- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Allen Lane (30 Aug 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0713998237
- ISBN-13: 978-0713998238
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.5 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 257,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Sunday Times
'Fearless...What this book does is redress the balance in favour of the consumer'
Product Description
Once upon a time, luxury was only available to the rarefied and aristocratic world of old money and royalty; luxury wasn’t simply a product, it was a lifestyle. It denoted a history of tradition, superior quality and a pampered buying experience. Today’s luxury marketplace would be virtually unrecognizable to the old-world elite. Gone are the family-owned businesses that were dedicated to integrity and quality; the industry is now run by massive corporations that focus only on growth, visibility, brand-awareness, advertising and above all, profits. Quality has long since been replaced by quantity, and almost all of the manufacturing has been outsourced to large factories in places like China, where your expensive luxury brand handbag is being put together right next to a one from a mass-market label that costs substantially less.
Dana Thomas has dug deep into the dark side of the luxury industry, finding out all the secrets that Prada, Gucci and Burberry don’t want you to know.
She visits the last bastion of old-world luxury—Hermès, which is still based in France, where old-fashioned highly skilled artisans still make their coveted Kelly and Birkin bags by hand. But most of its competitors in the luxury fashion business have outsourced; they’ve gone corporate, they’ve gone large scale. Thomas takes us right into the action, from the scent factories in Grasse that manufacture Christian Dior and Prada perfumes, to the crowded factories in China, full of workers gluing together “Made in Italy” bags by the thousands.
Thomas goes from duty-free luxury emporiums in Hawaii, packed with tourists clamoring for discounts on their favorite luxury brands, to Japan, the most luxury brand-conscious society in the world. She takes us behind the scenes in the weeks leading up to the Oscars to witness the wheeling and dealing of luxury brands to dress stars for the red carpet. She meets middle-class Midwesterners who spend their entire paychecks on Louis Vuitton bags and Japanese collectors who enshrine hundreds of coveted Hermès and Gucci items in their tiny Tokyo apartments. Thomas has interviewed corporate heads and factory workers, the old-money, old-luxury clients and the new luxury-obsessed middle-class consumer in order to paint a surprising picture of “New Luxury” today.
Deluxe is an uncompromising and rollicking read about the real world behind the glossy spreads in magazines and fantastic dresses on the red carpet. What is the new definition of luxury when the advertising for the luxury lifestyle is targeted mainly towards the middle-class masses? What are we paying for when quality is no longer quality? How did luxury lose its luster?
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This comprehensive look at the luxury industry is a fascinating read that looks behind the scenes at the worlds of high fashion, designer perfumes and other luxury goods. If you ever read "The Fashion Conspiracy" by Nicholas Coleridge, this covers similar (but broader) territory. Dana Thomas has travelled extensively and clearly knows the industry well. She is also a gifted writer who can skillfully use anecdotes to bring well known figures to life, eg: Bernard Arnault of LVMH who has no hesitation in screwing over family friends to get ahead and who is so secretive that his own secretary didn't know when his wife had a baby, stylist Jessica Paster screaming at and threatening designers during Oscar week, Georgio Armani giving his mother style advice at the age of 12.
Although I very much enjoyed reading "Deluxe", it wasn't one of those books that you can't put down. It felt like I was reading a series of well-written articles in Vanity Fair rather than a book with a continuous narrative. It does contain some photographs, but I wish there had been a lot more. I wanted to see all these people who she was describing and understand what the products that she was talking about looked like. I also felt that the book could have been about 50 pages shorter - sometimes she didn't need to tell us absolutely everything about a given topic!
Halfway through reading this book I picked up the latest issue of Vogue magazine and looked through the advertisements. It was an interesting exercise and there is no question that I viewed them quite differently. Dana Thomas also talks about the evolutions in the retail and manufacturing industries that have contributed to the growth and improved profitability of the luxury goods industries. It's a very comprehensive and interesting book which I recommend to anyone who has an interest in fashion.
Although I very much enjoyed reading "Deluxe", it wasn't one of those books that you can't put down. It felt like I was reading a series of well-written articles in Vanity Fair rather than a book with a continuous narrative. It does contain some photographs, but I wish there had been a lot more. I wanted to see all these people who she was describing and understand what the products that she was talking about looked like. I also felt that the book could have been about 50 pages shorter - sometimes she didn't need to tell us absolutely everything about a given topic!
Halfway through reading this book I picked up the latest issue of Vogue magazine and looked through the advertisements. It was an interesting exercise and there is no question that I viewed them quite differently. Dana Thomas also talks about the evolutions in the retail and manufacturing industries that have contributed to the growth and improved profitability of the luxury goods industries. It's a very comprehensive and interesting book which I recommend to anyone who has an interest in fashion.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you like behind-the-scenes books about privilege, luxury, greed, and lust for status, you've come to the right book. Ms. Thomas has a remarkable knowledge of luxury goods which she combines with an insatiable curiosity about everything related to luxuries. She's a keen observer who relates her tours of the highways, byways, and back roads of fashion so vividly you'll think you are part of the scene.
I was delighted to see that Deluxe was a perfect balance of the origins of luxury (as enjoyed by royalty), the methods by which luxury has been and is produced, how the major luxury goods houses got started and evolved, and the trends that dominate today and tomorrow. If there's some part of the book you don't like, you'll soon be into a part that you will like.
I had only one reservation about the book: Ms. Thomas doesn't seem to appreciate the benefits that upscale goods provide for middle class people. She seems to resent that the money made in serving the middle class has led many luxury firms to ignore those with the most elevated taste and money. I don't blame her for resenting that, since she knows that world well. But it does seem to me that having tens of millions enjoy life a bit more is hardly a bad thing.
You'll learn lots about perfume, hand bags, luggage, backpacks, scarves, knits, and dresses. You'll learn even more about those who make fashion succeed. It's a fun ride!
I was delighted to see that Deluxe was a perfect balance of the origins of luxury (as enjoyed by royalty), the methods by which luxury has been and is produced, how the major luxury goods houses got started and evolved, and the trends that dominate today and tomorrow. If there's some part of the book you don't like, you'll soon be into a part that you will like.
I had only one reservation about the book: Ms. Thomas doesn't seem to appreciate the benefits that upscale goods provide for middle class people. She seems to resent that the money made in serving the middle class has led many luxury firms to ignore those with the most elevated taste and money. I don't blame her for resenting that, since she knows that world well. But it does seem to me that having tens of millions enjoy life a bit more is hardly a bad thing.
You'll learn lots about perfume, hand bags, luggage, backpacks, scarves, knits, and dresses. You'll learn even more about those who make fashion succeed. It's a fun ride!
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I devoured this book in two days flat - it was a really interesting read, and very well and smoothly written. Full of FMR moments, especially concerning money, it also makes you shockingly aware of what completely dislocated lives some of the super rich must lead - a long way from those of us who worry about the utility bills every winter. It also makes me personally more allergic to brands and to advertising than ever before (festooning yourself with logos is something I've always found deeply vulgar). A must-read for anyone interested in fashion, branding, marketing or business, or who just has a bull---t detector. It loses one star for the godawful proof-reading - really, peeps, I know this was punted out to a deadline, but get a good sub on it for heaven's sake...
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Compelling subject, outstanding writing.
I found this book to be a fascinating read, that I could hardly bear to put down. Dana Thomas takes the reader behind the spin and marketing, lifting the curtain on the realities... Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2008 by B. Heinze
not bad, but drags a bit in the middle
the author is obviously somewhat part of the 'aspirational luxury consumers' (she mentions her designer items she has bought throughout the book), but that's alright. Read more
Published on 25 Nov 2007 by M. May
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