It struck me walking through Harrods, Selfridges, Liberty, Browns, Matches etc. how much stuff they still have on sale. Tonnes of it and all reduced. The savvy shopper doesn’t buy full price anymore when most of the stuff on sale is reduced at some point during the year. All the schmutter money can buy, all reduced and most still unsold is on sale should you want it. But what do the stores do with the stuff once the sales are over? There is talk that some of it is burnt in order to protect the brand. Odd when you think about it because in my mind brand protection is not about pilling high and selling low. It is completely the opposite. There must be mountains, or indeed landfill sites of luxury brand goods somewhere in the world- and I don’t mean at the discount villages on the outskirts of the major cities. And as China now becomes the focus of luxury brand retailers with an estimated growth in profits to something like $14.6 billion by 2015 more stuff will be produced. In reality it does not matter where the stuff goes all that really matters is that we begin to understand that the more that is produced the less of a luxury it really is.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Murano Glass - Carlo Moretti
Finally Selfridges have come to their senses and started selling some decent Murano glass having removed it from the shelves a couple of years ago. Now, once again, you can buy Carlo Moretti and Cenedese in the glass department. Stupidly Harrods has redesigned their glass hall and now focus on the most garish pieces money can buy. They no longer sell Carlo Moretti or Cenedese. All a bit odd how the Buyers decide what to buy or not to buy in this case. One year they all sell it, the next no one sells it, then one sells it again when the other doesn’t. The only decent stuff Harrods now have is by the Czech glass maker Moser. And Moser is amazing, beautifully crafted, superb polishing all in amazing colours with the most fantastic engraving money can buy, should that be your thing. I have pieces by all of the above but thought I would share the Troncono ‘Conical Trunk’ which I bought at Harrods (before they stopped selling Moretti obviously).
On the Carlo Moretti website it says that it is a limited edition of 300. Weird, because I have number 82 / 333.
