first column of The Brief. A brand strategist’s lens on specific brands: uncovering challenges, spotting opportunities, and drawing lessons to guide your own strategy.
The news last week that Soho House is going private again, this time in the hands of MCR Hotels, the third-largest hotel owner-operator in the US, and that Ashton Kutcher would be joining the board, was not entirely surprising given recent rumors. What did catch me off guard, however, was that it happened just as we were planning to dedicate the first column of The Brief to Soho House this week.
This is the year Soho House goes private again, but also the year it celebrates its 30th anniversary since Nick Jones founded it in London in 1995. Soho House is an icon in the path to reclaim its iconicity back, and that is precisely why we chose it as the starting point for our exploration of how to build, preserve and rebuild iconic brands.
To offer a fresh perspective, we gained insights from an exclusive interview with Nicky Della Mote. Nicky has been a Soho House member for 16 years and a board member for 13, giving her a front-row view of how creativity and community shape culture and belonging worldwide. She is also Head of International Social Commitment at Chanel, where she leads initiatives that foster inclusion and empower communities.
Beyond Chanel, she champions emerging voices in the art world through curated exhibitions and serves on the Advisory Board of Jamie’s Farm, supporting underserved young people to thrive. At the heart of her work is a belief that creativity and purpose can transform both brands and human connections.
In addition to Nicky’s perspective, this analysis draws on our brand strategist’s lens, a review of more than 30 sources, and interviews with over 20 Soho House members, offering insider experiences and insights that informed our thinking.
This is our take on Soho House, and the lessons it offers for brands building iconicity.
Let’s dive in.
Becoming an Icon
Every story of iconicity begins with a question: what does it mean to be an icon, and how is one created?
An icon is never just a product, a place, or a service. It becomes a mirror of aspiration, something people admire, emulate, and long to be part of. Think Starbucks for coffee or Airbnb for travel. These brands transcend their categories, embodying values, emotions, and belonging. In branding, the dynamic is the same: the most powerful names transform into symbols, shorthand for entire worlds people want access to.
Soho House’s journey toward that status was not accidental. It was by choosing a fundamental disagreement with its category, defining a larger cultural enemy, and crafting a value proposition infused with emotional capital that transcended industry codes.
Back in 1995, when private clubs existed mostly for financiers and lawyers, Soho House declared that creatives also deserved a place. In a world where membership meant proximity to wealth, Soho House promised proximity to creative minds. And where others sold tables and coffee, it sold a house layered with creative rebellion, it sold a vibe.
“At the beginning, Soho House felt like this intimate sanctuary for people who didn’t quite fit into the traditional moulds, artists, designers, musicians, dreamers. I remember the early lock-ins, tours of half-finished sites, that sense of being part of something scrappy but special.” -Nicky Della Mote
Consistency made this positioning stick. Quickly, Soho House became a place of cultural relevance. It was once the epitome of cool, drawing celebrities like Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel, and Leonardo DiCaprio to a rooftop pool famously endorsed by the women of Sex and the City.
Its members amplified its identity until it became a cultural shorthand. As one video from @Nadine // The Stanza reminded us last year, the Soho House signature expands to the point of saying “it looks like Soho House” when describing and creating interiors that want to transmit a sense of exclusivity or trendiness.
That is the true measure of iconicity: when a name escapes its category and becomes the category itself. iPhone instead of smartphone, Havaianas instead of flip-flops. And for a moment in time, membership itself had only one name, Soho House.
The Iconicity Curve
The Inflection Point
Time passed and the questions changed: how did Soho House move from category-maker to category-challenged?
The answer is both repetitive and simple: iconicity is tricky. What makes a brand legendary can also be what puts it at risk.
As Soho House grew, the myth expanded with it. New openings multiplied across cities, yet the aura that once made it magnetic began to thin:
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Overexpansion diluted quality: Rapid growth strained service, created overcrowding, and weakened the creative refuge feel. Memberships rose ~30% since 2021, while complaints about overcrowding and service quality increased.
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Public listing blurred purpose: The NYSE listing added financial pressure, uneven profits, and a share price plunge, which forced short-term decisions that hurt brand values.
As Nicky shared with us “Soho House has always been about the long-term, nurturing relationships, building culture and the markets don’t necessarily reward patience.”
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The allure faded: What was once rare became too accessible. Cultural relevance dropped, and media/members noted that Soho House no longer felt as rare or untouchable or cool.
One New Yorker in the fashion industry shared with the New York Post: “I have a friend who likes it. He is an analyst at a bank, a finance guy. He essentially doesn’t really know what’s cool.”
The financial markets reflected the story: a stock that dropped 45% from its first day of trading, profits that appeared sporadically, and by August 2025, a retreat from public life back into private hands.
