Ask arbiter of style Clinton Paul to choose his favorite watch and he’ll be hard pressed to tell you which one is put into service the most. Maybe that’s because he has so many of them.
Elizabeth Taylor may have her diamonds but Paul’s passion is the precision and craftsmanship of beautiful timepieces. Even men who haven’t tasted quite as much of the good life as Paul are quietly hoarding a modest stash of watches.
“In my mind, each watch brings something to the party,” says Paul. “Every watch was bought to fill a perceived niche such as early Rolexes and vintage watches to wear with Ralph Lauren tweeds, or a simple IWC pilot’s watch to wear with tattered oxford button downs and over-sized khaki pants and worn cordovan penny loafers.”
Collecting watches is not unlike collecting luxury cars, and in some cases the prices aren’t much different. Like a handmade automobile, a rare and limited timepiece entails complex design, precious materials, and the kind of expert craftsmanship that is often passed down for generations among watchmakers. To own such a watch gives men the opportunity to speak of who he is and where he’s going.
“Definitely our high end watch client is a business man in the six figure income level with discretionary money to spend,” says Judy White, co-owner of Julianna’s Fine Jewelry in Corte Madera.
Of course we’re not talking about the not-so-humble Cartier Tank Française or that James Bond favorite, the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date-Just. Think Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, or Patek Phillippe.
“Most people buying Patek Philippe are looking to buy the history, quality, and exclusivity,” says Diane Adams, a buyer for Shreve and Company. “It’s really about the execution of technology and art. When you think just how small a space it is, it’s pretty amazing.”
Those in the know don’t bother calling it a watch but rather, haut horlogerie, a rarified world of tourbillions and chronographs that sell for not thousands, but hundreds of thousands of dollars. At last January’s Salon Internationale de la Haute Horlogerie — the Geneva watch fair for you plebeians — there was a quiet optimism for the men’s market in particular, which has performed solidly despite the economic downturn.
Alain Huy, brand director for Zenith Watches North America, believes there is still work to be done. “The US market is still a young market and it needs still to be educated and trained. Most of the watch buyers are only familiar with only a few brands like Rolex or TAG Heuer.”
Zenith has produced watch movements since 1865 and claims to be the first to produce a chronograph movement. It takes nine months to produce a Zenith chronograph, and just last fall, Zenith introduced the Christoph Colomb, a limited edition chronograph of twenty-five pieces in rose, white, and yellow gold retailing for $209,000. It sold out immediately.
“For collectors, it’s about the purity of a handmade timepiece that takes incredible skill to construct,” says Adams.
Richemont, the luxury group with the lion’s share of watch brands under its belt, reported a 33 percent increase in sales of luxury timepieces, and at a recent Christie’s auction, a very rare Patek Philippe sold for a record $5.7 Million.
With gold and silver prices on the rebound, an investment in a fine watch makes sense and promises a very stylish return on investment for 2011.
“The man who owns a classic, simple high quality watch in stainless or gold with a tasteful leather, alligator, or stainless band says to me that this is a guy whose values are honest and probably reflect his orientation towards things and materials that work well and that define his life,” says Paul.
That certainly could be said of Jean Yang, a solar energy entrepreneur who previously enjoyed the high life as retail director of Louis Vuitton stores in Korea. He discovered the subtle luxury of a Swiss watch when he was only a teenager.
“My father offered me a very fine Swiss watch when I was in middle school and I found that it was a deeply cool accessory,” says Yang. “I was a bit of a fashion victim then — living in Paris didn’t help. For me, a watch is the only and ultimate jewel for men.”
That first Swiss watch only whetted his appetite for something even more exquisite and rare. “My first pay-check went directly to a real luxury watch — a Breitling Old Navitimer,” says Yang. “It was a chronograph of course. It had a brown cow hide bracelet that I immediately upgraded to an alligator strap to make it even more luxurious and sporty.”
Like collectors of fine wines, watch collectors are generally a discreet bunch. The watch speaks for itself — if you’re able to catch a peek at it from under a man’s shirtsleeve. Like a fine sport scar, devil is in the details and only those who appreciate them can so willingly fork over a small fortune to purchase such a mechanical marvel.
As for Yang, with a modest nine watches in his collection, there is still one he is hoping will one day be his ultimate: “A Breguet, equipped with two tourbillions, one of the finest complication movement in the watch industry. But at $400,000 it is more expensive than a brand new Ferrari or a one-bedroom studio in Manhattan so that one will have to wait a bit before entering my collection!”
For more on this, read “The Triumph of Unnecessary Beauty” in the New York Times. Click Here.
The world of social media has forever altered how people and businesses interact with one another. Today, virtually everybody and anybody can either sing your praises or worse, put a target on your back.
So how does one manage what people are saying about your business and to what extent do Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, and all those other outposts designed to gripe about a bad experience (say hello to PISSEDCONSUMER.COM) really matter?
