“Vuitton is the McDonald’s of the luxury industry,” says Dana Thomas in Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, her extensively researched account of how supersized tactics transform luxe into de-luxe. Through brief biographies, juicy company histories, interviews with major players, and revealing statistics, Thomas traces the inelegant pursuit of the bottom line, a pursuit for which luxury traded its soul.
Part One covers the rise and fall of Old Europe’s luxury goods production, with a focus on Vuitton’s eventual “democratization” of formerly exclusive products. Part Two delves into marketing, outsourcing of labor, and the world of celebrity endorsement — from the indirect yet outrageously lucrative advertising generated when celebrities wear designer goods, to the phenomenon of celebrity perfumes. Though it deals little with perfume, Part Three was the most compelling section for me. It contains both chilling anecdotes about counterfeiting (it is not a victimless crime) and thoughtful observations on the future of luxury.
Although perfume references crop up throughout the book (like handbags and leather goods, perfume is an “entry product” into luxury brands), perfume lovers may wish to jump to Part II, Chapter Five: “The Sweet Smell of Success.” Here Thomas shows how the perfume industry has, like the rest of luxury fashion, lowered its standards while expanding its consumer base in order to keep the cash flowing in. Chances are regular followers of Now Smell This will not be shocked. Perfumistas have long lamented Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy's takeover of Guerlain, the reformulation of countless perfume classics, cost cutting in packaging, and the declining quality of fragrance materials. I wish the chapter had covered counterfeit perfumes and the escalating regulation of ingredients — two unintended consequences (or at least side effects) of mass marketing. Likewise, the notion of “niche” perfume would have fit well in this discussion. With its claim to high quality ingredients and exclusivity, niche seems to have filled the gap left by old-school luxury fragrances. Yet with Annick Goutal, Jo Malone, Bond No 9, and Serge Lutens sold in (selected) department stores, the borderline between mainstream and niche has blurred. I doubt we can assume that niche remains a beacon of integrity, impervious to the unblinking scrutiny of this book.
A smooth and colorful read, Deluxe is peppered with zingers such as Valentino CEO Michele Norsa’s comment: “Perceived quality is more important than real quality.” (p. 221) Terms of the trade — shrinkage, purse-party ladies, Parasite Singles — spice up every chapter. We encounter plenty of sell-outs — and heroes, too. Hermès, Net-à-Porter.com, and Louboutin rise to the top. Despite the book’s overall bubble-bursting message, glimmers of hope emerge, particularly in the discussion of Laboratoire Monique Rémy, and in Jean-Claude Ellena’s interview.
“What Fast Food Nation did for food service, this book does for fashion[…]” says the L.A. Times quote on the back cover. Eye-opening? Yes. But comparisons to Fast Food Nation are a stretch. After all, luxury goods are not our daily bread. Fast Food Nation exposed the devastation of small business, health, neighborhoods, families, the work force and the environment due to one massive industry. Deluxe reveals nothing that scathing. The legitimate luxury business comes off as cheapened and jaded, but not toxic. After all, it is difficult to get too worked up over products whose roots in Old Europe’s monarchies and aristocracies have always whispered, “Let them eat cake.”
Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster
Dana Thomas
New York: Penguin Books 2007
Softcover, 375 pages
Thanks for the review, Cheryl. I’m putting this one on my library list.
It’s a good read, especially if you are interested in the history of how fashion companies have grown.
Oooh, I read this when it first came out a couple of years ago and I really enjoyed the chapter about fragrance. I should dig out my copy and re-read it.
Thanks for the review!
I missed it first time around. Glad I finally found it.
Excellent review, thanks Cheryl!
Thank you so much!
I’ve read this, and I heartily recommend it. Lots of interesting insights; it covers the counter-fitting industry, which luxury products sell best in which country, etc. Not at all dry.
Wasn’t the counterfeiting chapter chilling?
It really WAS. The whole book made me look at a lot of ‘luxury’ items in a different way.
