luxury brands

The Classicist: Is the Royal Warrant Losing Its Lustre?

A recent decision by two venerable British brands to drop the Royal Warrants from their packaging has occasioned some hand-wringing in the UK over whether the much-coveted distinction has lost its lustre. The Classicist calls it a tempest in a Royal Doulton teacup; read on to find out why. Only three royals are entitled to grant warrants – the Queen of England, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales – to firms who supply their royal requisites for at least five years, though most warrant holders have ties to Britain's royal family dating back several decades or more. Of course, Prince William will one day be granting his own.

Holders of the Royal Warrant include many of our favorite luxury brands – Asprey, Aston Martin, Bentley, Barbour, Burberry, Fortnum & Mason, Gieves & Hawkes, Holland & Holland, Hunter Boots, Jaguar, John Lobb, Johnnie Walker, Land Rover, Laphroaig, Lock & Co., Swaine Adeney Brigg, Smythson, Tanqueray and Turnbull & Asser – along with a host of lesser names, such as After Eight mints and Jacob's Cream Crackers. It is the latter two that have now decided to do without their warrants – though no insult is intended to the royal family, as it was when former Harrods owner Mohamed al Fayed burned his last year. That coupled with the results of a new survey showing that only 13% of respondents thought that warrants make any difference have called their usefulness into question, the London Guardian reports.

However, "It's hard to say that interest in royal warrants is conclusively on the wane," Vicky Bullen, chief executive of Coley Porter Bell, tells the paper, "because there is no existing data with which to make a comparison. However, consumers' apparent indifference to the royal warrants has surprised us. We can only surmise there could be a number of factors at play." Said factors, Bullen says, include "that we live in a less deferential society in which the royal family enjoys less prestige and political support." That of course is not exactly new, though the upcoming Royal Wedding may give them a boost. [cont'd]

Gallery: Holders of the Royal Warrant

Tags: Asprey, Aston Martin, Barbour, Bentley, British royalty, Burberry, Fortnum and Mason, Harrods, Holland Holland, Hunter Boots, Jaguar, John Lobb, Johnnie Walker, Land Rover, luxury brands, Mohamed al Fayed, Prince of Wales, Prince William, Queen of England, royal family, Royal Warrant, Royal Wedding, royalty, Smythson, Swaine Adeney Brigg, Tanqueray, UK

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Hermes Showcases Craft In New Exhibit

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Handbags

Luxury brand Hermès is known for its craftsmanship. It is one of the reasons that we awarded it the Luxist Awards' Editors' Choice Award for Best in Accessories last year and the reason that the Birkin bag has become one of the world's most coveted luxury posessions. That craftsmanship is on display at a new Hermès festival, The Festival of Crafts, that begins on the west coast at The Bravern in Bellevue, Washington on February 23 through February 28. From there the festival will travel to Chicago, Washington D.C. and then abroad offering a glimpse behind the scenes at how the beautiful objects that Hermès fashions come together.

Tags: hermes, Hermes Leather, hermes-birkin, luxury brands

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Were Employees Forced To Buy Merchandise At Prada Japan?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Big drama at Prada Japan. Our sister blog Daily Finance has a fascinating piece on a legal imbroglio that has dogged the luxury retailer's Japan branch. A former retail manager at Prada Japan, Rina Bovrisse (pictured), has claimed that the retailer forced employees to buy Prada bags and other items in order to cover up the fact that sales were falling. Bovrisse faced the luxury retailer in complaint court in Japan. That case was ruled "unsettled," and so a civil lawsuit was filed.