That question came up recently with a client we’re working with who was faced with an online tirade from an unhappy customer who had decided to air their discontent on Yelp. “The thing that’s frustrating is that we actually know the guy, so I guess that’s why this bothers me so much that he’d do that without talking to us,” says my client.
It’s estimated that Yelp receives over 78 million visitors to its site, and the lion’s share of reviews revolve around customer service. Yelp’s power has resulted in an angry backlash towards hostile reviewers who can seem determined to muddy a company’s reputation (a tumblr site called F*CK YOU YELPERS, hilariously roasts some of those individuals.) Yelp’s research claims that customers who praise a business’ customer service is more than five times as likely to give a 5-star review than a 1-star review.
On the other hand almost 70% of those who trash a business’ customer service wind up giving a 1-star review. So the short answer is: it pays to pay attention to what people are saying, but more important is to have the right strategy in place so that you’re a more active participant in what’s being said.
What’s the best way to manage a situation of an unhappy customer spouting off, whether true or not?
Rule #1: Let your customers know they can talk to you – and that you’re listening.
The fact is there are some people out there who are always going to be difficult to please. That’s just the nature of doing business. Nevertheless it’s safe to say that there is often a grain of truth in what people are saying about you online and it pays to listen.
A great customer service strategy includes letting customer’s know that their satisfaction is key, and if there’s something wrong, to address the issue at the time of service – not later when they’ve left the store. If you’re a restaurant, either you or your server should always perform a “closer” and ask if there were any problems at all with the meal or the service. If there’s a problem then the manager should pay a visit to the table and acknowledge the problem.
Encourage the guest to come again and give another honest evaluation. By no means is this a guarantee that they won’t go home and yelp about it, but it will make the customer think twice.
Rule #2: Cherish your cheerleaders and encourage loyal customers to join the team.
While you can’t make a negative review go away, you can certainly lessen its impact by overwhelming the negative reviews with positive ones. Unfortunately, most happy customers don’t feel the need to share that with the world. Let your loyalists know that you appreciate them and ask them to speak up on your behalf. Notice a customer coming in for a second time in less than two weeks? Acknowledge them and invite them to share their experience with their friends and followers.
Rule #3: Don’t fight fire with fire.
Some business owners think that following a negative review with a rebuttal will somehow sway readers in their favor. The fact is, it can come off as denial and can even lead to an ongoing tit-for-tat.
Instead, revert to Rule #2 and get those cheerleaders to make that negative reviewer look like one bad apple. Still, that one bad apple – like the person who wrote about my client – can sometimes cut deeply into customer perception and it can be worth taking an altogether different approach. Contact the reviewer directly and invite them to meet for coffee. Allow them to make their case directly to you and use Rule #1 as your guide: Acknowledge. Invite them to come in again and make sure they know that they can always speak to you first before complaining about it online.
Customer service is a juggling act that is dependent on great people, great training, and great managers. The goal is not just to serve but to listen and respond to how the customer perceives the quality of your service.
Chinese New Year — the Year of the Snake, for those who care — begins on February 10 and finally at least one major U.S. retailer is waking up to the fact that they need a strategy in welcoming the Chinese tourist – and not just once a year.
Last year we told you about how we developed some relatively simple strategies for b. on brand client Saks Fifth Avenue in making their San Francisco store more attractive to Chinese tourists, with specific programs and mechanics.
In London, Chinese tourists take advantage of a relatively easier visa application process and spending on average a $1000 a day.
According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the average Chinese tourist spends about $6,000 while in the United States; yet most major retailers are sadly unprepared for what is increasingly becoming a critical customer market – even outside the CNY period.
Currently nearly all Chinese tourists are forced to wait up to four months compared to only a few days for most European visas, which means cities like Paris profit handsomely from Chinese tourist dollars. This month President Obama gave the State Department 60 days to come up with a way to decrease the wait time for visas to three weeks. That’s still far more than say Great Britain, which, while also bureaucratic takes about five days to turn around a visa.
Paris is still a top destination for Chinese tourists. For decades stores like Galleries Lafayette and Printemps have made major efforts to target Chinese customers with an army of Chinese-speaking sales associates, discount packages, and special open hours.
This year it is expected that 1.4million Chinese (along with a million Brazilians) will come to the U.S. to shop.
In New York, Bloomingdale’s launched a new initiative to make its store more approachable to the Chinese tourist by hiring more bilingual staff, marketing overseas with advertising campaigns, and increasing orders of iconic “American” brands like Ralph Lauren, with an emphasis on bold brand logos.
Still, one has to wonder why more stores haven’t made a bigger effort at understanding the Chinese customer and making some relatively cost-effective additions to their store experience in order to welcome them.
Here are a few things that nearly any medium to large-scale brand can do to make their store a destination for Chinese shoppers – all year around.
