On my way back from Florida to Columbus I was in dire need of reading material to pass the 4 hour journey without suffering of boredom. Usually I’d be picking up a car magazine, one on the newest tech gadgets or even a celebrity trash pamphlet. This time however, the Fortune magazine caught my attention. The cover boasted stories on Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs and the Brooks Brothers. Working in the field that I do, I couldn’t possibly pass that up.
While the articles on Lauren and Jacobs were equally interesting and educative, it was an article titled Mass vs. Class that I found to be the best read. Basically, the article by Peter Gumbel discusses the accessibility of luxury to the masses, traditional fashion brands breaching out to the lower cost markets and its naysayers. I’ve scanned and uploaded the article in PDF form here (right-click, Save As…), I apologize for the lousy quality of the scan ahead of time. Do yourself a favor though and pick up a hard copy of the magazine, it is well worth it.
I would like to encourage a weekend debate. What is your opinion on the matter? Has the perception of luxury become dilated in recent years? Do you feel like your pricey designer items have become banal?