Bovrisse and two other former employees claim that, beginning in January 2009, the company forced its workers to purchase products. The sales could not be entered as employee purchases but had to be entered as a customer's full price purchase. That way the purchases would give Prada Milan, the worldwide headquarters of the brand, the impression that Japanese stores were meeting their sales targets. Employees were then paid back out of funds that were to be used for the company's holiday party and were marked as as "campaign" salary. But even then the employees were responsible for taxes on what was considered bonus pay and had to pay additional money. This situation limped along for a while and even after the reimbursements ran dry some Prada Japan employees were told that they needed to continue to purchase products or else the company would be forced to downsize. The requirements continued and Bovrisse says she personally bought $20,000 worth of products. Employees were strapped, they were struggling to pay their bills but were also scared that if they didn't buy they wouldn't have jobs. It's unclear when if ever Prada Milan knew about the program but so far it has denied responsibility for the program.

Luxury continues to be in flux in Japan.In 2008 Louis Vuitton scrapped plans for a new Ginza flagship store. Last year, Versace pulled out of Japan altogether. Instead of luxury stores, it's fast fashion stores like Uniqlo, H&M and Zara that are doing big business now. Forever 21 recently opened in the Ginza district where once only luxury brands flourished. In the past years, logo chasing was important to the Japanese but now many trendsetters favor a high-low approach, combining expensive pieces with more inexpensive items or pairing vintage finds with new pieces. The recognizable names are no longer quite as valuable to the consumer and luxury brands have seen sales drop as a result.

Tags: ginza, japan, luxury brands, prada, prada japan

Louis Vuitton Partners With Children's Charity

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Charity

Need another reason to love Louis Vuitton? The luxury megabrand has just announced that it has signed a five year agreement with SOS Children's Villages to create a program called "Partnership for Children's Futures." The partnership will help children who are orphaned, abandoned or whose families are unable to care for them. These children live in SOS Children's Villages and are cared for by SOS mothers giving them the love and security of a real home and access to education until they are ready to be independent. Worldwide, SOS Children's Villages cares for over 78,000 children and young people in 500 children's villages and some 400 youth facilities.

It's not clear yet what form this partnership will take but I'm guessing that some limited edition bags might be in the offing. Louis Vuitton isn't the first luxury brand to work for children's causes. Luxury jeweler Bulgari's Save the Children campaign raised millions for children living in conflict-affected areas.

Tags: corporate philanthropy, Louis Vuitton, luxury brands, sos childrens village, SOS Childrens Villages

Former Hermes Leader Dead At 72

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

The former head of the luxury brand Hermès, Jean-Louis Dumas, died on May 1 at the age of 72. Dumas ran Hermès from 1978 to 2006 and was responsible for transforming the brand from a small and well-respected maker of leather goods to an internationally known luxury brand. Dumas was the great-great grandson of Thierry Hermès, who founded the company in 1837. Dumas helped give the world the intensely craved Birkin bag and brought fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier to the brand. Known to be a charismatic man of great style, he also published a book of photographs. The family still owns over 70 percent of the Hermès group and Dumas' son Pierre-Alexis works as an artistic director for the company.

According to a story in the Telegraph, the Birkin bag came about after Dumas and actress Jane Birkin sat next to each other on a flight from Paris to London. She told Dumas that she could never find a decent handbag and so he invited her to the Hermès workshop to help create one. The bag remains a status symbol known around the world and it can take years to get your own.

Tags: birkin bag, hermes, jean-louis dumas, luxury brands, paris

Portero Creates Private Sale Site

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Luxury auction retailer Portero has created a new private sale site. Portero Private is currently in beta and is an invitation-only site similar to Ideeli or Gilt Groupe offering 24- to 72-hour sales with a limited inventory of luxury brands at special prices.

Like most of these private sale sites Portero Private is starting off small. a select group has already been invited and each member has three invitations. The first sale event,starts on Thursday and will sell Hermes scarves. The Examiner reports that future sales will include Temple St Clair, Montblanc, Chanel, Cartier and others.