1) Signage. Make sure there is prominent signage in simplified Chinese at the entrance to the store. This includes store navigation. During the Chinese New Year period, put Chinese signage in the window and make sure visual merchandising themes are translated.
2) Speak Their Language. Have at least one employee who speaks Mandarin fluently and empower them with discount cards and/or Gifts-With-Purchase to incentivize them to shop.
3) Make them a VIP. Use the store’s member’s lounge or create a space where Chinese tourists can sit privately with a cup of tea, cookies, and receive one-on-one clienteling.
4) Partner with Hotels. Work closely with the concierges at the city’s key hotels and give them brochures and VIP cards to give to Chinese tourists and tour operators.
5) Explain the Value of Your Brand. The Chinese are still unfamiliar with many U.S. brands especially department stores. Make sure to tell your heritage story and underscore the fact that all of the brands you carry are guaranteed authentic. In China, some department stores sell fake or look-alike merchandise.
In recent years, the word “luxury” has become so hackneyed and over-used that many feel it had completely lost its meaning. Today, nearly every brand that targets the rich (whether the newly rich, super-rich, wanna-be rich or just plain rich), attempts to include the word in their self-description, no doubt an effort to influence their public perception.
Can a brand like Louis Vuitton really be considered “luxury” when there is little that is rarefied about it, with bags sewn largely by machine and multiple factories providing a steady stream of products to an insatiable marketplace?
In their new book, Meta-luxury: Brands and the Culture of Excellence, authors Manfredi Ricca and Rebecca Robins attempt to answer that question and argue that true luxury goes beyond the relatively superficial standards (largely price) that have come to be so pervasive in the marketplace today. Cost is not the only measure, nor is rarity. Rather, it is a complex recipe that bears what they contend is a set of distinctive hallmarks of excellence.
The book explores the concept of “luxury beyond luxury” and that to truly be called as such, a brand must be categorically dedicated to creating products whose craftsmanship is imbued with “knowledge, purpose, and timelessness.” While these characteristics may sound vague, they are in fact the benchmarks of several luxury manufacturers — from cars to pianos — whom the authors cite as being examples of brands which place a premium on the craft, their materials, and an unwavering devotion to pure performance and design.
So what is it that distinguishes true luxury today and have we become immune to the integrity of absolute luxury? Ricca and Robins explain in their exclusive interview with b. on brand.
BERTRAND PELLEGRIN: Why is it that you felt compelled to refine the definition of luxury by calling it “meta” luxury — how is the paradigm [you describe] of knowledge, purpose, and timelessness any different from how others have defined luxury?
REBECCA ROBINS: The debate around luxury is nothing new – but the level of problematisation around it has reached epic proportions in recent years. It is a space in which there is increasing clutter and confusion and the very proliferation of terms such as ‘ultra-luxury’, ‘super-luxury’ or ‘high luxury’ demonstrate the extent to which ‘luxury’ has become so diluted that it is practically devoid of meaning. We explore an absolute definition of true luxury as both a culture and a business model. It is a paradigm built on the culture of excellence, where the pillars of Craftsmanship, Focus, History and Rarity exist as fundamental organising principles for the brand owner and as fundamental drivers of demand and desire for the meta-luxury connoisseur.
MANFREDI RICCA: Today, companies with completely different philosophies and business models are defined, or define themselves, as embodying luxury. At times of economic uncertainty, what is luxury really and ultimately about? Countless inspiring conversations suggested it had to do with fundamental and universal human aspirations – knowledge, purpose and timelessness. If we think carefully about it, that’s what sets apart a truly unique achievement from the ordinary. And luxury is everything but ordinary. The fact of being a unique achievement is what brings us to regard, say, a masterpiece in artisan watchmaking built out of rare materials as being very different from a cotton t-shirt with a logo.
BP: It could be argued that the idea of a “luxury brand” is a relatively modern way of understanding the value of something. In your view is it possible for luxury to be purely organic and unselfconscious? What brands have been successful at that?
RR: Meta-luxury is about creating value across generations and that stems from these brands’ desire not only to pursue excellence in their respective field, but also to make their mark in history. If we look at Fazioli, for example, we see a brand that, in a mere 30 years, has emerged as a contender to the title of creator of the best pianos in the world. What fires and inspires Fazioli, is the pursuit of the perfect piano, certainly, but equally and as steadfastly, it is about what Fazioli will contribute to the evolution of the piano over time. In a recent interview at the time of the Hermès exhibition in London, Pierre-Alexis Dumas was quoted on the imperative of the Hermès brand and culture: “We want to share our culture. We are tenants of a culture that is age-old.” This is the essence of meta-luxury.
BP: You suggest that for a true luxury brand, “business results are not a target, they are a means,” and that “economic success is therefore a requisite and a consequence, but not the primary objective.” Do you really think this is accurate, in an age when most luxury brands are owned by conglomerates and clearly profit driven?
