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!

‘Sale’ into a luxury brand

And so the luxury story continues. Come to think of it, it is not really a luxury story at all rather a luxury brand fairytale. The whole fashion cycle is becoming so boring. The stuff is more expensive than ever. I can’t believe anyone would pay full price for any of it and as the sales start earlier and earlier there is no real need. And so the sales begin.

Not content with selling their wares in airport shopping malls or discount outlets you can buy discounted luxury brands online. Forget paying full price at Net A Porter or the brands own websites. Don’t even bother going to the stores. Try all year round discounted goods at brandalley, cocosa or secretstyle. If you fancy a pair of Gucci or Dior shoes, a Fendy bag or Stephen Webster jewellery, they have it all. Despite Gucci telling us through their advertising that all the goods are beautifully made by men in white coats in a hazy workshop, the reality is that the goods are still mass produced, probably somewhere other than in Italy, and are not luxury at all. The days of the consumer respecting the artisan are long gone. Talented designers, makers and innovators are replaced by formulas that guarantee sales.

What is frustrating is that the consumer is none the wiser. What do they care if their jacket, jumper, skirt or bag is one of thousands. What they do care about is that it has a logo. To them the logo says luxury. And in reality that is all that matters, to the consumer and the retailer.

What strikes me as odd is that the luxury brand retailers spend millions of Dollars trying to protect the brand image but care little for where the product is actually sold. Why sell a £1000.00 handbag on a website that also sells Calvin Klein swimming trunks for a fiver? Even worse why sell a £1000.00 bag on a website that sells a Woodland Leather (who are they?) jacket for £150.00? What about protecting a brand when it needs it most? Shifting product is the aim of the game. To be honest a sale is a sale no matter where it happens so long as the product sells.