The changing face of luxury by Angel Nicholls

The Changing Face of

Luxury

By Angel Nicholls

The Changing Face of

Luxury

By Angel Nicholls N0214012

The  Oxford  English  Dictionary  defines  luxury  as  ‘costly  surroundings,  possessions,  food  etc.  (a  life  of  luxury);  something  desirable  for  comfort  or  enjoyment.’  Thompson,  D.  ed.  (1996:  p.595)    However,  despite  the  definition  we  have  all  acquired  our  own  perception  of  what  we,  individually,  perceive  luxury  to  be  as  it  has  adopted  many  faces  throughout time. Especially when  we look at today’s climate where  luxury  brands  such  as  Mercedes,  Jaguar,  Tiffany  &  Co.,  Bang  &  apparent that the practice of this  and  designer  accessories.    One  Olufson  and  Louis  Vuitton  trade  concept  is  something  that  has  thing  is  certain;  everyone  wants  down—mass  and  middle‐market  always  occurred.  Whether  it  be  their  share  of  luxury  and  they  brands  like  Tesco,  Waitrose,  from  the  very  rich  and  always have.  Selfridges and Topshop trade up.  aristocratic  purchasing  model    Merely  blurring  what  little  cars, pianos and ornaments from  Therefore  we  can  see  how  the  collective  definition  we  had  of  the first department stores in the  market  is  fuelling  and  feeding  luxury.  1900s.  To  domestic  goddesses  this  desire  by  making  luxury    wishing  to  show  off  their  more  accessible  to  the  everyday  The  following  discussion  intends  husband’s  five‐figure  income  consumer  who  otherwise  could  to  clarify  how  ‘high‐end’  brands  with  holidays,  colour  televisions,  not afford it.    go  about  holding  onto  their  washing  machines  and    luxury status, just how their ‘low  convertibles  in  the  1950s.  To  Before luxury brands were highly  and middle‐market’ counterparts  now, all types of people, from all  successful  in  setting  themselves  are  attempting  to  penetrate  the  walks  of  life  flaunting  their  apart  from  the  rest  by  offering  same  market,  all  at  the  demand  BlackBerry  phones,  flat‐screen  the consumer what other  brands  of  the  consumer.  It  further  goes  televisions,  designer  kitchens  could  not;  an  experience,  to  determine  how  all  exclusivity.  This  of  this,  in  turn,  skews  exclusivity  comes  in  The market is fuelling and the meaning of luxury.  many  forms.  For    example,  Louis  Vuitton  feeding desire by making Throughout  the  20th  offers  a  bespoke  luxury more accessible to the century,  the  meaning  personalization  service  of  luxury  has  shifted  and custom‐made pieces  everyday consumer and  changed.  But  one  ‘the  pleasure  of  made‐ thing  has  remained  to‐measure’  –  as  constant;  the  desire  for  described  by  them  (Louis  consumers  to  adorn  and  Vuitton  2008:  online).  Exclusive  surround  themselves  with  boutiques  such  as  Tamba  13  on  products associated with luxury,  London’s  Kings  Road  offers  defining  their  place  in  society.  customized  trainers  specifically  This  is  known  as  ‘consumption  designed  to  the  individual’s  constellation’  Belk,  R  W  (2006:  request,  embellished  with  p.130).  Although  this  is  a  Swarovski  crystals  for  added  modern  marketing  theory,  it  is  effect.  Then  high‐end

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department  stores  such  as  Harrods  offer  a  personal  shopping  experience  that  claims  to  make  shopping  ‘an  effortless  pursuit’  and  states  that  there  ‘is  no limit to what you can request.’  (Harrods 2008: online). High‐end  retailers also had something else  that  the  others  did  not  have;  the  big  names.  The  designers  who  were  so  sought‐after  they  became  part  of  the  definition  of  luxury  themselves  like  Chanel  and  Christian  Dior,  to  name  a  couple.     However,  with  the  turn  of  the  century  and  the  rise  of  the  celebrity middle‐market retailers  have  now  collaborated  with  various  celebrities  and  high‐end  designers  in  bids  to  make  a  bigger claim on luxury. They are  trading up by charging more for  the  garments  created  in  their  collaboration.  They  are  also  enabling  their  brand  to  be  associated  with  ‘superior’  names. For example, the famous  Sex  and  the  City  stylist  Patricia  Field  has  collaborated  with  Marks  and  Spencer  and  has  yielded the retailer £1 million in  sales  in  the  first  five  days  even

after it had a 34% slide in profits  during  the  second  week  of  November  2008  (Drapers  Record: 8 Nov 2008).  H & M has  made  numerous  collaborations  over recent years with celebrities  and  designers  alike,  namely,  Madonna, Viktor & Rolf and most  recently  Comme  de  Garçon  where  a  ‘dramatic  LBD’  (little  black  dress),  described  as  an  investment  piece  can  be  bought  for  £199.99  (Style  Finder  2008:  online).     During H&M’s collaboration with  Madonna the brand was reported  to  have  seen  a  sales  boost  of  17%.  (The  Epoch  Times:  2007).