RR: While it is undeniable that many luxury brands exist under the umbrella of conglomerates, it is also evident that the spirit of independence holds strong and true. Furthermore, we are witnessing the rise of many new and emerging brands. And let’s not forget that some of the brands that we are talking about are still ‘young’ brands. Pagani has attained the status of creator of one of the best supercars in the world, and yet has not even marked its 15th anniversary. In a space of 30 years, Fazioli has taken on the pursuit of the perfect piano and is now heralded by many world-class musicians as the pinnacle in piano performance and sound.
The very premise of meta-luxury brands is that they operate counter to the accepted notion of the business driving the brand. In meta-luxury, it is the brand driving the business. Everything that these brands do revolves around one single-minded objective – the pursuit of excellence. Whereas other brands may sacrifice ‘focus’, through the level of diversification, or ‘rarity’, through making their products widely available, meta-luxury brands sacrifice nothing and protect the integrity of the brand at all costs. The pursuit of excellence is inherent in everything the company does and all else is a consequence.
MR: We live in times when, for instance, the hugely successful IPO of Brunello Cucinelli was based on what the entrepreneur calls a “gentle” notion of growth and profit, which can ensure prosperity and excellence from one generation to the next rather than quarterly results. Meta-luxury is about mitigating risk rather than maximising short-term results. It is not about disregarding profit, but merely making it sustainable.
BP: You chose to profile a diverse range of individuals: from a violinist to the chairman of Bulgari. Why these particular people?
RR: Meta-luxury engages with a redefinition of luxury – one that is established on an economy and a culture of excellence. One that goes ‘beyond’ luxury. As such, our conversations naturally went ‘beyond’ what would be considered the accepted and expected. The premise of meta-luxury is one of ‘unique achievement’ and these individuals represent this in every respect. The book spans perspectives from creators of excellence, to masters of excellence and academics. The inclusion of creators of excellence whose brands are still young brands (consider Pagani), alongside more established brands (such as Bulgari), was also very deliberate.
BP: Do you believe that it is possible for a modern luxury brand to be successfully developed without all of the key factors you’ve identified?
RR: There are a number of brands that are highly successful through the pursuit of a different model – consider Armani, as one example. It is one that sacrifices the meta-luxury pillar of rarity – its products are made widely available and cannot be considered unique achievements; and one that sacrifices ‘focus’ – through its articulated architecture spanning Armani Casa, to Armani Jeans. Nonetheless, it is a highly successful business. Meta-luxury represents a different space of offer and demand.
BP: With the cost of doing business rising as well as the cost of production, where do you see meta-luxury’s application when major European luxury brands are increasingly forced to produce their goods overseas. Does such practices in fact dilute their “brand story” and integrity?
RR: This raises a number of pertinent points and one that also goes back to the start of the economic crisis. In times of crisis we tend to anchor ourselves to certainties, to things that are constant, that we can trust. As such, we saw a return by many brands to their core values, to their heritage and history. It’s about an authentic story and as consumers become more demanding than ever before, as scrutiny of companies’ behaviour and supply chains is held to ever greater account, that story is rendered more transparent than ever.
Where so much of luxury has become about surface and stretch, the authenticity of meta-luxury brands is unquestioned. Faziola’s pianos are crafted from wood from the same forests from which, in the 17th and 18th centuries, Stradivarius violins were made. The story of meta-luxury brands runs deep and this is what resonates with a dynamic that unites craftsmen and connoisseurs rather than manufacturers and consumers. These brands refuse to compromise on short-term targets, in order to protect the brand over time and ensure its longevity for generations to come.
Meta-luxury: Brands and the Culture of Excellence by Manfredi Ricci and Rebecca Robins ($40.00, Palgrave Macmillan). To order the book or learn more about the authors, please click here.
At last week’s opening event for an Alice+Olivia store in San Francisco, the star of the party wasn’t the designers or their new collections, but a sweetly humble blogger named Blair Eadie.
If you’ve been living under a pile of clothes from Old Navy then you might not know that Eadie is the vaguely 20-something year old Gap merchandiser who’s blog, Atlantic-Pacific, has become something of a phenomenon in the world of people who take pictures of themselves and post them.
Here we were at a party chock-a-block with women with names like Piper and Christy and Jenn, all 5’9” of them in heels and a halo of bottle blonde hair.
Rising above all of them was Eadie herself, a more polished and expensive-looking blonde beacon in a chartreuse blouse and purple palazzo pants (furnished by Alice+Olivia.) The roomful of women gazed at her over their glasses of pink champagne —- and yes, even admiringly.
This is very much the success of Blair Eadie. She is the big sister-best friend who is instantly approachable and who’s style is fresh without being too daring or too “edgy.” Eadie, who could easily be mistaken for Lauren Conrad or Blake Lively, has that wholesome gleam of America’s sweetheart, the girl who would never steal your boyfriend and might even let you borrow her Celine bag.
