Is It Luxury or Premium? Let’s Talk About It
Luxury, the term is not only overused but misused. Once on a fashion panel, an audience member mentioned that they had a luxury brand and proceeded to spend the next three minutes talking about their custom jean designs. I then asked them, “so what makes your brand luxury?” The response? “My jeans cost $600 a pair”. I said: that doesn’t make them luxury, that just makes them high-priced. They laughed and disagreed. Unfortunately, they weren’t alone in their assertions. Has the current luxury industry devalued the word?
WHAT IS PREMIUM?
Many of the brands people call luxury now aren’t actually luxury, they’re premium. Somehow, premium and luxury have become interchangeable rather than what they actually are—mutually exclusive.
Premium is about the “value add”. Think of any service which often has tiers where you’re essentially “super-sizing” your purchase for maximum value. Let’s take a look at an airline like Air France — premium economy, business class and La Première. In premium economy you get more legroom and you’re ahead of economy during the boarding process. Business class is the high-priced option with more bang for your buck. You get priority boarding, two checked bags, sky lounge access, lie-flat bed, and a gourmet menu onboard. Believe it or not, that’s what premium is, more amenities to justify a higher price tag.
SUPER PREMIUM IS A THING
Not premium yet not quite luxury. Yes, super premium is a thing. This is where La Première on Air France comes into play. You’re on the same commercial liner but you’ve been bumped up to the top-tier. This is where people conflate luxury with the upgrade. You know the lingo, all the amenities of packages number one and two, plus Michelin-starred gourmet dining, tarmac chauffeur transfer service, VIP lounge with spa treatments, etcetera, etcetera. Sound familiar?
DON’T BE FOOLED BY THE PEDIGREE - MONEY DOESN’T BUY CLASS
Gucci may be a heritage brand but operates as though it is in the premium to super-premium range. We can throw Louis Vuitton into the mix on this as well. But it’s not the brand itself, it’s the modern business model of “mass luxury” aimed at keeping the corporate shareholders happy and their pockets fat. The moment a luxury brand starts chasing the audience, it’s officially become a premium brand.
THEN, WHAT IS LUXURY?
We’ve talked about premium but let’s talk about what luxury isn’t — an elegant logo and products in the high three digits. It isn’t even really about scarcity and exclusivity.
While craftsmanship is important, true luxury has no reason to exist. It is frivolous and “spendy”. It doesn’t cater to the customer’s wishes but is purely hedonistic at a price that exceeds its functional value. This is why luxury is like flying a private jet. Think about how some people complain about how wasteful it is. Case in point, flying a Gulfstream jet from Miami to New York City just to have lunch at Gramercy Tavern and be back home by dinner time. It’s all about the experience. That’s luxury. The product is the vessel through which that experience is delivered — the Gulfstream is the vessel; the raison d'être is the destination. In other words, the products are merely a footnote. Whether it is convenience or emotional ecstasy, the feeling is what people seeking luxury are really after.
SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Scarcity, exclusivity and craftsmanship are elements of luxury, not the main ingredient. We see on a daily basis the elevation of ordinary things and how they can become seemingly basic yet pleasurable experiences. Dior Café anyone? I mean, what’s the big to-do about coffee and desserts? Yet, when you go to Pierre Hermé secretly nestled along a cobblestone walkway in the 7th arrondissement, a trip for a box of macarons is suddenly transformed into a sensory experience.
