Robert Bergman, president & creative director of Mpakt, agrees that luxury prevails as a recession-proof market segment, but muses that the past few years have brought about a dramatic shift in its definition
CONSUMERS
A New Year: A New Definition Of Luxury
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Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.
PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.
In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”
The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris
Robert Bergman, president & creative director of Mpakt, agrees that luxury prevails as a recession-proof market segment, but muses that the past few years have brought about a dramatic shift in its definition
Gucci’s recently designed packaging is FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council) and recyclable
Robert Bergman, president & creative director of Mpakt, agrees that luxury prevails as a recession-proof market segment, but muses that the past few years have brought about a dramatic shift in its definition
In 2012, luxury will no longer be defined by excess and conspicuous consumption – now luxury means products with higher perceived value and increased practicality. Demonstrating this is the near-disappearance of the ‘logo-covered product.’
The face of luxury is becoming much more subtle, understated and less ostentatious. Branded names are still the strong sellers, but the economy has dictated that it’s no longer fashionable to make sure everyone knows what brand you carry or wear from meters away.
Besides the evolving definition of luxury, the “who has access to luxury” is changing too. Flash deals from online companies like Gilt Group are making luxury accessible to everyone, and making the multiple-purchase consumption of luxury easier and more available.
“ In 2012 luxury will no longer be defined by excess and conspicuous consumption ”
In these recessionary times, luxury beauty products are some of the biggest winners. As funds are tighter for large luxury purchases, smaller ones, such as an in-home Kérastase deep conditioning hair masque, have become the purchase of choice.
Because the luxury customer is the better-educated customer, and the green movement is affecting all segments of the market, naturally it is impacting the luxury market. The luxury customer is no longer happy buying a product that has layers and layers of unnecessary packaging that just reinforces how “precious” a product should be perceived.
I’m currently working on packaging a luxury product where the protective case will have “another life” after its primary use – either as a storage or decorative container – and doesn’t just end up in a landfill.
“ What’s apparent is that successful luxury products and brands are those that can and do evolve ”
The rich have always been – and still are – the consumers of “bespoke luxury” products, the ultimate in luxury. When your product is one of a kind, hand-made or customized to (or for) you, you create instant exclusivity – no one else can have what you have.
Companies that trade in customised bespoke luxury, such as Brioni for men’s suits, Remote Lands for travel, or Goldetto for bespoke luxury iPhone cases, will continue to enjoy huge successes by tapping into the psyche of true luxury.