“Omigod I’m like, just so obsessed with her,” gushed one guest. “Do you work for her?” I asked, suspiciously. “God no, I just work down the street but I just think she has such amazing style.”
That “style” rests somewhere between Greenwich, Connecticut, New York’s SoHo, and that short block of Santa Monica in front of Fred Segal. Which is probably why the young women of San Francisco felt so in awe of her super stylishness (in this circle, “super” is added in front of many words. Super-fun. Super-cool. Super-cute.)
“I’m just so like, touched that they’re here and that they read my blog,” said Eadie, gazing at the crowd. But what’s next? “I really don’t know what’s next, you know I’d love to get in the magazine space or styling…” Her voice trails, as though to leave her options open. And why not?
In the meantime, outside her role at the Gap, Eadie has had stints as a host for a Macy’s New York party for Fashion’s Night Out, model for Cover Girl makeup, and been featured in a legion of posts from other fashion bloggers who in some cases, grudgingly commend her for her style.
For now, though, Eadie could easily just stick with hosting store openings and still turn a profit. Brands are indeed keeping their eye on bloggers like Eadie because for that wildly important Millenial demographic, the fashion blogger can have far more credibility than a Suzy Menkes or Sally Singer. Already Eadie’s blog has racked up a healthy handful of advertisers, and it’s no wonder.
Why? Simply because bloggers like Eadie are “real” people who are inventing their own style and discovering brands and ways of dressing that has less to do with the runway, and more to do with their mood or pop culture references.
They effortlessly mix and match, high and low. Never mind that the majority of these “it’s just me and my daily looks” bloggers are so frighteningly on-trend that one can’t help but wonder how many brands are sending boxes of clothes to them. By and large, they are the People’s Fashion Editor, sifting and culling looks obsessively and efficiently. Their narcissism has turned them into a commodifiable product — they’re selling clothes, and themselves.
Alice + Olivia is a brand so perfectly suited to the “girly-girl,” that urban ingénue in search of her self — a description which not-so-coincidentally describes Blair Eadie. Here in just one night, several dozen girls drained four cases of pink champagne and raided the store’s clothing racks, thanks in large part to the pull of a blogger named Blair Eadie, who made it all seem so effortless and so very, super-fun.
The young woman standing in a queue is a walking billboard for about a half-dozen luxury brands, from her LV belt to her Gucci bag, not to mention a couple of barrettes in her hair that probably don’t come from Chanel but have the double-C logo. She’s not waiting in line to buy another luxury handbag, though, she’s actually waiting to buy a ticket to see a fashion exhibition on the late Alexander McQueen.
Only a few years ago, boosting attendance at museums was a heady challenge for curators, faced with a generation less accustomed to going to museums to “see a bunch of old paintings,” as one friend characterized it.
Until now.
Museums around the world are suddenly reaping the benefits of major funding from some of the world’s top fashion brands and developing flashy exhibitions designed to showcase their heritage. Last year’s McQueen show was a phenomenon all its own, drawing over 5 million visitors. On its last night the Metropolitan Museum, which mounted the exhibition, stayed open until midnight.
In Beijing, Louis Vuitton’s exhibition, “Voyages” at the National Museum in Tiananmen Square drew throngs who stood in line for hours to see iconic pieces from the archives, as well as some of the more sensationalistic concepts dreamed up for the brand’s nouveau riche clientele.
Quick on their heels are nearly a dozen other brands who have or will soon mount major exhibitions, including Ferragamo, Van Cleef and Arpels, Prada, Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dior, and Vivienne Westwood — all eager to boast of their esteemed heritage of craft and design. Many of these very same brands are opening their own museums. Louis Vuitton, for instance, is currently building a massive space designed by Frank Gehry in the Bois de Boulogne and slated to open in 2013.
So how did fashion become such a sure bet for museums?
Thank technology and the Internet for bringing fashion to the masses, not to mention the scores of magazines that carefully note what each celebrity is wearing. Now more than ever, there is a hungry and educated audience for what once was the rarefied world of the very rich. The craft of haute couture and bespoke accessories has captured the imaginations of a public which now is even more keenly aware that the humble craftsman has become nearly obsolete. Ah, but luxury marketing tells us it is alive and well, with magical things seemingly made by magical elves. All for a less than magical price. More importantly, now everyone knows that the ultimate status symbol is a something from one of the big 4 luxury brands: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Hermes.
Fashion exhibitions are essentially marketing exercises masquerading as high art — which is not to say that fashion is not art, however it is an art specifically designed with commerce in mind. Monet and Van Gogh didn’t paint pictures and think about how an exhibition might help extend their brand into tote bags and dentist office posters.