I was reminded by a restaurant owner in Costa Brava, whose place has thrived for sixty years. When asked about the secret, he simply said: “When things are going well, you don’t change them.” I would argue it is not about resisting change, but choosing where, why, and how to do it. Becoming an icon is hard, but remaining one is even harder. It requires resisting the temptation to chase every trend or every new source of revenue, and instead protecting the essence that made the brand resonate in the first place.
The Current Challenge & The Opportunity
Going private makes me feel optimistic about the future trajectory of Soho House, and Nicky’s perspective in our conversation reinforced that.
“For me, going private feels less like retreat and more like returning to your roots, a homecoming, as you put it. It gives space to take risks again, to try things that might not make sense on a spreadsheet but means everything to members. And that’s what creativity is about experiments, happy accidents, creating space for collaboration and discovery. Privacy unlocks freedom, and freedom fuels culture.” -Nicky Della Mote
This marks a new chapter for a brand that, despite its uneven performance in recent years, has remained too powerful and influential to ignore. At its core, it taps into one of the most essential human needs: the feeling of belonging.
As Nicky puts it, “Soho House has always been brilliant at creating that sense of ‘I’ve found my people.’”
Personally, as someone who gravitates toward places and people that spark inspiration, creativity, and belonging, my Every House membership has been truly transformative. It gives me a “third space” in the cities I travel to most: London, Paris, New York, Miami, Mexico City, and more.
Soho House has become many things at once: my second home, my gym, my co-working space, the spot for coffee catch-ups or working lunches, and on days I set up there, the place where I can start with breakfast and end with dinner. On nights out when I cannot find a reservation, it is my safe space, my go-to, and the place I meet dreamers who think beyond.
In short, Soho House makes me feel like I belong in every part of my day.
“What can’t we give up? The soul. That feeling that when you walk into a House, whether it’s London, Mumbai, or New York, you’re stepping into somewhere that gets you, that welcomes you. Scale and polish are wonderful, but if the soul went missing, the magic would go. That’s the non-negotiable.” –Nicky Della Mote
That is the very essence of Soho House, and the one it now needs to reclaim: Soho House is Audacious Comfort. A space of ease that surprises, welcomes, challenges, and inspires.
By Audacious Comfort we mean the balance that has always made Soho House unique. It is comfort that feels familiar and grounding, yet layered with boldness, creativity, and exploration. It is a home that encourages you to relax and belong, while also nudging you to grow, experiment, and connect with new ideas.
This duality is what set Soho House apart in the first place. Comfort without audacity becomes ordinary. Audacity without comfort feels unwelcoming. Together, they create the magic of a place that is both safe and stimulating, a home for dreamers and doers alike.
The Strategic Priorities
To reclaim its place as an Audacious Comfort house, it is key to examine its brand evolution, its target evolution, and the potential experiences it can expand into:
1. Evolve as a curated third space:
When Nick Jones opened 40 Greek Street in 1995, his vision was clear: “I wanted it to be a home away from home for people in the creative industries.” It was never about being accessible, nor about switching off, but about being a curated refuge, a stage for creativity and connection. The task ahead is not to reinvent its value proposition, but to re-anchor it in the current language and codes of its foundational target while tightening entry criteria and restoring the sense of intimacy.
2. Nail on the new codes for creatives:
The attitudes, behaviors, and desires of our main target have changed, just as the definition of creativity itself is undergoing radical shifts: what it means to be creative, and the cultural signals that validate it.
New Creativity Codes
3. Create experiences that resonates with our target’s edge:
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Elevate Everyday Experiences
Icons should act iconically, therefore excellence in client experience must be non-negotiable. Food and beverage should feel both comforting and ephemeral, with seasonal shifts and exclusive collaborations that create buzz. Service should go beyond efficiency to deliver moments of personal recognition and care. Members should feel proud to eat, drink, and be seen at Soho House again.Will Guidara’s idea of “unreasonable hospitality” offers a useful lens here. He showed how seemingly small but radical gestures can become legendary when they align deeply with a brand’s soul. As he puts it, “You need to be as unreasonable in how you build your team as you are in how you build your product or experience.”
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Build Community in Every Dimension
Solve the lack of connection inside Houses by designing rituals and spaces where members naturally engage, from co-working lounges that foster creative collisions to curated dinners that spark new friendships. Extend this intimacy through selective digital touchpoints, using technology to deepen belonging rather than dilute it. -
Curate Iconic Cultural Moments
Icons set trends, they do not chase them. Soho House must invest in experiences that feel unmistakably its own: sober and intentional gatherings, creative salons, music residencies with emerging and established artists, fashion and merch collaborations that members are proud to wear. -
Make Wellness a Cultural Edge
Wellness is no longer an amenity, it is a lifestyle currency. Gyms and spas should become community hubs, not bolt-ons. From longevity-focused offerings and high-tech recovery tools to Gen Z–friendly, entertainment-driven programming, Soho House can position wellness as part of its cultural fabric.
