Luxury vs. Quality

Luxury and Quality are not always synonymous, I’m reminded of the early days of designer frames when American Optical had Oscar De La Renta under contract and produced a line of frames under that famous nameplate. I asked an AO frame guy, “Did Oscar actually design these?” and the answer was, “He might have walked through the parking lot in Southbridge once.” The frames, though nice – were no different in construction or material than the regular AO line of frames albeit with a fancy logo on the temple.

My point is quality – and AO frames were of the highest quality - is not always the same as luxury.

One interesting trend concerning designer label products is that although in the past they have been regarded as elitist and generally the province of the rich and wealthy, the deep recession that started to bite in the United States in 2008 saw thousands of women's designer label fashion items making their way into recycle stores online. Labels like Ralph Lauren, Zac Posen and Chanel were now affordable to the general population. Some labels that have sold in leading retail stores for thousands of dollars could now be bought for hundreds of dollars.

An additional business trend within the 'designer label' industry has seen the general accessibility of the brands increase through increased affordability. This creates a paradox for the labels in question: By reducing their prices and increasing their market size, they increase their profit and customer base. 

However, in doing so, they alienate their extremely affluent customers who appreciate the social status accorded to them by the designer brands. This causes many of the more affluent customers to continually seek out new brands and rely less on those that are excessively commercialized - thus eventually leading to new designer brands. The rise of the internet has provided customers access to designers and brands that they would have otherwise not known about through online commerce, for example through sites such as Boticca.com or Amazon.com.

We have seen this in our store where discriminating clients forego the more common designer names and are eager to hear of new finds unearthed on our buying trips.
These may be the people that the French semiotician Baudrillard was especially interested in. He stated that, “the cultural mystique added to objects by advertising, which encourages consumers to purchase them as aids to the construction of their personal identity.”

We sell Quality and Luxury. Our luxe products are of first line quality and all of our offerings meet stringent quality standards whether luxurious or not.

An example is a comparison between Tifosi and Mont Blanc sunglasses. The Tifosi is 1/5th of the price of the MB, however they both have great quality. The product features of the MB make it worth the extra money – (Heavy duty gold plated frame, carbon fiber temples – incredible optics) things that can’t be duplicated at a lower price. When you look closely at both the differences are apparent.

An Amadeus frame compared to a Morel product from France shows the effect of clever design combined with great materials and yet the Amadeus remains a great value though 1/3rd the cost.

To paraphrase the words of British Conservative Party Leader David Cameron:
“It’s not just about the quantity of money, but the quality of life”.