As designers march their winter haute couture collections down runways in Paris this week, one has the feeling we're witnessing the end of an era. Only a handful of women in the world can afford this level of craftsmanship and, in the throws of the most diabolical recession we've ever seen, even they are pulling in their gilded belts. More's the pity.

As a result, this may be the last of Christian Lacroix. A few days ago, the designer showed a jaw-dropping collection every bit worthy of his couturier status. But his house is in such a financial mess, it needs a buyer to survive.

Lacroix is not alone, of course. Earlier this year, I asked a CEO of a high-end Italian fabric company how he was planning to celebrate the company's anniversary. "We'll barely be able to afford a birthday cake!" he joked.

Meanwhile, New York's famed specialty store Henri Bendel has stopped selling designer clothes altogether. Beginning this fall, the store will focus exclusively on selling smaller ticket items like jewelry, handbags, fragrance and gifts. It's a well-known fact that accessories sales are the bread-and-butter of retailers and fashion houses. Runway looks, especially haute couture, are more about creating publicity and brand image. But learning that H. Bendel will no longer be selling designer clothing is a little like discovering the coolest kid at school is into Dungeons & Dragons. It's just sad.

The luxury segment-particularly fashion and jewelry-has skirted trouble for years. In Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster out a few years ago, reporter Dana Thomas chronicled how the then $157 billion luxury goods industry eschewed exclusivity-a key characteristic of luxury-in order to rack up mass sales.

Still, few predicted the floor would drop out quite like this. "You can't justify premiums these days with the same old stuff," says Milton Pedreza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, noting luxury companies will be forced to reinvent themselves to stay relevant. "Many people feel like luxury has duped them into buying ubiquitous products. The main principles-great design, superior quality, heritage and service-need to be upped quite a bit."

A few months ago, The Luxury Institute released its latest findings, and the news may not be good: The headline on its home page reads: "Luxury Brands Are Failing To Deliver on Fundamentals of Luxury at a Critical Time for the Industry." And then: "Luxury leaders need to quickly get beyond the price and cost-cutting exercises and start innovating again on quality, craftsmanship and, especially, customer service."

Really? Do you agree that the luxury industry is slipping? I find that hard to believe, based, if nothing else, on what Luxist features every day.

Here's more (the first point's not news to us):

• Superior quality (82%), superior craftsmanship (78%) and superior customer service (60%) are the top three requirements of a luxury brand.
  
• 64% of wealthy consumers believe luxury goods prices are too high relative to the value they deliver.
  
• 62% of wealthy consumers say that the current state of the economy has changed their view of the luxury industry.

Click the next link to read an overview of the survey (appropriately named "WealthSurvey: The State of The Economy and Trends In The Luxury Industry-2009") and to view its Table of Contents. I can't give you more because to get the full report you need to purchase it ($650). If you're a luxury manufacturer, you might be interested. Purchase at the bottom of the aforementioned Table of Contents page.

A summer survey, conducted by the Luxury Institute, asked 1,771 wealthy Americans with an average income of $351,000 and average net worth of $4.3 million to rate wine and liquor brands based on quality, uniqueness and exclusivity. Check out the CNBC slideshow to see which brands came out on top. The institute offers a variety of articles on luxury-related topics. Here is a list of its 2008 articles, but you can read back to 2005.

[Via CNBC]

Since 1953, every American First Lady has carried a custom-made Leiber handbag to the Presidential Inauguration. Over the years, Judith Leiber's hand-crafted bejeweled creations have found their way into the permanent collections of The Smithsonian Institute, the Victoria and Albert Museum as well as the hands of discriminating women everywhere. It is therefore no surprise that Leiber handbags were named the most prestigious handbag brand in the Luxury Institute's 2007 Luxury Brand Status Index survey. The index surveys 783 high-net worth consumers with an average income of $305,000 per year and an average net worth of $2.2 million. In particular, women over 45 with a net worth greater than $5 million gave high marks to the elegant Leiber handbag. In the survey, which included 26 high-end labels, Hermès and Prada also rose to the top, coming in second and third, respectively.