Against the clear blue sky, Miami’s ever-growing sea of branded high-rises stands as a symbol of the city’s elevated lifestyle. Long known for its ocean-side living, its beaches and its excess, in recent years the city has been at the forefront of what is being touted as a new era in luxury residential real estate. Brands including Porsche, Pagani, Armani, Fendi, Mercedes-Benz and Dolce & Gabbana are teaming up with high-end developers to put their names to a series of soaring glass-and-steel towers. Along with unfettered ocean views, amenities include infinity pools, screening rooms and elevators that whisk both car and driver up to their apartment.

The origins of the phenomenon can be traced back to the luxury vacation homes launched in the 1980s by hotel chains, an effort to leverage the quality, prestige and exclusivity associated with their hospitality. Since then, the trend has accelerated in real estate markets long considered to be playgrounds for the world’s wealthiest, such as Dubai, London and Miami, which is currently at the epicenter of the trend. Following the Porsche Design Tower, which opened in 2017, there are now the Bentley Residences Miami (which offers the aforementioned elevators to residents’ “sky garages”), and even the ELLE Residences which, according to its marketing material, “exudes… [the] unmistakable Parisian ‘je ne sais quoi’” of the French fashion magazine. 

Not all branded residences are created equal, however. While some brands are actively involved in the design process, others are comfortable with just slapping their logo on the front of an already completed building and calling it a day. Either way, the collaboration is a win-win for both brand and developer, with buyers often signing contracts before the towers are built, trusting that the development will deliver the same level of luxury they have become accustomed to from the brand. 

Despite the role that brand identity plays in these projects, what unites the developments architecturally is their unadventurous form. There may be a few interesting curves here and there, but for the most part their uniform glass facades and wrap-around terraces are not noticeably dissimilar from the buildings that already dominate the Miami skyline—beyond their logos of course. But this hasn’t had much of an effect on their sign-up rates or commercial success. Restaurant groups and soccer clubs are now jumping on the bandwagon, and branded developments are being followed by branded airplanes, yachts and even entire branded communities. But when design leans too heavily on a name, it becomes a shaky foundation. As with the fashion brands they borrow their prestige from, the allure can quickly fade when the tides of taste shift—or trickle down. And really, who wants to live in a Shein building?