The Taste by Vir Sanghvi: Why Hermes is now worth more than the whole LV group |
Even if you have no interest in the luxury market, you will have noticed the number of luxury- related posts that are suddenly turning up on Instagram and other social media. Also read | The Taste by Vir Sanghvi: Why it’s time Indian tourists took a second look at Malaysia
Usually the point of a typical luxury post is to push the ‘impossible dream’ aspect of designer goods and to make you lust after things you can’t really afford.
But this time around, the posts are mostly focused on China. The Chinese, it is claimed, are now willing to reveal, in the midst of their trade war with America, how most luxury products are manufactured in China and then exported to the West where fancy designer labels are plastered on them and prices multiply. A bag that cost $200 to make could easily sell at $2500 in US retails stores.
The subtext of the posts is: luxury brands are ripping customers off.
Though it has now broken through to a wider audience the allegation itself is not new. One of the greatest achievements of the luxury industry over the last 30 years has been to make the label more important than the product. Once the luxury companies know that customers are willing to pay for anything that is labelled Louis Vuitton or Gucci,........