In the retail business, we call them “heritage” exhibitions, which is a more dignified way of saying “we need a new vehicle to build our audience.” Exhibitions not only help communicate the brand story, they also showcase the signatures and trademarks that signify authenticity. In a world of counterfeits and knockoffs, that’s important.
“It is a way of speaking about the savoir faire, the creator, the house and its history,” explains Sydney Toledano, CEO of Christian Dior, in a recent New York Times article. The Dior exhibition in Russia was a huge hit with record-breaking attendance. “The 150,000 people who go to the Pushkin understand that Mr. Dior was an artist and that there is a way of contemplating the dresses with fine art.”
Fashion exhibitions also grant the hoi-polloi temporary access to a world they probably will never come in contact with while elevating the modest purchase of, say, a bottle of Chanel No. 5. It’s no secret that fragrance and cosmetic sales are key sales drivers for luxury brands, garnering more profit share than the sale of a dozen or so haute couture gowns.
More importantly though, these exhibitions bolster the image of luxury brands which tend to come under attack in harsh economic times – hence the sudden flurry of exhibitions in the past two years. An exhibition removes the context of social class and instead displays the more benign image of craftsman and designer.
But when is it “art” and when is it just a glorified advertisement? Who is truly the curator with such an exhibition and at what point is a commercial brand subject to the same scrutiny and criticism as any other retrospective exhibition of fine art?
It’s hard not to point fingers at Louis Vuitton, which has taken the heritage exhibition model and made it a major part of how it gathers its disciples together to worship — and shop — in its temples of luxury. Nowhere have they done that more than in China, but the rest of the world is just as much of a target.
A Vuitton exhibition of trunks and bespoke mallerie at Paris’s Carnavelet Museum drew over 60,000 visitors while one at the Shanghai World Expo saw an estimated 11 million visitors. Consider what the conversion rate might be for that oh-so-important Chinese customer — imagine how many ended up buying a bag or wallet after seeing that exhibition.
“Exhibitions give us the possibility to invent innovative ways of storytelling,” says Pietro Beccari, executive vice president at Louis Vuitton, quoted in a story for WWD. Storytelling, as many of you who read my blog know, is the foundation to great branding.
I would concur. An exhibition must have integrity and highlight a clearly defined focus that has weight regardless of who the designer or brand might be, and offer a view into the world of creativity, purposeful design, and the visionary mind of an artist and his material.
Read More: “Fashion’s Exhibitionist Streak,”WWD, 5/27/11; “Is Fashion Really Museum Art?” New York Times 07/05/2011.
Upcoming Exhibitions: “Louis Vuitton – Marc Jacobs,” 9 March – 16 September 2012. Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris.”The Fashion World of Jean-Paul Gaultier:From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk,” 24 March – 19 August 2012. De Young Museum San Francisco. “Van Cleef & Arpels: l’Art de la Haute Joallerie,” 20 September – 10 February 2013. Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris.
Those who know me well are already well-versed in my passion for great pre-digital industrial design, those once ubiquitous pieces of “technology” that are now found in either a rubbish heap, a museum, or eBay.
Nevertheless, an increasingly younger generation of enthusiasts are discovering the pleasure and poetry of what I call “slow tech,” and at last week’s opening of San Francisco’s first Lomography gallery, a steady stream of enthusiasts, all under the age of 40, excitedly peered through the toy-like cameras for sale there. Many posed with the cameras while friends snapped pictures — using their smart phones of course. Just as many, though, were converted that night to the world of analog film photography.
At the San Francisco launch party for the Lomography store, a largely Gen Y crowd came to discover the world of film cameras.
Lomo cameras (as well as Holga’s, another Soviet-era camera) have become hot sellers with the Gen-Y crowd at stores like Urban Outfitters, which recently expanded their offer of analog merchandise to include turntables and other vintage-inspired goods.
The story of Lomography begins with the Cold War classic “Lomo” camera, made entirely of plastic, which two backpacking students “discovered” while traveling through the former Soviet Union in 1991. They were immediately smitten with the low-res, highly color saturated images the camera produced. Today, Lomography has become a global phenomenon of analog advocacy, community building, and all-out passion for the richly nuanced quality of conventional film photography.
The somewhat crude simplicity of the Lomo camera is in fact its genius and now an entire generation born without any prior experience with film cameras has discovered the magic and mystery of taking a picture with film. “We’re so used to the immediacy of digital. With film, you don’t know how it’s going to turn out,” said a 24-year old student at the opening event. Who knew delayed gratification could be such fun?
“I think that’s exactly the appeal,” says Tiffany Bukowski, who oversees California and the Pacific Northwest Lomography shop locations. “San Francisco’s unique in that way, they love the DIY quality of lomography. It’s a tech city, but it’s also an art city so this kind of photography fills a large niche.”
The camera that started it all: the Lomo LC-A was “discovered” by some backpacking students in early 1990’s Russia.
