Customizing Luxury?

Increasingly technology is being used to encourage the consumption of goods. Over the past couple of years quite a few companies are selling what they define as customisable products. And yes, one might say that in the scheme of things they are. Nike and Levis have been doing it for many years, and more recently luxury brands such as Prada and Louis Vuitton are also cashing in. In an article titled Finding the Luxury in Mass Customisation on http://www.businessoffashion.com (BOF) the author who is not named suggests that 'the rise of a new mode of production called “mass customisation” promises to restore individuality to the product design process'. The author does go on to say that 'these brands offer only light aesthetic customisation'. I am still however not convinced. Although there may be an element of restoring individuality, the companies that currently offer the service still simply provide a product with variations on a theme. At Prada for example you can choose the SS 11 Lace-Up where colour variations are offered - i.e. a different coloured sole of a shoe or different coloured wing tip toe detail. Louis Vuitton do something similar but take it a step further; the customer can select from the product range and choose to have their luggage monogrammed (the monogram is hand painted, so an element of skill is involved) or made up in different materials and colour ways. What is still unclear, to me at least, is how this offers to restore individuality. There may be many options to choose from but they are still the same branded product. Loosing the companies aesthetic would dilute the brand which I am sure is not the intention. The consumer is still left with a very distinct branded product.

BOF do acknowledge the role of the craftsman and their relationship with their client. There is the suggestion that 'an ongoing connection that becomes smarter as the two interact with each other, collaborating to meet the consumer’s needs over time.' However they go on to say that 'luxury is not just about perfectly serving the needs of the client'. If it is not then what is it? Surely the customers needs must be at the forefront of the mind of the craftsman. How else do you build a relationship, a lasting one at that?

I believe that the importance of the role of the maker is not really considered or exploited in today's luxury brand market. It would be impossible for the producers of luxury branded product to meet their clients. Firstly because the consumers are not based in the same place that the product is made and secondly because the maker works on a production line. It would be interesting to have to client going from table to table to meet the person cutting the material, putting in the zip or doing the sewing. Although I am not sure that that would be a luxurious experience.

The customisation tools that exist at the moment are simple and straight forward and maintain the brand position but also reflect the customers own inability to decide when confronted with multiple customisation options. Simple is best as this avoids confusion. Crucial to the notion of mass customisation is that the customer still wants their product to be recognised as belonging to a specific brand.

I am not sure I agree with BOF when they suggest that ' it’s customisation platforms that have the ability to anticipate, and not just cater to, personal tastes in order to surprise consumers, as well as carry out their will, that may present the most potential for luxury fashion brands.' After all real luxury is concerned with satisfying the consumer in a very specific way and it could be argued that contact with the maker is crucial to maintaining the luxury ethos, something that a luxury brand is not really able to do.

What will be interesting is when craftsmen fully adopt technologies to enhance their product offer. The internet will act as a portal not simply to make colour or material changes to existing product but allow the customer to communicate with the maker through social media and even face to face with telephonic services such as SKYPE. The skills of the craftsmen will be continually tested as new technologies and technologically driven materials emerge giving them more freedom to explore, explain and satisfy an increasingly demanding and changing luxury market. The ultimate luxury!

Luxury goods- how can 'luxury' be defined?

I have been following and commenting on a discussion started by Suzannah Cranwell on Luxury & Lifestyle Professionals on linkedin. Loads of people have commented. What has emerged is, I believe, a distinct lack of understanding of what luxury really is in a contemporary global consumer market. A common thread that I do agree with is that the commentators agree that luxury is about rarity, materials, quality, craftsmanship and

connoisseurship. But within some of the comments there seems to be a link to luxury brands. In my view luxury brands do not manufacture luxury goods. Hermes, Chanel, Vuitton and the like manufacture mass produced product that is targeted to a global consumer market. That, in my opinion, is not luxury . There is no denying that luxury brands produce, in the main, better quality products but they are luxury brands and definitely not luxury goods. Luxury brands are about economics and keeping the shareholders happy. Perhaps that is how luxury is defined today. Comments welcome:)