The book sounds very interesting, but frankly the very concept of “luxury” kind of grosses me out. “Glamour” is one thing- anyone, of any economic status, can be glamorous. But “luxury” only belongs to the uppermost classes. I’m not shedding too many tears over whether such a classist concept has “lost its soul”.
(This is not at all a criticism of your article, Cheryl, which is great.)
I absolutely, emphatically agree, Ari. I was talking to an acquaintance recently about how much we both loved Chanel’s Bois des Iles, and feeling warm-and-fuzzy to have that lovely shared connection that you get when you encounter someone who has similar tastes. I mentioned how silly I thought it was that Chanel only sold it in those mammoth 200ml kegs these days, as a lot of potential customers would automatically be unable to ever purchase one.
She leaned over and, smiling, whispered conspiratorially that their unavailability was part of the attraction for her–that she didn’t want common people to be wearing the same scent she wears. I was quietly sickened, and moved away from her as fast as politeness allowed. I LOATHE that kind of filthy snobbery. It viscerally repulses me.
I can, and do, lament declines in quality and craftsmanship, but I cannot lament ease of access, moderate pricing, and wide availability of luxury products. Exclusivity is not necessarily an attribute that I admire in a marketing plan, you know? In truth, I think it stinks.
Preach it, sister.
I think you said it pretty well. I believe that all people should have access to the best of everything that they can get access to and afford. There is nothing better in the world than sharing beauty or quality (which comes from craftsmanship and pride). It is the affordability issue that gets soo tricky with the use of cash or credit, as pretty much now days we can get access to anything over the internet. I regret that this dumbing down of “luxury” products has reduced the quality of EVERYTHING: clothes, shoes, fragrance, food, restaurants, housing, whatever. All kinds of crap with varying degrees of price tags.
But I also blame the short attention span marketing that goes along with most of these luxury goods which are only desirable for a few months at a time, and then tossed away to a closet or ebay. What items used to be luxury many decades ago with a small selection of handcrafted wardrobe items that were to last a year or more, has now rushed into a quarterly escapade of trendy madness.
Part of my thoughts are in the comment just below (to BChant), but I’ll toss in a vigorous head nod to the switch to emphasis on trend rather than quality.
She’ll be mad when they bring out those smaller bottles in the fall, then!
Perhaps she has not heard about the ultimate in exclusivity–the bespoke fragrance, some of which can be had for maybe the cost of 2-3 bottles of Les Exclusifs.
I can understand why someone might be repelled by luxury and attracted to glamour, but to read the book your understanding could change at least in regards to luxury. The book points out that while quality goods were mainly the domain of the ultra-rich, middle class women and men did in fact buy couture in the middle part of the last century at a high rate. In a sense the book laments the vulgarity that is today’s luxury market and the goods today are indeed vulgar.
Funny, I was reading this particular thread of comments and realizing I needed a place to put Coco Chanel about luxury: she emphasizes the absence of vulgarity, “Luxury is not the opposite of poverty, it is the absence of vulgarity.” In other words, it is not the haves vs. the have nots, but the execution. (Not that the have nots can easily approach luxe from an economic standpoint…oh, the twists of this…)
Yeah, the barrier zone of “Les Exclusifs,” to the extent it exists, is cringeworthy. But I have to admit I appreciate that they are plush and well-executed; again, Coco — “luxury must be comfortable.” And they are. Just would be nice to buy something other than a vat’s worth, no?
I definitely understand the desire for quality, and certainly the LEs are much better made than many mainstream perfumes. But for so many “luxury” products, the price is outrageously disproportional to the cost of production. I’m talking about something like an $85 t-shirt that was made in Vietnam for 50 cents. The only reason I can think of for such insane pricing is to create a sense of exclusivity.
And in respect to those items, I am totally with you.
Not to mention any labor issues I might have…but that’s yet ANOTHER discussion
Scentself – LOVED the Coco Chanel quote! Thanks for sharing.
