Luxury is a single category that is demonstrably unstable and it is manifested in the changing landscape of the luxury brand market which is considered as part of the fashion cycle. Luxury brands continue to extend their product offerings to satisfy a continually growing consumer market in which branding has become increasingly important. Existing definitions of luxury are unstable due to an ever changing cyclical market and are exacerbated by marketing, branding, advertising and mass production. It is important to remove the façade of marketing and branding in order to provide a perspective that acknowledges the change and importance of fashion business methodologies to ensure business growth. At the same time it is also important to recognize the fundamental significance of luxury brand heritage and the convenient message this sends to the consumer. It is evident that concepts of luxury will continue to be defined as part of a complex structure of understanding and interpretation. In light of this, one must not lose sight of the importance of the knowledge of the craftsmen and women and their ability to communicate the intricacies of their skills in order to provoke and challenge the perpetuating luxury debate. A significant part of the current luxury brands market is predominantly made up of companies that were founded in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In this period, materials and craftsmanship were prioritized. My article traces a shift in the luxury paradigm. Shaun Borstrock 232Worldwide luxury goods market revenues were forecast to grow by seven percent in the final three months of 2012 versus the same period in 2011, culminating in full year growth in 2012 to 10 percent, and pushing total luxury goods revenues to an estimated €212 billion.(Bain and Company 2012)
As part of the In Pursuit of Luxury podcast series, I’ve interviewed a number of people in a variety of areas in the luxury sector whose work involves areas ranging from design to business, manufacturing, publishing, sustainability and PR. I’ve interviewed designers and craftspersons and those who are involved in leadership roles in major corporations. In our pursuit of luxury and the subsequent launch of the In Pursuit of Luxury podcast we continue the debate around luxury. What is luxury? How is it defined? Who defines it? And why define it at all? These questions, and more are at the forefront of our mind as we discuss current and emergent definitions of luxury and that they mean to each of our interviewees. I have interviewed master craftsmen like for example, the watchmaker, Roger W. Smith, the jeweller Theo Fennell, the designer Ron Arad and the Michelin star chef Ollie Dabbous. I thought milliner Stephen Jones’s interview would be particularly suited for this issue as he celebrates 25 years as creative director at Christian Dior.
It could be said that true luxury products are defined through skill, connoisseurship, rarity, craftsmanship and innovation. Luxury brands on the other hand are defined by illusions of luxury, fashion, authenticity, lifestyle, aspiration, the global market and profit. Increasingly luxury brands have introduced options to customize and personalize their products to enhance their offer and thereby creating the perception that the customer is purchasing something individual. However, these options within the realms of the luxury brand, do nothing more than offer variations on a theme. Component pieces within an existing product range are produced and offered for sale as part of an existing product category. Offering a customised product changes the perception of the consumer. They believe they are buying something different but this is far from the reality. Luxury brands offer customisation to attempt to diversify and add value to their product offer. If one considers craftsmanship and innovation as core components in creating differentiation between luxury and luxury branded products, it could then be argued that traditional crafted products and the integration of digital technologies challenge the status quo. As customisation and personalisation is already occupying a place of growing significance and includes viable modes of industrialised production, the product offer lacks the integrity that would be associated with a handmade luxury product.
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