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Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster Kindle Edition

by Dana Thomas (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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“With Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, [Dana] Thomas—who has been the cultural and fashion writer for Newsweek in Paris for 12 years—has written a crisp, witty social history that’s as entertaining as it is informative.” —New York Times

From the author of Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes

Once luxury was available only to the rarefied and aristocratic world of old money and royalty. It offered a history of tradition, superior quality, and a pampered buying experience. Today, however, luxury is simply a product packaged and sold by multibillion-dollar global corporations focused on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and, above all, profits. Award-winning journalist Dana Thomas digs deep into the dark side of the luxury industry to uncover all the secrets that Prada, Gucci, and Burberry don't want us to know. Deluxe is an uncompromising look behind the glossy façade that will enthrall anyone interested in fashion, finance, or culture.

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From Publishers Weekly

Newsweek reporter Thomas skillfully narrates European fashion houses' evolution from exclusive ateliers to marketing juggernauts. Telling the story through characters like the French mogul Bernard Arnault, she details how the perfection of old-time manufacturing, still seen in Hermès handbags, has bowed to sweatshops and wild profits on mediocre merchandise. After a brisk history of luxury, Thomas shows why handbags and perfume are as susceptible to globalization and corporate greed as less rarefied industries. She follows the overarching story, parts of which are familiar, from boardrooms to street markets that unload millions in counterfeit goods, dropping irresistible details like a Japanese monk obsessed with Comme des Garçons. But she's no killjoy. If anything, she's fond of the aristocratic past, snarks at "behemoths that churn out perfume like Kraft makes cheese" and is too credulous of fashionistas' towering egos. Despite her grasp of business machinations, her argument that conglomerates have stolen luxury's soul doesn't entirely wash. As her tales of quotidian vs. ultra luxury make clear, the rich and chic can still distinguish themselves, even when Las Vegas hosts the world's ritziest brands. Thomas might have delved deeper into why fashion labels inspire such mania, beyond "selling dreams," but her curiosity is contagious. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Thomas has been the fashion writer for Newsweek in Paris for 12 years and writes about style for the New York Times Magazine and other well-known publications. She traces the origins of luxury from the midnineteenth century, when Louis Vuitton made his first steamer trunks and custom-made clothing was strictly the province of European aristocracy, through the fashion boom of the 1920s, when names such as Dior, Gucci, and Yves Saint Laurent came into prominence, and buyers with expendable income could afford exquisite clothing and perfume. Sadly, today most of the well-known names are owned by multinational groups, and luxury items have become commodities, where buyers crave name brands for what they represent rather than their inherent quality of manufacture and design. Thomas takes us into the streets of New York, where counterfeit items are sold that look so much like the real thing that it takes an expert to tell them apart, to the Guangzhou region in China, where children make knockoff goods under appalling conditions. She manages to remove the veil from the fashion industry with a blend of history, culture, and investigative journalism. Siegfried, David

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000UZPINO
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books (August 16, 2007)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 16, 2007
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1928 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 396 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #378,222 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #24 in Fashion & Textile Industry
- #105 in Fashion & Textile Business
- #364 in Popular Culture

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4.5 572 ratings

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Dana Thomas

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Dana Thomas is the author of Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes, Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano and the New York Times bestseller Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. She began her career writing for the Style section of The Washington Post, and for fifteen years she served as a cultural and fashion correspondent for Newsweek in Paris. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times Style section and has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and Architectural Digest. In 1987, she received the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation’s Ellis Haller Award for Outstanding Achievement in Journalism. In 2016, the French Minister of Culture named Thomas a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters. And in 2017, she was a Logan Nonfiction Fellow at the Carey Institute for Global Good. She lives in Paris.

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AS

Great read

Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2023

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I loved this book: very interesting and bringing you through the history or the birth of lots of the luxury houses. Written incredibly well: not to be missed

One person found this helpful

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Elizabeth Snead

Methodically researched/ Beautifully written

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2007

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Full Disclosure: I write about fashion, entertainment and celebrities for a living and have known Dana Thomas for a decade or more. I knew she was working on a book about luxury (yawn) and for the past three years, she was always exhausted, trotting off to China, Milan, Grasse or Lake Como, sometimes popping into my hood in Hollywood, constantly doing research for the book.

But frankly, I'm not a big designer brand buyer and would sooner plunk $400 on a Pottery Barn couch than a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. So I never imagined how engrossed i would be by this book. In fact, I was shocked.

Dana makes this elitist world come alive by putting luxury in a historical context (Caesar wore only silk togas and the Senate was POed at the expense!) and taking the reader with her on a personal journey behind the scenes and around the world, to find out the sad truth about the decline of the luxury goods industry.