I am reminded of something I read about Francois Coty. His original perfume formulas were apparently very high quality and not “cheap,” but he wanted all women to be able to afford them. What he did was to sell smaller size, plain bottles at prices that middle class or working class women could buy, while the wealthy could have larger quantities in fancy Lalique or Baccarat bottles. No doubt that small bottle of Coty perfume that the working girl bought would be an occasional , not daily, indulgence, but at least she could have some perfume.
This is such an interesting point. Judging from ebay, many companies used to make quarter ounce bottles of perfume – copying Coty, I imagine – but that’s rare now, I think.
I agree. And I think many perfume lovers (hmmm…know any of those/) are not drawn to perfume as a luxury item. I was relieved to find that any truly horrible practices exposed in the book (think child labor in the worst way)–had nothing to do with perfume.
Excellent review Cheryl, and as luck would have it, I’m going to be in two different bookstores tomorrow!
Thank you!
Oh yes, highly recommended!
In the same vein I also recommend Nathan Branch’s blog. On Fridays he publishes “Luxury Industry News”, which is witty and informative.
I have to check that out, Thanks!
I kind of forget about Nathan’s blog but read it now and again – I like his perfume reviews, because he always has lots of pics of the packaging.
This is a great review, thank you!
Love the LV quote at the beginning (and I took the LV Mahina bag off of my wishlist – or the “a gal can dream about” list.
Thank you! Yes, I have to admit I was happy that I’d never been bitten by the designer bug. I bought some Juicy Couture sunglasses last year and had the optometrist remove the logo.
I read this book when it came out in 2008 and by the end, I had completely lost interest in acquiring designer goods. It all seems like a scam to create an artificial aura of “exclusivity” for an item that actually is manufactured for $2-3 in a sweatshop in China. One part revealed that a certain luxury handbag was mostly made in China but sent to Italy (or maybe France, can’t remember) for some very minor finishing so it could have the “Made in Italy” sticker on it.
I know Hermes purses are higher quality and handmade in France but after this book, I no longer care if I ever get a Birkin. It just seems so irrelevant and superficial now.
The book made me think a lot about what I want, what I buy, and why.
yes about the items cut in china and then ensembled in italy , just a thing it needs to say ensembled in italy , it can’t say made in , that is illegal , worst brands , cavalli , dolce and gabanna , D&G , dsquared , really bad products
Thanks for the great review, Cheryl! I’m definitely interested in reading this.
Go for it! It is the type of book you can read on an airplane, on the beach–but it isn’t fluffy.
As for the Chanel Exclusifs – I can relate to the desire to have a scent that not many others have, although not the snobbery that goes with not wanting to wear the same stuff as “common” people. I’m just as thrilled to wear Tokyo Milks’ Honey and the Moon – not many people have that either and I’ve never smelled it on anyone else, but it sure isn’t because of price.
For me the issue has to do with quality more than anything – I used to be a big aficionado of Doc Martens – the quality was good and they were comfortable. Then they were bought by Guess, manufactured in China, and the quality went way downhill. I didn’t mind spending $100 – $200 for quality shoes, but I’m not spending that on crap. Same with Coach – love the well-crafted leather bags, but I’m not paying the price for something in cloth with their logo stamped all over it. Why should I pay several hundred dollars to advertise for Coach?
The book made me think, too, about “exclusivity.” I love wearing a perfume no one has heard, too. Exclusivity vs. luxury (and the $$$ that represents)–something I’m pondering now.
I know, I have an acquaintance who is totally infatuated with “luxury” products. She seems convinced that a high price automatically makes something better. I just cannot share her enthusiasm. I know that high quality is seldom cheap, and I do not mind paying for quality, but I refuse to pay a high price for a mediocre (or worse) item just because it has a designer logo on it.
I hear you – I’ll pay for quality, whether it has a designer label or not, but I’m not paying for crap just because it sports a logo on it.
I have to admit to browsing the sale rack in Neiman Marcus last year and finding the Escada blouses to be very well-made and coveting one of them – but I’m not paying $400 for a blouse (ON SALE!). I’m fairly certain that I could have clothes made for me for less than that.
