It feels like all these brands have forgotten that the ultimate luxury is scarcity. Oversaturating people's feed with their bags doesn't give the idea of exclusivity. It is so funny to see these very French brands take that route and observing they all belong to conglomerates. Smaller French luxury brands, whatever the category, thrive right now rightly because they don't want to be everything to everybody which unfortunately is the case for LV, Dior et al.
I agree! I feel like Miu Miu and Loewe are doing a good job of striking that balance (and with building relationships/community with their tight group of ambassadors) and that's a big factor in why they're doing so well.
I think Miu Miu and Loewe are really specific cases. Both brands tap into a customer that is more arty and really like to play with their clothes rather than looking trendy or signaling their class - which I feel is the case for customers who buy LV, Dior, Balenciaga, etc. They are cultural AND fashion brand, and rightly because they are that way the community they attract people reflecting their values really well. I was going to say such strategy was only possible because they weren't part of a conglomerate, until I remember Loewe belonged to LVMH 😅🥲.
Really interesting insights! I’m also tracking the impact on the resale value of the vintage versions. So far I’ve seen what I expected, a huge spike with the anticipation of the re-release, and now a regression back to the average.
My "holy grail" fashion item is the cherry LV x Murakami bag so I've been watching resale prices for a couple years, too! Hopefully one day they will become semi-affordable again... :)
This is the exact reason I think that the Bottega hype died. I saw so many gifted thatch heels and pouches that it made me see them as ubiquitous and undesirable. Now, they’re all languishing on resale sites for a fraction of their exorbitant original price. Personally, I prefer the more unusual and rare styles, often vintage. I think they say more about your personal style - which thankfully people appear to be moving more towards rather than manufactured micro trends!
I agree! The thing that did it for me with Bottega was the flood of dupes after it got so popular, fake Andiamos all over my neighborhood last summer made me not want one anymore.
Doesn’t appear that any desire for the Murakami multicolor collection was killed by anyone being gifted the bag. Just a bunch of ppl upset that they could not get what they wanted from the collection or that THEY were not sent a gift. Although fraught with issues, that release has been an unequivocal success.
I did not say it wasn't a success! I even saw shoppers lined up outside of the Soho store on release day. It's definitely a unique case because of its limited-edition nature, but most items that are widely gifted by brands throughout the year are not.
It feels like all these brands have forgotten that the ultimate luxury is scarcity. Oversaturating people's feed with their bags doesn't give the idea of exclusivity. It is so funny to see these very French brands take that route and observing they all belong to conglomerates. Smaller French luxury brands, whatever the category, thrive right now rightly because they don't want to be everything to everybody which unfortunately is the case for LV, Dior et al.
I agree! I feel like Miu Miu and Loewe are doing a good job of striking that balance (and with building relationships/community with their tight group of ambassadors) and that's a big factor in why they're doing so well.
I think Miu Miu and Loewe are really specific cases. Both brands tap into a customer that is more arty and really like to play with their clothes rather than looking trendy or signaling their class - which I feel is the case for customers who buy LV, Dior, Balenciaga, etc. They are cultural AND fashion brand, and rightly because they are that way the community they attract people reflecting their values really well. I was going to say such strategy was only possible because they weren't part of a conglomerate, until I remember Loewe belonged to LVMH 😅🥲.
Honestly very excited to see what Jack and Lazaro will do there! Also which of their very cool friends will be new ambassadors...
Really interesting insights! I’m also tracking the impact on the resale value of the vintage versions. So far I’ve seen what I expected, a huge spike with the anticipation of the re-release, and now a regression back to the average.
My "holy grail" fashion item is the cherry LV x Murakami bag so I've been watching resale prices for a couple years, too! Hopefully one day they will become semi-affordable again... :)
In some ways, the price of the re-editions makes the vintage look like a deal again! 😅 sending you good vibes for your dream 🍒
Interesting insight! Did you happen to write about? I’d love to read more.
Thank you for reading! I've only written about this once before, several years ago, but if you'd like to read it here's the link: https://fashionista.com/2018/07/instagram-influencer-marketing-brand-gifting-backlash
Maybe I can do more on this topic here on Substack since interest seems to be high!
I would love to read it!
Hi Irene! I did a piece on the market for vintage LV x Murakami in the context of the re-edition if you’re interested: https://open.substack.com/pub/prelovedpod/p/lv-murakami-reedition-vintage?r=3r6ct&utm_medium=ios
This is the exact reason I think that the Bottega hype died. I saw so many gifted thatch heels and pouches that it made me see them as ubiquitous and undesirable. Now, they’re all languishing on resale sites for a fraction of their exorbitant original price. Personally, I prefer the more unusual and rare styles, often vintage. I think they say more about your personal style - which thankfully people appear to be moving more towards rather than manufactured micro trends!
I agree! The thing that did it for me with Bottega was the flood of dupes after it got so popular, fake Andiamos all over my neighborhood last summer made me not want one anymore.
It's all so transparent. Especially when the price has jumped 367% since the original bag launched in 2003!
can't wait to see the resale price when this batch inevitably hits secondhand stores/sites in a couple of years :)
Doesn’t appear that any desire for the Murakami multicolor collection was killed by anyone being gifted the bag. Just a bunch of ppl upset that they could not get what they wanted from the collection or that THEY were not sent a gift. Although fraught with issues, that release has been an unequivocal success.
I did not say it wasn't a success! I even saw shoppers lined up outside of the Soho store on release day. It's definitely a unique case because of its limited-edition nature, but most items that are widely gifted by brands throughout the year are not.