Creating and Managing Luxury Brands

Then there is that glorious Epicurean paradox, uttered by my friend, the Historian in one of his flashing moments: "Give us the luxuries of life, and we will dispense with its necessaries."

If we singled out a brand for each product category to make it a luxury icon, we would have Krug or Dom Perignon for champagne, Guerlain for fragrance and cosmetics, Hermès for leather goods, and maybe, in ladies' ready-to-wear, Armani or Valentino. For men's suits, Brioni could be the ultimate luxury, and Van Cleef & Arpels could be considered a special and distinctive brand of jewelry.

Like sending them ruffles, when wanting a shirt.