Luxury is Dead.

Luxury is dead.

Perhaps that's a bit of a harsh statement.

But isn't that how things are done today?

Either you are extreme or you are nothing.

And that's why I believe luxury is dead.

Dealing with the luxury sector in marketing is like the biggest headache imaginable: there's nothing more frustrating and irritating than trying to navigate the preconceived notions and boxes that the luxury world has created over the years.

Innovation isn't really an option: if you're an innovator, for some bizarre unwritten law since the dawn of time, you can't be considered Luxury.

Take Loewe, for instance. Do you really see it as Luxury?

No, right?

Have you ever wondered why?

Well, because it innovates, because it doesn't adhere to the closed standards that the luxury world upholds. For those who truly understand Luxury as a certain type of elitism, Loewe is almost blasphemous. Because there's some sort of switch in the minds of the 'true wealthy' that makes them think, 'If I spend all this money on these huge billboards, these breathtaking campaigns, then at least half of what I pay isn't going towards the quality of my product but rather the advertising that makes me believe it is.

At the same time, there are the 'new rich' who buy that Loewe shirt just because it costs so much. Just because they need to showcase their social status through that shirt.

Or that bag.

Or those shoes.

Or that car.

We find ourselves at a crossroads because on one hand, it's true that the money spent on product quality has somehow decreased, because marketing costs. And I think we've all come to terms with that by now.

On the other hand, we are in a world where the middle class no longer exists, feeling the urge to showcase their moral, cultural, and monetary superiority through those classic middle-class brands.

So, in a somewhat blurred moment in history, high fashion and middle-class brands somehow merged, leading to the emergence of concepts like: Sustainable Luxury or even Accessible Luxury.

I wonder, when we "invented" these terms, did we really ask ourselves what Luxury truly means?

Luxury, by its very definition, cannot be anything but sustainable: a Grace Kelly bag doesn’t just appear and disappear after one or two years of use; a Grace Kelly is yours, then it belongs to your daughter, then to her daughter, and so on, probably forever.

A Grace Kelly CANNOT be Accessible, because if it were, it would just be any ordinary bag. And yet, it isn’t. But if we keep going this way, it might just become so.

In the dreams and aspirations of many women — myself included — there exists this bag, which often equates to the word Success. Or rather, it used to.

Owning a Grace Kelly meant you had reached the highest echelons of an unattainable society; you worked hard and struggled to get there.

And perhaps that was the fun part, right?

After all, it’s the climb that makes the view breathtaking — to quote a highbrow literary work (that is, Hannah Montana).

So, during this climb, various shortcuts emerge that still allow you to enjoy the view.

You choose one. It doesn’t matter which.

You’ve taken your shortcut. In some way, the view isn’t as beautiful anymore.

You made it. Maybe you still worked really hard.

But it feels like cheating.

This isn’t Success anymore.

So, is there a way to be innovative while still remaining Luxury?

Maybe not.

Or perhaps we just haven’t discovered the right way to achieve it yet.