When we asked Nicky about how she sees Soho House in the future she said:
“Five years from now, I hope we’ll look back and say Soho House led the way in giving creativity a real stage, in building spaces where ideas and people cross-pollinate. For me, that’s the dream: that culture doesn’t just happen inside Soho House but radiates outward.” – Nicky Della Mote
Here’s our final thought: exclusivity is not about closing doors, it is about opening the right ones. If Soho House can recommit to intimacy, creativity, and cultural edge, it can once again be the lifestyle club that people aspire to belong to, not just in the past but in the era ahead.
Why Does This Matter?
Recovering iconicity is a challenge that every iconic brand eventually faces. The moment of truth arrives when relevance begins to slip, and the temptation is to chase growth or visibility at the cost of essence. For Soho House, as for any brand that once defined a cultural era, the question is not how far it can expand, but how deeply it can reconnect.
The greatest learning is simple yet difficult: the answer always lies in your roots. Iconicity is born from a clear premise, a distinct vibe, a cultural disagreement that resonates beyond products or services. The task is not to abandon that origin, but to translate it into today’s codes, in the case of Soho House, those that give new meaning to creativity, and belonging.
Evolution is inevitable. Drift is optional. The icons that endure are the ones that adapt in form while remaining unshakable in essence.
If your brand faces this challenge, start by asking:
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Are you still fighting a cultural enemy that is bigger than your category’s competition?
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What is the disagreement with your category that makes your brand matter today?
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Are you chasing growth, or protecting the emotional capital that built your essence?
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How can you evolve with new cultural codes without drifting from your roots?
To the brands that dare to evolve, staying true to their roots.
We’ll see you next week on The Dive,
Beyond Luxury Team
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Beyond Luxury Group is a futures advisory and media group delivering strategic guidance at the intersection of purpose, experience, and culture.
On our Radar: Miu Miu Miutine
Miu Miu unveils Miutine, the new feminine fragrance capturing the ultimate essence of the Miu Miu woman: irreverent, youthful in spirit, and quietly unconventional.
Why we like it:
At a time when fragrance marketing often leans on spectacle, nostalgia, or excess, Miutine feels refreshingly self-possessed. Built by master perfumer Dominique Ropion on a classic chypre structure, it takes a timeless language and subverts it with a playful duo of wild strawberry and brown sugar. The result is both sophisticated and mischievous, a perfume that feels at once intimate and addictive.
Emma Corrin brings this energy to life in the campaign as the face of Miutine. Known for their constant transformation and effortless wit, they embody the Miutine spirit of rebellion lived in quiet focus. Their presence is not about noise, but about the certainty of one who moves on their own terms.
Culturally, this feels timely. The world is beginning to revalue softness, ambiguity, and nuance. Strength is no longer about being the loudest in the room, but about holding steady in one’s contradictions. Miutine captures that mood with precision. It is not a statement but a knowing glance, a fragrance that feels less like a performance and more like a secret you choose to share.
In many ways, Miutine speaks directly to a new generation’s codes of luxury. Gen Z is gravitating toward intimacy over spectacle, wellness over excess, and subtle forms of rebellion that feel more authentic than dramatic. The quiet storm is more powerful today than the loud gesture. Miu Miu has bottled that shift, offering not just a fragrance but a cultural signal of where desirability is moving.
Our Team
Carlota Rodben is CEO and Founder of Beyond Luxury Group and host of the Beyond Luxury Podcast, ranked among the top #2 globally in its category. A best-selling author, she has written Beauty As It Is and Beyond Luxury: The Promise of Emotion, two acclaimed books exploring the future of beauty and luxury. Formerly at CHANEL, she founded the Open Innovation Team in Europe and later led New Concepts for the Global Open Innovation Team. Carlota lectures at institutions including NYU, Glion, ESADE, Porto University, IE, and Regent’s University London, is a sought-after advisor and thought-leader on innovation, futures thinking, and purpose-driven strategy in the luxury industry.
María Inés Gougy is the Brand Strategy Manager at Beyond Luxury Group. She is passionately driven by the intersection of culture, human nature, and brand building. Her expertise is grounded in a track record of impactful work with leading creative agencies and strategic consulting firms, where she has advised global brands across entertainment, consumption, and lifestyle on building relevance through cultural insight and meaningful storytelling.
Caroline Cotten is the Strategic Insights Manager at Beyond Luxury Group. Based in Paris, she holds a Master’s in Luxury Brand Management from Istituto Marangoni. With experience spanning biotech startups and luxury groups like Kering, she has led initiatives in investor relations, crisis communications, and brand storytelling. She brings a global perspective and a research-driven approach to help brands navigate cultural and consumer shifts.