The classic Lomo LC-A+ ($280.00) the iconic camera that started it all is an admittedly unsexy looking piece of plastic but the images it creates are dreamy and saturated with color.
The Diana F+ is an exact copy of a camera produced in Hong Kong in the 1960’s.
The cultish and classically-designed Diana F+ ($89.00), not only looks chic around your neck but allows for all kinds of experimentation with light, focus, and double images, while the 120film allows for large 5.2cm x 5.2cm negatives. It comes with a flash attachment that allows you to add tiny strips of colored gels, which, depending on the color, saturate the entire image in a blast of vivid red, green, or blue.
“The point is less about intention and more about experimentation and serendipity,” says Hans Hendley, U.S. retail manager for Lomography. “The pendulum is swinging backwards and people are drawn to the imperfections of this kind of imagery. It’s simply more authentic and emotional than digital.” Browse online at any number of the hundreds of sites devoted to Lomography and it’s clear that the most compelling photos were probably completely accidental.
A photo I took using the Diana F+, which allows creative use of double exposure. Pictured at right is Hans Hendley, Lomography’s U.S. retail manager.
The company’s manifesto extols the virtues of free-spirited photography and includes ten golden rules such as “You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film” and “Try the shot from the hip.” They mean that quite literally and it seems most Lomographers have a limited interest whatsoever in framing their subjects. “This kind of camera communicates on a different level,” says Hendley. “It’s about the real moment. It’s like shooting from the heart rather than from your head.”
Another photo I took using the Diana F+, with a red gel inserted in the flash attachment.
Alas, digital still trumps analog. To share your arty snaps with the world, you’ll have to use a scanner and then a computer. Or you could simply send a real photograph in the mail — before the U.S. Post decides to shut down for good.
Lomography shops and galleries are in cities around the world. In San Francisco: 309 Sutter Street. ph. (415) 248-0083, www.lomography.com
The fall of the Berlin Wall, 1990. Photographs I took with an early 1970’s East German Praktica, using the obsolete East German ORWO film. Click photo to enlarge.
They may move slower than their modern counterparts, but I believe there is a design integrity and elegance of performance that happens with Slow Tech over digital.
Relatively humble materials — wood, metal, early plastics, and so on — began first as pencil drawings on paper, and then were formed by manual machines. You can see the work of humans, not machines, in their assembly.
My day with Diana — the Lomography Diana F+ — reminded me of shooting with my old East German Praktica 35mm.
Modern — or perhaps I should say, digital – technology is often so sleek and emotionless that it resists an emotional connection. The apple computer is indeed beautiful in its Dieter Rams-inspired simplicity and yet, unlike some of Rams’ own design work (most notably for Braun in the 1960’s and 70’s), there is a coldness that one doesn’t find with say, Ettore Sottsass’ Valentine typewriter (1969). A radio made of wood featuring vacuum tubes (mine is a KLH) has a warmth and depth in tone that a digital radio simply cannot reproduce.
Here then is a short list of some of my design favorites – include the Praktica — that are not only lovely to look at, but also lovely to use.
Olivetti Valentine typewriter (Ettore Sottsass, Italy, 1969)
The Olivetti Valentine is the ne plus ultra of typewriters. It was love-at-first-sight when it was launched on February 14, 1969, and there are some who collect them compulsively. My first “portable” typewriter was an Olivetti Lettera 22, which I hauled everywhere to type term papers — even Denny’s. Designed by Ettore Sottsass (with Perry King), the goal of the Valentine was to create an “anti-machine machine”: a tool that is sexy enough to be used outside of the office. I had been on the hunt for one for nearly a decade and recently found one in Palm Springs.
KLH Model 21 radio (Henry Kloss, USA, 1965)
This radio is still just as legendary as when it first appeared on the market as the ultimate “hi-fi” radio for lovers of classical music (in particular.) It features a rich, depth of sound that is rare on most tabletop radios. The Henry Kloss radio currently produced is frankly, a pale imitation of the model 21. The first one I bought was from a Salvation Army for $5.00. This one is from eBay and was $50.00. KLH petered out in the 1980s but the model 21 remains its lasting legacy.
Thorens TD24 turntable (Switzerland, 1957 & 1966)
The Thorens TD24 is arguably the best turntable ever made and continues to be highly sought after. Don’t bother looking at thrift stores or garage sales since these thinks have practically attained unicorn status. Sadly, my father took his and tossed it into the garbage. After nearly fifteen years of looking, I got one thanks to an elderly gentleman who had one tucked away in his house (I was actually answering his craigslist ad for some Olivetti typewriters.) Today a Thorens TD24 in reasonably good working order can fetch up to $3,000. I think this turntable is absolutely gorgeous. It looks handmade (which it basically is), and the heavy steel platter, adjustable speeds, and solid suspension result in unparalled vinyl sound. It has a nerdy, Swiss seriousness about it that’s so cute.
