Review: Has luxury's lap gotten too big?
— -- Luxury items were once exclusive. The well-heeled wore Gucci loafers. Prada was the province of the wealthy. Fine watches, jewelry, clothes and handbags were painstakingly crafted by independent artisans in small workshops. They sold for kingly sums to the elite.
But that has changed, Dana Thomas asserts in Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster.
She covers culture and fashion for Newsweek in Paris.
Family-owned luxury companies have given way to megacorporations that have turned luxury into a $157 billion business that offers something for almost everyone.
"Tycoons have stripped away all that has made (luxury) special," Thomas writes.
That is somewhat of an overstatement, as we come to find in the next chapter. Louis Vuitton still makes its trunks the way it has for 150 years. Its steamer bags are made by hand. All the jasmine for Chanel No. 5 comes solely from a fifth-generation farmer in France.
But Thomas' larger point rings true. While luxury brands have preserved their flagships, most have also expanded into midrange (and even low-end) products. Consider Armani's A/X stores. Or T-shirts bearing designer logos.
Thomas tracks this devolution of luxe, often reaching deep into history for context. Modern luxury can be traced to Europe's royal courts.
Thomas supplies colorful biographies of the businessmen and women behind luxury's boom. We see how billionaire Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton, earned the nickname "the wolf in cashmere." We witness some of Coco Chanel's ruthlessness and learn more about her ties to the Nazis.
The consumers, though, are by far the most interesting characters in Deluxe. For instance, a Buddhist monk believes Comme des Garçons clothing has miraculous powers.
Even more engaging are the unintended fans of luxe, such as the Burberry-wearing teenage punks in Britain who haunt malls, intimidating the customers. And the rap stars with a fondness for bling.
Luxury companies have learned to profit from the latter group.
