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:)