There  are  also  rumours  of  a  further collaboration with British  designer  revolutionary  Alexander  McQueen.  (Drapers:  Nov  2008).  Topshop  also  got  in  on  the  action  in  2007  by  taking  on  supermodel  Kate  Moss  (BBC  News  2008:  online).  The  combination  of  the  model‐come‐ style‐icon  and  the  British  retailer‐come‐fashion‐dictator  conjured  huge  success.  So  much  so  that  Phillip  Green,  the  owner  of  Topshop,  announced  that  he  was to set up stores in New York,  USA after the £3 million deal was  cut with Moss (The Epoch Times:  2007).  Topshop  now  has  gone  a  step  further  and  introduced  a  personal  shopping  experience  akin  to  Harrods  in  its  London  Oxford  Circus  store.  Many  other  UK  high  street  retailers  have  followed  suit  such  as  Selfridges  and  Dorothy  Perkins.  And  the  luxury  brand  can  only  sit  back  and  watch  as  its  lower‐end  competitors mimic its success.    But the luxury brands continue to  use  celebrities,  just  like  the  low  and  middle‐market,  as  a  vehicle  to  maintain  that  desirable  association  between  wealth,  glamour  and  their  luxury  products.  This  is  shown  through  high‐end  labels  like  Versace  using  Madonna  as  a  model  in  2005,  (Creative  club  2008:  online)  Louis  Vuitton  has  been  endorsed  by  Uma  Thurman  and  Scarlett Johanson, who also lends  her  face  to  Dior.    Whilst  most  recently  Eva  Mendes  poses  scantily  clad  for  Armani,  Gucci  takes  on  Rihanna  for  their  advertising  campaign  to  benefit  UNICEF  in  their  quest  to  help  children  suffering  with  the  HIV/AIDS  virus  in  Africa.  (Wonderland: December‐January  2008‐09).

justify  selling  an  item  with  a  high‐end  price  tag  to  its  consumer. This hierarchical price  gap  between  them  (and  the  300%  mark  up  that  no  low‐end  brand would be allowed) enables  both markets to retain a division.  In  short,  H&M  will  never  be  able  to  charge  the  same  price  for  a  coat  as Chanel.  Yet it is apparent  that  these  collaborations  are  ways of democratizing fashion by  making luxury more accessible.     ‘As  luxury  becomes  more  attainable  brands  that  claim  the  luxury  label  has  increased  drastically’.  Graham,  P  et  al  Matthews,  M  (2004:  p.5).  Therefore it still remains that the  fear  of  the  luxury  brand  losing  grip  on  its  status  is  spreading.  Many  luxury  brands  are  noticing  the  closing  gap  between  itself  and  it’s  low  and  middle‐market  competitors.  It  feels  it  necessary  to  keep  hold  on  its  global  US$80  billion  industry.  Cadha,  R  et  al  Husband,  P  (2006:  p.  23).  Some  luxury  brands  are  targeting  its  association  with  exclusivity  by  closing stores. For example, for a  while  Tiffany  &  Co.  had  revelled

in  its  mass  appeal  by  even  The  evidence  suggests  that  the  ‘offering  affordable  products  low‐end,  the  middle‐market  and  alongside  its  traditional  ones’  the  high‐end  market  are  using  Silverstein,  M.  J  et  al  Neil  Fiske  the  same  tactics;  wielding  the  (2003:  p.  4)  and  opening  many  power  of  the  celebrity  to  their  outlets  worldwide.  However  the  advantage.  This  signifies  that  media  has  recently  drawn  there are similarities about being  attention  to  the  hasty  closure  of  influenced  by  celebrities  within  260 US stores and 146 European  the  psychometric  profile  of  their  stores  equating  to  a  US$36  consumers.  Therefore  if  all  million  loss.  Giorgio  Armani  markets  chose  to  target  their  terminated  the  selling  of  its  consumer  in  the  same  way  then  US$2,200  black  label  suits  to  how can either of them justifiably  Wilkes  Bashford.  Even  the  rap  retain  exclusivity  and  that  luxe  sensation  and  entrepreneur  P‐ association?  This  is  where  a  Diddy  (Sean  Combs)  pulled  his  division  can  be  found  Sean  John  label  from  within  the  difference  May  department  stores,  Fear of the luxury brand between  endorsing  and  totalling  to  $22  million.  losing grip on its status is collaborating.  Low  and  This  is  reminiscent  of  middle‐market  brands  1999  when  the  Gucci  spreading seek  for  high‐end  group bought Yves Saint

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creativity  to  deliver  luxury.  Whereas  high‐end  already  ‘have  the  talent’  so  merely  seek  for  endorsement  or  a  face  to  be  associated  with  their  product.  This rarely occurs the other way  around.  Another  division  lies  with  price.  No  matter  what  famous  designer  or  Hollywood  star lends their face or expertise  to  a  middle  or  low‐end  brand,  that  said  brand  still  could  not

