ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out to explore the dynamics of multilayered attachment in contemporary branding practices, in which economic value production increasingly arises from non-economic activities, that is social, affective or cultural practices. It offers a distinct perspective on the ways in which valuation and valorisation are entangled in contemporary branding. The chapter focuses on two brands which have attempted in very distinct ways to attach their branding endeavours to the issue of bodies and bodily experience: the cosmetics brand Dove and the US clothing company American Apparel. It accounts for the activities of both brands and draws on various conversations with brand managers and cooperating partners. The chapter shows the attempts at issue-driven and co-creative branding through the making and happening of attachments allow brands to become part of social relations, intimate conversations, societal causes and/or aesthetics. These attachments are relationally connected, interface towards new attachments, but remain partible and non-exclusive.
