The luxury industry once was considered to be recession-proof has taken quite a hit during this economic downturn:
– Louis Vuitton cancels plans for what would have been its largest and most fancy store worldwide Continue reading Luxury in the recession
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Tobias Wong
Tobias Wong is an amazing, conceptual artist who’s work explores the irony of consumerism and has been a great source of inspiration for my thesis project. Through his various products and exhibitions, he has led me to believe that a project where art, design, and conversation coexist makes for a very powerful statement. Here’s a snip-it of his interview with Theme Magazine.
Continue reading Tobias Wong
Packaging Luxury
As a designer, I’m in a field where we pay a lot of attention to designing not only a product but also the package that holds it. For a consumer, opening a package begins their experience with the product. So, sometimes the design of a package can make a product seem even more special. In the luxury business, packaging is extremely important. Many call out the big guns: embosses, die cuts, silk ribbons, tissue paper, Continue reading Packaging Luxury
The Storeroom
I’m a huge fan of Philip Wood. There’s a great balance of art and design in his curatorial work. I’ll be attending the opening night of his newest pop-up shop, The Storeroom.
Interview: Josee Lepage
Based in Montreal and New York, Josee Lepage is a design consultant, independent curator and founder of a namesake firm that specializes in collaborations, special projects and artistic direction in the realm of design.
Her curated pop-up shops have been great inspiration for my project and I was so excited to get an opportunity to speak with her. You can read the interview here.
Obsessive Consumption
This site is where Kate Bingaman-Burt documents everything she consumes. So, what did you buy today?
FLOWmarket
FLOWmarket is a concept store that materializes people’s immaterial needs and makes people think, live and consume with more consciousness. What they sell are concepts–cans of aspiration, self-esteem, and other aspects of humanity. All the products in Flowmarket are reflections of what we need rather than what we can actually purchase. Continue reading FLOWmarket
Richistan
Just finished reading Richistan by Robert Frank. Throughout the book Frank takes the reader on a journey into the American wealth boom and into the world of the New Rich.
Fake
This Fake Bag project by Zinoo Park was presented at the tokyo mart in 2007. The fake bag is a piece of satirical art on fake designer bags and acts as a creative statement against the idolization of brand names and prevalence of knock-offs.
Logo No Logo
Looks like conspicuous consumption is still lurking around the corner(based on an eLuxury question of the day). I find it fascinating that logos which were once thoughtfully stitched into couture are now decorating everything from iphone cases to doggy sweaters. When will this invasion of the logo end? I guess it’ll only end when the habit of conspicuous consumption becomes something of the past. Continue reading Logo No Logo
Target Bodega
Lately, I’ve been really inspired by the pop-up store trend and Target has rolled out a pretty impressive Bullseye Bodega. Even though my project is about luxury I’m also finding inspiration in one-stop shops. I’m hoping to bring these qualities into my project and as result, find a design style where luxury meets Seven Eleven.
Millionaire Fair
The Millionaire Fair as they put it is the “Gateway to the Luxury Lifestyle”. It’s a lavish, lifestyle trade show that “provides every visitor with the richest experience possible, by offering a unique event where exclusivity, timeless class, professionalism and glamour come together and, naturally, can be bought.”
Brand Tags
Brand Tags is a collective experiment in brand perception. The basic idea of the site is that a brand exists entirely in people’s heads. Therefore, a brand is whatever a consumer says it is.
I was curious to see what people said about the Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Burberry brands and most people considered them to be expensive.
Tainted patterns
Interesting collection of stained Louis Vuitton and Burberry patterns.
Hautelook
Much of the joy of luxury shopping has to do with the consumer’s experience in a store environment. In order to survive, I think these e-tailers need to be able to recreate similar experiences in a virtual world. Just came across another luxury online retailer.
Anticounterfeit
When I was in NY doing research for my project, I came across dozens of vendors selling counterfeit luxury products. The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, world’s largest non-profit organization devoted solely to protecting intellectual property and deterring counterfeiting, estimates that up to 7% of today’s global trade (about $6oo billion) is counterfeit. Continue reading Anticounterfeit