Laurent’s  (YSL)  ready‐to‐wear  business  then  focused  on  the  once exclusive Opium perfume  brand.  Gucci  executives  said  the  fragrance  was  ‘overdistributed’.    It  led  them  to  close  a  quarter  of  outlets  including  one  in  Hawaii  that  was  responsible  for  US$10  million  a  year  in  profits  alone.  They  also  rejected  many  distributors.  Their  radical  5

thinking  was  rewarded  as  YSL  beauté  grew  from  a  5.6%  share  to 8% in a year. Furthermore the  Opium  brand  again  achieved  a  coveted  position  as  a  top  5  French fragrance again.  Graham,  P et al Matthews, M (2004: p.7‐8)  Yet  many  more  brands  do  not  share  the  same  concern.  They  embrace  luxury’s  new  attainability.    They  have  shown  their  own  ability  to  master  the  ‘paradox  of  charging  high  prices  based  on  exclusivity’  Cadha,  R  et  al Husband, P (2006: p. 10) while  selling  their  products  to  the  masses.  This  is  now  known  as  ‘Mass  Prestige  or  Masstige’.  Silverstein,  M.  J  et  al  Neil  Fiske  (2003: p. 4).

are  trying  to  penetrate  a  different  market.  The  divisions  in  the  class  system  is  blurring,  breeding  newer,  wealthier  consumers  who  demand  luxury  products  to  come  to  them.  As  a  result,  a  time  of  merging  and  collaboration  has  emerged,  in  what seems like an industry full  of  competition,  in  order  to  supply  demand.  However,  underneath the surface many in  the  industry  work  together  to  produce  profit.  They  all  want  a  share of the others market. As it  Noting  that  the  total  disposable  was  eloquently  stated  in  the  income of households in America  advertisement  for  Karl  Lagerfeld  alone  has  grown  to  $3.5  trillion,  for  H&M:  ‘Why  have  a  garden  consumers now are more willing  when  you  can  have  a  forest?’■ to  pay  a  premium  for  certain  Angel Nicholls.  products  Silverstein,  M.  J  et  al    Neil  Fiske  (2003:  p.  3)  even  if       they  are  resident  to  a  lower    socio‐economic  class.    Therefore    it  cannot  be  denied  that  the    democratization  of  fashion  is    here.  Thus,  the  trading  down  of    luxury  and  the  trading  up  of  low    and  middle‐market  brands  is    being  caused  by  the  consumer’s    demand  for  luxury  products  as    the  gap  between  the  rich  and    poor is becoming narrower.        Therefore,  it  appears  that  there    are  many  arguments    emphasizing  the  fading  state  of    exclusivity,  if  it  has  not  yet    already  gone,  where  luxury  is    concerned.  This  fear  was  also         greatly highlighted in 2005 when    Karl  Lagerfeld,  a  man  that  .  arguably  epitomises  the  luxury    brand,  collaborated  with  the    middle‐market  Swedish  retailer    H  &  M.  The  collaboration  was    knowingly described as ‘betrayal’    in  the  advertisement.  This  may    have an element of truth.        In  conclusion,  it  is  apparent  that    all  sectors  of  the  retail  industry  6

The Changing Face of

Luxury

References                     Books    Belk, R W. ed. 2006 Research in Consumer Behavior, Volume 10  Elsevier Ltd Jai Press    Cadha, R et al Husband, P. 2006 The Cult of the Luxury Brand: Inside Asia’s Love Affair with Luxury  London: Boston: Nicholas Brealey International.    Thompson, D ed. 1996 The Oxford English Dictionary England: Oxford University Press.        Articles    Silverstein, M. J et al Neil Fiske. 2003. Luxury for the Masses.  ‘Harvard Business Review’ (2003)     2008. ‘Drapers’ (8 Nov 2008)    2008 ‘Drapers’  (Nov 2008)    2007. Topshop Plans New York Stores on Kate Moss Success.  ‘The Epoch Times’. (24‐30 May 2007)        Internet    Comme de Garcons for H&M. Stylefinder. Available at  http://stylefinder.com/items/default.aspx?id=114376 accessed November 2008    Graham, P et al Matthews, M. The Changing Face of Luxury. Available at    www.knowledgenetworks.com/know/2004/spring/KNOW_changingfaceofluxury accessed November  2008    Harrods 2008: online    Kate Moss to Launch Topshop Range. BBC News. Available at   http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5363414.stm accessed December 2008.    Louis Vuitton 2008: online

Illustrations    Fig 1 Shanghai Story by Greg Kadel in L’uomo Vogue      Fig 2 Louis Vuitton website snapshot  in www.louisvuitton.com    Fig 3 Ovarian Design trainers  in Tamba 13    Fig 4 Kate Moss and Topshop opening flyer from imageshack.us    Fig 5 H&M little black dress by Comme de Garçons from Stlyefinder.com    Fig 6 Madonna for H&M    Fig 7 Madonna modeling for Versace from creativeclub.com    Fig 8 H&M white tee by Karl Lagerfeld from iofferphoto.com    Fig 9 Uma Thurman models for Louis Vuitton    Fig 10 Scarlett Johansson models for Louis Vuitton

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