Yes, I’ve never understood wanting to have a brand name stamped all over something you wear or carry. They seem to be very popular items, though.
What a great review, and what insightful comments and observations by the folks here. Well done!
Thanks RusticDove, and everyone. You know how to make a new reviewer feel welcome and at home!
ESCANDALO !
tell me about it , i studied fashion design in milan and yes totally true just very few brands are really exclusive anymore if any i think only hermes , they rather burn the stock left than discount it ……still what i find most interesting is the notion of quality so true , some of the big brands use such cheap materials the items will last one wash and then is done , sad really i find fashion as well as perfume a way of revealing our inner self to the world , is the way we wanna be seen and the way we see ourselves .
Re: not discounting: WOW.
I guess I have always had a different understanding of “luxury” from what it apparently means today. I have always regarded luxury as being synonymous with high quality–the (usually) corresponding high price being the result of the use of quality ingredients, or quality craftsmanship, not a desire to create artificial “exclusivity”. A good example is Amouage–their scents are very expensive (to the dismay of many a perfumista), but they are clearly composed of top-quality ingredients, so I do not resent the price. I am willing to pay a high price to get something that is truly high quality and well made, when I can afford to do so, and if I cannot–so be it. I may never buy a FB of Gold, but if I do, I feel confident I will be getting a truly luxurious product.
I tend to feel that way bout good perfumes. But I second guess myself, too, sometimes: would love to do some sniff tests to see if I can detect quality ingredients.
Excellent review. I read this book when it first came out. I’ve never forgotten the part where she quotes the inspector who found that the owner of a factory making counterfeit purses had broken the legs of the young children who worked there. Chilling. An eye-opening read for sure.
I don’t buy counterfeit stuff anyway – mostly because I can’t be bothered to fake buying designer stuff. Either the stuff is higher quality and worth my money or it’s not – I don’t care about labels. But.. that just makes me sick and it also makes me wonder if that only goes on in the factories where they are manufacturing counterfeits or if it happens in the places that they make the real thing, too.
After all, how many of the so-called luxury brands are really manufactured in their original countries using master craftsman anymore?
There is something strange about buying counterfeit items; it shows a need to display the brand name above all. That’s never been a message about myself that I wanted to convey,
Not everyone buying a counterfeit item knows that it is counterfeit. Many counterfeits are bought by people who think they are getting the genuine article. Of course, the old adage applies: “If it seems too good to be true…” I think some of the counterfeiters have gotten sneakier (and probably wealthier) by offering items at prices that are below retail, but not so much as to seem impossible. There is no way, for example, that you are going to get a $1500 watch for $150, but if it is offered for $1000–who knows? This is particularly problematic when buying online, as you cannot actually examine the item first to see if it appears genuine. I have come across many reports of this with regard to perfumes, particularly Chanel.
That was awful.
Well if luxury is the absence of vulgarity (according to CoCo) then I will have to start referring to certain perfumes as ‘vulgar’ (though I would NEVER refer their wearer’s as ‘common’) and be grateful I am rarely drawn to it.
Luxury/vulgarity is certainly a more thoughtful dichotomy than luxury/common.
Beautifully done review, Cheryl. Very interested in checking out this book!
Thank so much!
I want to add my thanks, too, Cheryl – I had not heard about this book, and I’ve learned a lot from both the review and the discussion.
I’m fortunate to live in an area where there are wonderful juried craft shows, such as the Smithsonian Craft Show. Whenever I can, I prefer to support these artisans and obtain something truly beautiful, unique and timeless rather than, as CynthiaW put it, give free advertising space to a cynical company.
And you are probably paying no more, or even less, for a truly well-made, high quality item, than you would for that “luxury” designer item.
To me that is truly special: something handcrafted that does not flash a corporate name. And talk about exclusive!
Yeah good review. I found the tone of the book kind of odd. She seemed so outraged about how luxury has “lost its lustre”, but still got all breathless, especially when she was talking about Louis Vuitton. In the end, I wondered if she had her point of view totally worked out.