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Tags: luxury brands, LuxuryBrands, online shopping, OnlineShopping, portero

Blogging From the Luxury Summit: Luxury Brands and the Green Movement

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Green

The green movement in luxury and the new philanthropy go hand in hand and have the same basic charge, finding a way to do good and do well. Unfortunately it's not quite as easy as it sounds. After all, the luxury consumer wants to have it all they want the feeling of being green and knowing they are doing something to combat climate change but they aren't really willing to give anything up. For the companies at the American Express Publishing Luxury Summit this week, green seems to be something that they are all wrestling with, wanting to satisfy a public clamoring for green but also knowing the customer expects the same level of performance and service as they have always enjoyed. While other tiers of the green market seem to be about compromise and perhaps restraint, luxury consumers want green and fabulous in the same package.

Tags: eco-friendly, green, luxury brands, luxury summit

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Gucci Is The "Most Coveted" Luxury Brand

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

It's official, according to the latest Global Luxury Brands Survey the "most coveted luxury brand" in the world is Gucci -- 1 in 5 global customers said that if money was not an issue they would choose Gucci over every other luxury brand. The survey was done this past November and this marks Gucci's third year holding on to the top spot in what is a more challenging and competitive luxury market than ever before.

It's worth noting that this survey ranked Gucci as #1 globally, not regionally. Other brands ranked better in specific places, like Chanel was #1 in China and Christian Dior did the best in Russia.

Gallery: The Most Coveted Luxury Brands

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Tags: brand, brands, gucci, luxury brands, LuxuryBrands, most coveted, MostCoveted, survey

Is Your Favorite Luxury Brand Unethical?

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Green

When you buy expensive luxury items are you helping to kill the planet? Depending on your favorite brands you just might be. In a recent study done for WWF it came to light that many luxury brands are making use of environmentally damaging materials and practices, and although some did worse than others none of them did very well. The study looked at the top ten luxury brands and found them all seriously lacking in some way. The solution? Some say getting this information out to the public (you can download the entire report for free here) and calling for celebrities to use their endorsement powers for the greater environmental good is the first step. What's your take?

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Tags: climate change, ClimateChange, environment, global warming, GlobalWarming, green, luxury, luxury brands, LuxuryBrands, Tods, WWF

Luxury Market Tight in China

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Are luxury retailers too optimistic about the opportunities in China? As the economy rapidly grows, retailers are faced with rising costs for labor and rent and a customer base that is more reluctant to purchase luxury items than in other countries. Many high end brands - Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Hermès, to name but a few - are all in competition for the same small segment of the population. While that doesn't sound so different from the way the retailers operate in other parts of the world, there is on big difference. In China, consumers are primarily interested in things that are "obvious status symbols," with easily visible logos from only the top brand, so many companies, even big name ones, are barely breaking even after years in the country.

But the segment of the population that can afford luxury is growing and as the country moves more towards a market economy, they grow more willing to purchase such goods. The lesson to retailers? Start small and learn the market. It's probably only a matter of time before more consumers start to want to add some luxury to their lives.

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Tags: brand, china, chinese, louis vuitton, luxury, luxury brands, market, retail

U.S. Airport Shops Go Posh

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal covered the high end shopping in airports both in the U.S. and abroad. Brands like Prada, Louis Vuitton, Sephora and Versace have stores in airports.%uFFFD While foreign airports have often ample shopping, the U.S. has been slow to catch up because U.S. shoppers haven't really expressed a big interest in airport shopping. But the trend is shifting, in May, French jeweler Cartier opened a shop at New York's JFK airport and Terminal A/B at Baltimore/Washington International has the first airport location of menswear chain Jos. A. Bank Clothiers. It's part of an overall trend of making American airports more luxurious. Recently we have seen an increase inairport spas and fine dining in U.S. airports but I wonder if Americans are really ready to shop in domestic airports (although we seem more than happy to do it overseas). The article suggests that the fact that prices for simple items like gum and water are so deeply inflated that Americans may fear they won't get a good deal in boutiques but I'm not certain that's the only reason. Do you shop in airports and if not, why not?

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Tags: airport shopping, AirportShopping, duty-free, hermes, luxury brands, retail, versace