This week, The Economist picked up on a theme that we have written about in the past, the psychological effect of counterfeit luxury, and in an article called Rose-coloured Spectacles it reports on some U.S. research by Dr. Francesca Gino around the relationship between behaviour around counterfeit luxury sunglasses…
“Dr Gino and her colleagues provided a [...]
The relationship between tattoo culture and luxury fashion has been growing stronger over recent years; helped, in part, by magazines such as Sang Bleu, which have brought a new aesthetic understanding of tattooes into the mainstream.
While the impressively ambitious Sang Bleu goes from strength to strength, tattoo culture is evolving from a tactical relationship with [...]
Image (C): GapingVoid
An old article – recently highlighted on the ever-inspiring Social Fiction site – traces affluent society back to hunter culture; and outlines various global tribal cultures which prioritized three hour days, and a cultivation of leisure over work, and which had a decidedly consumption-oriented attitude to the world around them.
Read the full article on Eco [...]
The perfume category often operates on a strategy of launching a product first, and asking questions later. It can be a slightly messy process where new products cannibalize existing ones, where new products don’t properly connect to consumer needs, and where a 10% success rate for a new perfume brand is considered a success.
Many perfumes [...]
In 1908, Henri L Joly published a book called Legend in Japanese art, a masterful survey of the legends, historical episodes, and folk tales often represented in Japanese prints, sword fittings, metalwork, netsuke, and other art objects.
It was reprinted in the 1960s, but has become extremely hard to find. Now out of copyright, we managed [...]
Romaine Jerome is a watch brand which pioneered the idea of packing luxury brands with rare, and iconic, material; such as bits of the Titanic, and moon dust. The aim of the resulting ‘DNA’ series is to “illustrate the legends of our time and the mythologies that will forge the memory of the 21st century.”
There [...]
We are often asked to help luxury brands understand the role of fetish and sexuality; and how to better deploy these themes in their brand. Our research shows big opportunity for luxury brands to engage at a much deeper level. Some of the most important parts of the research have been with Vekquin, an inspired [...]
The blog is on hold this week… We’re in California researching cult membership… Back on Monday…