The new LV campaign will focus on the details that go in to creating luxury.
My first reaction was, “Do consumers care?” Don’t the people buying Louis Vuitton already know that they are paying for the craftsmanship? But then the report went on to say that Patek Philippe has been minimally hurt by the recession. The same was true for Hermes. Basically, the true luxury houses haven’t been hurt as much by the recession as the mid-level luxury retailers.
At a time when we’ve recently seen Escada bought out, and we are waiting to see what happens at Prada, it might be time to think about what is luxury and what is high-end fashion. It’s no secret that Prada has been significantly hit by the recent recession. Reports are that Prada is nearly $1 billion in debt and will soon need outside financing.
This is also a time when we are watching fashion darlings like Rodarte and Jean Paul Gaultier design for Target. And then there is Sonia Rykiel and Jimmy Choo designing for H&M. This makes it even more transparent to the consumer that name and design are different from quality and craftsmanship.
So will learning more about what goes into creating luxury help you decide to buy it? Or is the bottom line how something looks?
For me, this makes it all clear – there is luxury and there is fashion. Both have their place. But only rarely do those two ever cross paths. And when they do, the price is steep.
Editor’s note: I am very excited for the Rodarte collection at Target! I have been impressed with the quality of the designer offerings so far at Target.








