Re-presentation Policies of the Fashion Industry

6Reinvesting, Diverting, Reformulating and Entertaining: The Leisure-form of the Fashion Industry

What is known as commercial luxury fashion is part of a major evolution in the sector leading to what is known as globalized luxury. Its development “leads us into its infernal round, to the point that the focus on the commodity goes so far as to prevent us from even considering the possibility of a reappropriation of what is now assimilated to the monopoly of wealth” (Abélès 2018a, p. 75, author’s translation). This monopoly is illustrated throughout the first part of this work through the corpus mobilized. A closer look at the latter reveals the recurring presence of certain brands and consequently of certain luxury groups. The re-presentational policies submitted for analysis emanate from the strategies of the largest groups in the sector: LVMH, with brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Celine and Le Bon Marché; Kering, with Gucci, Balenciaga and Saint Laurent; the Chanel group, with its homonymous brand. Is this a methodological problem or oligopolistic concentration? While the criteria for selecting the elements of the corpus were based on the identity of the communicating authority – a luxury brand specialized in ready-to-wear, among other things – and on the aim of the communication strategies – appropriation of the field of art and culture, the sacred, the religious and also the political – I quickly found myself faced with a few brands from the most powerful groups in the ...