It's utterly fascinating and engrossing. And it's funny! Dana has a wicked snse of humor and pulls no punches in describing the decadent denizens of the "Deluxe" world. Even if you know nothing about fashion, couldn't tell a Gucci bag from a Prada purse, and don't own a single designer knockoff product, this book will fascinate, educate and entertain. Plus any book that can make me put down the last Harry Potter - in the middle! - has to be some kind of good read.

138 people found this helpful

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Linski

Must-read for fashionistas

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2012

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I did no know what to expect when I got this book to my iPad. I like to say Im living my life for fashion, this meaning not just buying a lot of clothes but being interested in fashion also as phenomena and industry. A lot has been written, studied and criticized about the business behind high street brands (H&M, Inditex etc) but luxury goods business and brands have been left somewhat in peace if one does not count in few amateur net articles. At least thats how I feel.

Having said all that, I was very happily surprised about the neutral yet versatile insight in Dana Thomas' book into the luxury business and brands. Thomas's way of approaching the theme from different points of view, through excellent source material (interviews, visits to factories etc) really hooked me on reading this book. I liked very much Thomas's way of presenting luxury good business as one business among the others - ripping off the mythic veil of "exclusivity", she shows how there's similar kind of savings-driven apparatus of marketing, PR and finances behind my Louis Vuitton bag as any other.

Having read the book and knowing now a little better the background and "other faces" of luxury business helped me to consider more carefully my future luxury goods purchases. This book was also for great help in getting me thinking realistically about the brands Im "in love with" and in positioning myself as a consumer. Truly a book that every one calling themselves as "fashionista" sholud read!

2 people found this helpful

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E. Fogg

A great read if you’re over 50

Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2023

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An important book to understand the proliferation of branded stuff in our super-abundant market!

2 people found this helpful

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Alex H

Great Expose On The Decline Of Quality In Lux Goods & The Reason Why!

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2013

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I found DELUXE: HOW LUXURY LOST ITS LUSTER by Dana Thomas from a suggestion that someone made on the purse forum. The thread had to do with brand name bags and the noticeable decline in quality, yet prices are on the rise.

This book is FASCINATING! Thomas has access to all the major players in fashion and provides details on how some of the most iconic brands got their start. Names like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Versace etc., and how they have evolved into today.

Many of these brands started out very small with lots of attention paid to detail and quality. Only the most richest people of society could afford some of these brands until there was a marketing explosion during the 80s and 90s in which most of these brands were bought out by corporations.

Anyway, that's when the decline started happening and some of these brand names actually have stuff produced and made in China, but assembled in Italy or France so that they can still carry the "made in Italy or France" label.

It's really interesting how Thomas traces these brand names from their respective family owned businesses to when they were bought out by corporations.

She also discusses the issues of buying fake bags and counterfeit goods. Many think that buying a knock-off version of an expensive bag is a victimless crime, but it is not. You'll find out why in this book.

Also, even though the "crossover" of luxury brands to the masses is a good thing -- meaning more people can afford to own one or two luxury items even if they aren't millionaires -- the downside is that now the quality has gone down, and since there must be a high turn over rate of selling more and more, nothing is made to last, unlike items that were made a decade or so ago.

I would definitely recommend this book if you buy brand names like Chanel, Vuitton or the like, or even if you don't because this book will have you rethinking the whole idea of what luxury is.

16 people found this helpful

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Claudia

Great book

Reviewed in Spain on January 18, 2024

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Great book although maybe it needs to be updated. I would recommend, it will change the vision on nowadays luxury brands

Herzog

Very informative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2024

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Well written and a fascinating insight into the fashion industry and marketing practices.

Sophie

Unglaubliche Einblicke in eine Milliardenindustrie

Reviewed in Germany on July 1, 2023

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Nichts für Fashionistas, die schonungslosen Recherchen machen wütend, traurig und führen hoffentlich zum Umdenken. Überteuerte Luxusartikel, ausgebeutete Models und Mitarbeiter in der Modeindustrie sind leider die Regel. Gewinner sind die großen Konzerne, die sich die Dummheit - leider meist die der Frauen - skrupellos zu Nutze machen. Ein Buch das schockiert, aufklärt und wichtig ist, da soziale Medien das Markenbewusstsein aggressiv propagieren und feiern, für billig produzierte "Luxusprodukte" die vor allem Jugendliche wie ferngesteuert im Gruppendruck kaufen.

One person found this helpful

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roberto frizzoni

deluxe

Reviewed in Italy on July 24, 2019

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purtroppo e' arrivato stampato in lingua inglese

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shebear

Very informative

Reviewed in Canada on November 12, 2017

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What I got from this book is ....there is no luxury. Luxury brands are a waste of money. Best to save that money and live debt free. Glad I was never duped by the luxury brand lie!

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