Luxury...........a brave new world

#7
Interesting read, thanks for sharing.
Hmmm... Hermes made in China - don't see it happening :nogood:
On the other hand it just hit me that H does have sales while LV never does it, hmmm...
 
#8
Darn. One of my favorites, Ermenegildo Zegna, is starting to make stuff in China.

One of my justifications (ok, perhaps rationalizations...) of buying luxury brands is that the items are produced in countries that require very good working conditions. It's depressing that now when I go into D&G, Zegna, etc., I have to check the labels to see where items were made.

(I'm still fuming over my visit to the Waterford factory in Ireland when I bought some items as gifts and had them shipped to my home, only to find out afterward that several of them were made in China.)

I just don't want to buy anything that might have been made by people working in horrible environments, and I'm disappointed that the attitude of the folks at the luxe houses was to lower labor and materials costs -- I guess the margins are sacrosanct.... I know that they're all publicly-traded companies with a responsibility to maximize shareholder value, but I do hope they realize that what might be best for 2009 Q3 might alienate customers for years.

I'm sure lots of people in this forum have read Dana Thomas' Luxe. After reading that book, I felt a bit more ok with my Hermès obsession as it seems that only they, Chanel, and Christian Louboutin came out as anything other than schlock purveyors. While I'd hate to see Hermès cut quality to keep their margins high, I have to think a lot of customers at all luxury brands are going to buy a lot less at the boutiques. I know I will.

On a related note, the NY Times loaded 3 articles today about haggling in upscale furniture shops:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/garden/29haggling.html

I wonder if haggling will start (or perhaps already has started) in luxury shops.
 
#9
Nice read. Thanks. The one thing this article overlooks is the the special order market. I beleive people will still be willing to pay full price for something exactly how they want (as opposed to what a buyer thinks the shoppers want).
 
#11
Very intersesting...although I doubt H will ever drop or even hold prices, it should be noted that on the shopping thread a member just reported seeing a kelly for sale in an AIRPORT H shop. That may be a first.
 
#12
Wow, I guess only time will tell what designers follow this trend and which ones stick to their guns. I believe there will always be a market for luxury items crafted in the old-world European style, and as long as that market exists, there will be a design house the will cater to it.
 
#14
Your mention of haggling in luxury shops reminded me of a recent incident. I have a friend that got $35,000 worth of Roche Bobois furniture for $25,000. My friend did have to pay cash, but he haggled the heck out of the salesman and finally got a deal. They're having a sale right now, but my friend wanted better discounts than what the sale has to offer and he got it. Sign of the times?:shrugs:

matt-g said:
Darn. One of my favorites, Ermenegildo Zegna, is starting to make stuff in China.

One of my justifications (ok, perhaps rationalizations...) of buying luxury brands is that the items are produced in countries that require very good working conditions. It's depressing that now when I go into D&G, Zegna, etc., I have to check the labels to see where items were made.

(I'm still fuming over my visit to the Waterford factory in Ireland when I bought some items as gifts and had them shipped to my home, only to find out afterward that several of them were made in China.)

I just don't want to buy anything that might have been made by people working in horrible environments, and I'm disappointed that the attitude of the folks at the luxe houses was to lower labor and materials costs -- I guess the margins are sacrosanct.... I know that they're all publicly-traded companies with a responsibility to maximize shareholder value, but I do hope they realize that what might be best for 2009 Q3 might alienate customers for years.

I'm sure lots of people in this forum have read Dana Thomas' Luxe. After reading that book, I felt a bit more ok with my Hermès obsession as it seems that only they, Chanel, and Christian Louboutin came out as anything other than schlock purveyors. While I'd hate to see Hermès cut quality to keep their margins high, I have to think a lot of customers at all luxury brands are going to buy a lot less at the boutiques. I know I will.

On a related note, the NY Times loaded 3 articles today about haggling in upscale furniture shops:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/garden/29haggling.html

I wonder if haggling will start (or perhaps already has started) in luxury shops.
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