<![CDATA[Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster]]>

false <![CDATA[Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1187714184m/222328.jpg 222328 7 A hard-hitting behind-the-scenes look at the luxury fashion industry today There was a time when luxury was available only to the rarefied and aristocratic world of old money and royalty. Luxury wasn't simply a product, it was a lifestyle, one that denoted a history of tradition, superior quality and offered a pampered buying experience. Today's luxury marketplace would be virtually unrecognizable to its founders. Gone are the family-owned businesses dedicated to integrity and quality; the industry is now run by multi-billion dollar global corporations focused on growth, visibility, brand-awareness, advertising and above all, profits. Handcrafted goods are practically extinct, and almost all manufacturing has been outsourced to large factories in such places as China, where your expensive brand-name handbag is being assembled right next to one from a mass-market label that will cost substantially less. Dana Thomas, a journalist who has covered style and the luxury business for The Washington Post, Newsweek and The New York Times Magazine from Paris for the past fifteen years, digs deep into the dark side of the luxury industry to uncover all the secrets that Prada, Gucci and Burberry don't want us to know. Traveling from the laboratories in Grasse, where the ingredients for Christian Dior and Prada perfumes are produced, to the crowded factories in China, where workers glue together "Made in Italy" bags by the thousands, Thomas explores the whole of today's high-end shopping experience to answer some pressing questions: What is the new definition of luxury when advertising for this lifestyle is targeted mainly toward the mass market? What are we paying for when quality has given way to quantity? Can integrity survive in a corporate culture driven to meet regular growth and profit projections? Is luxury still the best that money can buy? Thomas has traveled all over the world to interview corporate heads and factory workers, old-money, old-luxury clients and new luxury-obsessed middle-market consumers, and she paints a surprising picture of today's New Luxury. With Deluxe, she delivers a fast-paced, uncompromising look at the real world behind the glossy magazines and red carpet couture and asks: How did luxury lose its luster? 215314 16 8 2007 Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster total:449|5:82|4:181|3:144|2:29|1:13| 449 1637 785 130 1 5 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 18 18:33:14 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 18 18:42:30 -0800 2008
"I see where you're going with this: luxury companies have gone mass and along the way forgotten their original mission, which was to provide the rich with truly exceptional products."
The ...more...]]> 4 3 false false Mon Aug 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 20 17:39:12 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 25 11:40:30 -0700 2008
I confess, I know barely anything about the world of high fashion, and so of course especi...more...]]> 4 3 false false Tue Jan 01 10:15:53 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 01 10:27:53 -0800 2008 Ten Things I can now argue for/against:
1. Hermes bags, luggage, and scarves (for)
2. Chanel No. 5 (for)
3. fake handbags ...more...]]> 4 3 false false Sat Jan 19 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 01 20:15:21 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 01 20:16:26 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 10 18:45:55 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 10 18:59:18 -0800 2007 But, on the plus side, the author was very factual about what was going on in the world of luxury. I didn't feel that it had a overwhelming biased bent. I thought she would point out re...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Aug 15 22:05:46 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 16 09:27:19 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Feb 05 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 11:22:08 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 11:51:48 -0800 2008
Geography: There is just enough backstory for the fashion-addled with ADD: the politics behind the rise of China as a ma...more...]]> 2 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 31 20:27:33 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 31 20:28:10 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Dec 03 17:28:59 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 03 18:13:49 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 15 20:09:56 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 15 19:01:15 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jan 30 13:02:08 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 13:02:19 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Oct 24 09:07:22 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 19 10:57:35 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 24 09:05:52 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Feb 26 14:25:35 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 20 09:13:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 23:30:02 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 04 12:11:06 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 01 23:30:02 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 24 14:29:01 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 04 22:00:17 -0700 2007 1 1 false false Fri Dec 28 14:02:38 -0800 2007 Fri Dec 28 14:13:13 -0800 2007 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 01:19:34 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 13 02:06:34 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 true false Fri Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 17:39:58 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 05 19:16:24 -0700 2008
This book is an informative look into the history of the "luxury" houses. ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Aug 21 23:30:01 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 21 23:55:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 23 22:40:53 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 11 17:39:22 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=222328