Europe is currently the biggest market for
luxury goods, capturing 40 per cent of the
market, but Japan alone accounts for 25 per
cent and China for 5 per cent. In the last five
years or so, many of the large fashion houses
have been fretting over their future. This is due
to a combination of a changing market
structure, a series of world-events and Japan’s
economic slow-down upon which the luxury
market is truly dependent. One of the most
crucial factors affecting the world of luxury is
the changing landscape of the fashion market
and consumers. The meaning of luxury is
changing as personal disposable income rises.
To illustrate the point better let us rewind to
the fashion landscape of the 1980s. The culture
of the decade was one associated with materialistic
pursuit. In the fashion industries this
meant emphasis on status symbols (eg wearing
designer labels). Although there was a variety of
styles and anti-styles, the dominant look took
its cue from Dynasty and Dallas; big logos, big
hair, gold, glamour and glitz. ‘Luxury now’ is
not a repeat of the mega-logo-mania of the
1980s when brands were bought solely for the
status that was attached to them.
Figure 1 shows that when consumers are
asked about which elements constituted their
best description of everyday luxury, only a
minority of Europeans (17 per cent) in nine
countries surveyed, said that everyday luxury to
them to is ‘wearing designer clothes’.
This is a reflection of mature Western
countries that have higher purchasing power,
whereas consumers in Eastern Europe aspire to
wealth, so ‘wearing designer clothing’ is more
important. In many senses, rising affluence,
social mobility, the diversification of retail
brands and consumer empowerment have all
helped to democratise luxury, making it a key
attribute of many brand propositions. Luxury,
both in concept and in brand, used to be the
preserve of so-called ‘high net worth individuals. yanzic0527.
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