Prada flagship store in Omotesando, Tokyo

LONDON, United Kingdom — The scariest news I have recently read about luxury was in Tuesday’s Financial Times. The Japanese, it seems, have stopped buying luxury goods. Luxury imports in Japan were down 10 percent and sales of LVMH in the country were down 18 percent in the first quarter.

And no, it’s not just the recession. “This is not a blip. This is a long-term shift in the market,” Brian Salsberg, the author of a McKinsey report on the Japanese luxury goods market, the world’s second largest, told the Financial Times. This is concrete evidence of a trend first reported on BoF one year ago.

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Danielle Scutt and Roksanda Ilincic, courtesy of Mandi Lennard Publicity

LONDON, United Kingdom — I was surprised to see that a number of big-name sponsors have signed on recently to support the upcoming round of fashion shows.

In London, Henry Holland’s show will be sponsored by Sebastian, makers of hair care products. And Barbie is making an appearance in both New York and London — thanks to the fact that it is her 50th birthday. Mattel, makers of Barbie, have signed a three-year partnership deal with the Council of Fashion Designers of America and become a sponsor of New York Fashion Week while in London they’ve hired Roksanda Ilincic and Danielle Scutt to design dresses for their little dolls and also sponsored their shows. This is notable in a climate where a lot of fashion show sponsorship has simply dried up. … Continue Reading

Stars take to the red carpet, surrounded by paparazzi

LONDON, United Kingdom – According to analysts, we’ve just come through the worst holiday selling season in 40 years.

If that’s not bad enough, Chanel announced that it is laying off 200 people in Paris. Chanel! That surprised everyone I spoke to in the industry. For one thing, Chanel is not masstige — it wasn’t catering to the masses, the part of the market said to be most impacted by the recession. For another thing, it’s French — meaning layoffs have to meet the stiff criteria of French social laws and union rules. And finally, it’s privately held — meaning the company wasn’t under shareholder pressure for short-term results and could therefore take a longer-term perspective. And still, they were compelled to let 200 people go. (The employees laid off were on fixed-term or temporary contracts.)

It seems we’ve got an unmitigated disaster on our hands. … Continue Reading

Prada S/S 2009 campaign photographed by Hedi Slimane, courtesy of Prada

LONDON, United Kingdom — At the Luxury Briefing Conference held in London last month, Claire Kent, former Morgan Stanley analyst and current luxury goods consultant, spelled out her thoughts for the future of luxury.

“Regardless of the credit crunch there was growing fatigue about luxury brands,” she said. “People want a redefinition of luxury. People don’t want to be buying the same brands as the people they have working for them.”

So, what are the key elements of the new luxury?

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