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and would like to know if Suzy is interested in the sale as it will last for
only 72 hours. And oh, by the way, the friend also sent a link to purchase
the Chopard diamond necklace that Suzy has been longing for, which has
finally shown up on Portero.com with a current bid at a bargain price of
$170, which is 70 percent less than the original price. Suzy clicks on the
link and bids for $195 hoping that it would be hers at the end of the auction
period. Her friend also reminded her to sign up to be invited to the Mercedes
Benz fashion event in New York, to support the movie
Sex & the City
.
The invitations are exclusive to the members of the aSmallWorld community
and were limited. She immediately signs up.
Next email is from online magazine Luxe-Mag.Com, where she learns
about the group of ten designers that are currently considered to be the “New
League” of the Parisian fashion scene. She has only heard of three of them
and she makes a note to investigate the rest for her blog posting later in
the week and also to find out whether the videos of any of their latest run-
way shows have been posted on YouTube.com. She must also not forget to
“Tweet” the link to her “followers” on Twitter.com.
The rest of her emails are a mix of newsletters from luxury brands or
information sent from her RSS news feed software which redirects news on
the fashion and luxury industry to her mailbox from publications like the
WWD
and the
New York Times
. She discovers new store openings, advertis-
ing campaigns, product launches etc. and makes notes of what interests her.
By the time she's done with her coffee, it is 7:45am and she gets up to
prepare for the business of the day - her job as a partner at one of the leading
corporate and home interiors suppliers in New York City. She feels informed,
empowered and totally in tune with the world. Surprised that Suzy is not just
another privileged fashionista or worse still one of the clueless bloggers pop-
ping up all over the cyberspace? Well, you're in for more surprises. In the
space of forty-five minutes, Suzy digested about fourteen emails, was linked
to an additional twenty websites, made several downloads, posted comments
on four blogs and an online forum, scanned shopping websites, reserved hand-
bags on two websites, bid for a necklace, signed up for an online private shop-
ping event, enlisted for a fashion show and saved information to be uploaded
to her own blog and Twitter page. During this short exercise, she was exposed
to nineteen luxury brands in seven products and services categories but she
only fleetingly visited one of the luxury brands' own websites although she
had the latest information about these brands at her fingertips. Wondering
what is going on? Welcome to the new age of luxury online where the cli-
ent controls her own online universe and can literally navigate the luxury
cyberspace while shutting luxury brands' direct influence out. This is the new
e-culture and the consumer is at the centre of it.
Meanwhile, as Suzy is preparing to leave for work, on the other side of
the Atlantic in Paris, it's 1pm and Jacques Durand is sitting in his cosy office
in the La Defense district, ready to dash out for lunch with his colleagues
