Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
recharging will become the order of the day, luxury brands will be expected
to do better than MP3 player cases as a claim to technology.
Even as forward-thinking brands pave the way for the creation of a unique
place for digital technology in luxury offerings, there remains a wide resistance
to this movement. Despite the skepticism surrounding luxury and technology,
brands like Louis Vuitton there are which has boldly ventured into the tech-
nology terrain and hasn't lost its place as the most profitable luxury brand in
the world - even in the face of the current global economic slowdown.
Re-defining product functionality through materials
If you've been following the luxury landscape over the last decade, you will
probably have noticed an increasing level of similarity - and, in some cases,
blatant sameness - in product design across fashion, accessories, jewelry
watches and even beauty and fragrance. Apart from seasonal colors and
trends, which are supposed to direct creative output, there has been a gen-
eral leaning towards uniformity in product design rather than differentiation
through distinct signature styles. Some seasons have featured clothing, hand-
bags and shoes that are so similar in style that it is nearly impossible to dis-
tinguish the brands and to understand which brand was copying the other. In
other cases, the packaging and labeling of products like cosmetics, skincare
and fragrance have been so similar that they could easily pass off one for the
other. In fashion, particularly ready-to-wear, the case is even more apparent.
Styles, colors, shapes and even materials are copied. The runways of fashion
shows look like a reproduction of one show and the sameness of the mod-
els doesn't help matters. Although this apparent lack of creativity cannot be
excused in an industry that is supposed to be driven by creative and aesthetic
distinction, it may be deduced that it has arisen as a result of the limit which
creativity has reached, particularly in fashion. As we know, fashion operates
in cycles and this, together with trends, societal moods, cultural factors and
other inspirations, could determine the design direction that designers take
for, say, clothing. In some cases, designers could interpret these factors in
the same way, which could lead to the production of similar-looking clothing
that may be interpreted as “copied”. In terms of design itself, we could even
say that there isn't much that could be invented anymore and that experi-
mentation is now limited in scope. But in cases like clothing and handbag
design, there is much that can still be done with materials like fabrics and
hardware. These could become the new source of creativity that the industry
needs, particularly in the current context of “sameness” that some have
described as the “creative crunch of luxury”.
For years, sports apparel companies have been investigating the applica-
tion of technology as a support for sporting performance through the fabric
used in making sportswear. Companies such as Nike and Adidas have taken
