The Road to Luxury

Chapter 13Emerging Markets and Emerging Market Luxury Brands

As the twenty-first century approached, the luxury industry was experiencing a transition. Shunning its traditional family-oriented business model, luxury businesses were reinventing themselves as corporate houses, keen on spreading their tentacles to the rest of the untapped globe. The race for increasing profit margins became more and more competitive. Creativity was ushered in to boost profitability. Access products were pushed to attract those with lower reservation prices. In short, the luxury industry underwent democratization. As the desire to accumulate more brands was growing in the hearts of the luxury conglomerates, a similar desire was growing in the hearts of prosperous Asians. This new generation of Asians had stopped feeling guilty about spending their parents' hard-earned money.

Also, as traditional haute couture ran out of steam, it was no news to anyone that the new consumers of luxury were younger. They neither had the excess cash to spend on haute couture, nor was it in line with their fashion requirements. Thus, large luxury houses began providing youth with accessible products, which included ready-to-wear items and accessories. Licensing was the new way of entering untapped markets. Many brands, such as Pierre Cardin, lent their name to items ranging from chocolate bars to frying pans. However, many licensees did not invest enough in marketing, thereby diluting their brand name. Thus, these brands ...