‘If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.’
There’s some truth to that overused maxim: What’s expensive to me may be mere pocket change to you. Yet we all want value for our money. Luxury goods are supposed to be far more than expensive: They should offer the best materials, workmanship and style that money can buy. That’s value, for those who can afford it.
Yet many luxury goods have devolved into branding exercises. Nylon or canvas handbags with big logos have replaced many finely worked luxury leather bags, for instance, though these logo bags still sell for luxury prices – much of the price paying for the marketing to establish the logo. And we’ve all gnashed our teeth after buying an expensive item of clothing that quickly fell apart, went out of style, or simply looked worse in the true light of day.
Spending money is no guarantee. If only it were easier to consistently find and identify artfully-designed, well-made clothes and accessories. I recently experienced this with a well-made but not-trendy suit, about which I wrote in my On Style column this week. That suit cost a lot, but turned out to be priceless.
Do you own clothes, bags, shoes or other accessories that have turned out to be truly priceless? What is it about certain suits, shoes, bags and other products that make them real luxury, as opposed to just very darned expensive? Please weigh in!
– Christina Binkley
Born in Rio de Janeiro, now in Amsterdam, graduated at the Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona) and the Radboud University (Nijmegen) with degrees in Marketing Science and Branding. Alfredo is a citizen of the world and a product of pragmatism. He is a consumer, a marketer, a business strategist and a full-time student. Alfredo travels, listens to stories and shares them, loves music and reads all that comes in his path.
Alfredo is the co-founder of Klatergoud, a freelance marketing & communication consultant and co-founder/owner of Fromanteel watches. His main interests are branding, creative communication, (luxury) marketing strategy and entrepreneurship.