deluxe: how luxury lost it's luster

Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster

Well this book has been out for awhile now, but I just got around to reading it. Nothing in it is truly shocking, but rather it's more of an account to how the luxury business has changed. Luxury used to be about quality, craftsmanship and was only available in limited quantities. Now luxury has gone mass- it's in every shopping mall and airport. There are few companies left that truly make luxury goods. The rest, (such as Gucci) are money driven corporate machines selling an image of luxury, not real luxury. It's terrible how many of these brands are producing more and more of their goods in China and other less developed nations. The way I see it, just about everything we buy these days in already made in China, so if I were to shell out a huge amount of money for a 'luxury' item, it would expect it to be made in Italy, France, etc. And even worse, many of these companies are not honest about where the goods are made. They often slap a 'Made in Italy' label on something that was made in China and only the final assembly was done in Italy. Although I don't often buy luxury goods, I spend about six months a year in China for my job. I have toured countless factories and I have seen first-hand the poor quality, child-labor and damage to the environment that often takes place here. Not all factories operate in this way, but in my mind, luxury brands to not belong here.