Ultimately, the book is kind of snobby and patchy, but the facts she gives are really important for understanding the place of luxury brands in our society.
Very interesting what you say bout the tone. It is true, it is not hte fact that they are manufactured in this or that country–it is that they choose to use cheaper materials, etc.
That comment I made above was in response to your comment below,If that makes sense,
Nice review Cheryl, thanks. Bought the book when it first came out and treasure it as a hard cover. Hermes emerges as Dana Thomas’s
only true luxury brand and I can’t disagree. Certainly did love her insight on what fragrance has done to give entry into luxury brands.
I still love the saying that “style is a posture, not a purchase,” and can easily interchange style for ‘ taste’ and ‘luxury’ et al. Vive la France!
That’s a great quote!
Moreover, the scandalised tone she adopts when discussing how many companies were moving production to china had a tinge of racism. That alone doesn’t mean quality drops. They actually have a billion or so people in china, and you can bet there are talented craftspeople among them. Although I enjoyed the book, the more I think about it, the more problematic it becomes from many angles.
I do not like to buy products made in China, and racism has NOTHING to do with it. Rather, it is because I have been burned by a series of shoddy “Made in China” products. China has been flooding our markets with cheap, substandard (and often dangerous) products, and I am sick and tired of it, as are most of the people that I know. I am sure there are talented craftspeople in China, but they do not seem to be the ones making the products for export to the U.S., at least not anymore. I do have some “vintage” Chinese products that have been very good, such as a pair of silk pajamas that I bought over 10 years ago, and that are very well made and still in good condition after much use. Last year, however, I had to throw away a sweater (Made in China) that stretched ridiculously out of shape after one wash. I had a coffee maker (Made in China) that died after making one pot of coffee. I went through 3(!) shower curtain rods (Made in China) in less than a year, as the springs inside kept wearing out and the rods would no longer stay in place. I finally found one *Made in USA*, for only about $3 more than the crappy Chinese ones, and it is holding up well. I would probably be even more incensed if I had young children, as it seems that every few days there is another news story about Chinese made toys covered with lead paint, or Chinese food products contaminated (intentionally!) with melamine.
Melamine? Ick.
Very interesting what you say bout the tone. It is true, it is not hte fact that they are manufactured in this or that country–it is that they choose to use cheaper materials, etc.
Great review Cheryl, I can hardly wait to get my hands on this book. I agree with 50Roses—I’ve always associated the idea of luxury with high quality materials/ingredients/workmanship and rather expect those things to come with a hefty pricetag. Although sometimes I’m disappointed if those things are something I’ll never be able to afford.
I’ve long been offended by the trend to make cheap / shoddy products, slap a designer logo on it and a huge price tag. Thank goodness I’ve never been bitten by the designer bug. Don’t care a bit about labels and artificially created exclusivity is one of my pet peeves. There are a few perfume houses that I have particularly negative feelings about because I feel they do just that.
“Artificially created exclusivity”–that’s well put. That in combination with widespread availability of the logo-iencrusted “entry” products (the more affordable handbags and such)–it is all too much manipulation for me.
I’ve never cared about labels, and when that whole thing started back in the 70’s or 80s where we were wearing jeans emblazoned with the logo on the pocket, I was rebellious and refused. I’ve actually never cared for LV bags because of the logo design on even their most expensive stuff. If there has to be a logo, I don’t care so much if it is discreet. But I don’t need to pay to be a walking billboard. To me, even if it is a costly item, it just looks cheap.
The Louis Vuitton thing is especially amusing because I read an interview about fashion and such once where the person being interviewed said something along the lines of “well, no one would actually carry an LV bag because everyone would think that you were carrying a fake anyway”. I wish that I could remember who it was – probably some socialite.
It does bring up a good point though – luxury is a moving target. The more people who can afford to buy into a line, the less coveted it is and eventually everyone moves on to the next “exclusive”.
Thank you for mentioning this book! I’ve heard about it but didn’t know the title or author, and trying to find a book without knowing either is rather difficult
Must get my hands on it and read it.