Praktica 35mm film camera (East Germany, c. 1970)
I bought this camera at a gypsy flea market in Poland in the early 1990’s. Praktica cameras are built like a Soviet tank but have one of the best lenses ever produced by Dresden’s Pentacon. I love its heft, and evocative smell — metal shavings, film chemicals, and oil. Long ago, I took some wonderful pictures using the infamous but sadly discontinued East German ORWO film, which resulted in amazingly moody images I took in Berlin after the fall of the Wall. The single-reflex lens gives the most satisfying click.
Click here to read my blog post, The Way We Were: To Create, Some Turn to What’s Been Forgotten.
Courtesy AMC/Lionsgate Television
When a man goes into battle, he dons his battle dress. Well, not exactly a dress—a suit.
The classic suit — a pair of tailored trousers with a matching jacket – has been augmented and arranged in a variety of ways but regardless, it always acts as the ultimate modifier of manhood, making a man more than a man.
In AMC’s “Mad Men,” Don Draper is most himself when he is in an impeccably pressed steel grey suit, his Teflon coating against the perils of a boozed-up advertising client.
I grew up watching my own Don Draper, my father, a Frenchman who didn’t work in advertising but dressed just as impeccably. In the early 1970’s, he dressed for work in button-fly, thin flannel trousers, crisp cotton shirts with very small pearl buttons and French cuffs (no pocket on the front – only Americans do that), a bold tie, and narrow zippered boots in glove leather. With his wraparound sunglasses and leather wristlet clutch (which my brothers and I were terribly embarrassed about), he was chic and suave. Now, several decades later, I want some of his mojo.
When my book, Branding the Man was published in 2009 I found myself in need of a suit that could ready me for the arrows of critics and personal appearances at big city cocktail parties or even strip mall bookstores. In this country of men dressed as 35-year-old boys in baseball caps, fleece jackets and sack-like jeans, I implore for them to learn what every Don Draper used to know, and what I know all too well: the clothes do indeed make the man.
However finding the perfect suit is no easy task. There are acres of homeless suits dying to join a power lunch, wanting nothing more than to emerge from a four-star restaurant with a beautiful woman clutching its pure virgin wool. There are suits languishing on hangers that would be grateful just to attend a funeral, let alone clothe the man who will is awaiting to be buried once it’s all over. Suits are plentiful, good ones are not.
Recently, I toured dozens of outlets and stores, and saw hundreds of suits, from Men’s Wearhouse to the Nordstrom; Macy’s to the wholesaler on the corner. What I found is that most men’s departments have become kind of like bugs trapped in amber; nothing more than a time capsule of the way men have shopped and dressed for the better part of the last 100 years.
One afternoon at a crumbling suburban Macy’s, I found a men’s department that was virtually unchanged from my high school years. A salesman, looking like a sportscaster in a plaid jacket, Countess Mara tie and gray slacks, was in the midst of assisting a boy on the brink of his teenage years purchase what was likely his first suit. For the boy’s father, this was probably an auspicious moment: his son, on the threshold of manhood and poised to be molded into a “little gentleman.”
But for the boy—skinny, slouched, pimply and as awkward as any boy can be at 13—this was a less than thrilling moment. The jacket hung on his little shoulders like a waterlogged Sunday paper. “You look great!” beamed the father. An indifferent sigh from his son followed. “You want the gold buttons?” asked the salesman. “They’ll make you look sharp!”
Can the American man be liberated from the poorly fitted suit and not spend a fortune? It depends. The anatomy of a finely made suit is actually fascinating, and like wine, once you learn the about the details it makes the final product that much sweeter. In Europe, tailoring is an art, and what every American man must learn is that a great suit is an investment. If it is the right suit, you’ll discover—as so many men have—that a beautifully tailored suit opens doors.
My fantasy store would be one that doesn’t bother stocking every suit imaginable, in every shade of gray and black. A great store needs to help a man discover his inner peacock with an edited collection of suits that have a point of view. Forget the pleated trousers – who really looks good in them anyway? Let David Lettermen wear the double-breasted windowpane plaid. Give me Bond, James Bond—shaken and stirred! I want a suit that makes ladies swoon and men bow.
Short of taking a sewing class, I recommend that every man have at least one suit custom-made. A great tailor is like a great barber: he can work miracles on that poor carcass of yours. Learn from your tailor what looks best on you. Let him teach you about the marvels of high-twist yarn, the subtleties of a hand-canvassed shoulder, or that the shoulders and lapels are the make-or-break details of a great suit. Contrary to what the department store salesman tells you, that suit you are trying on does not look like it was made for you — in fact it’s meant to fit about fifteen other guys of varying proportions, like a police lineup.
Alas, with the clock ticking before my New York press tour, I didn’t have any time for a custom tailored suit and instead found myself at Yves Saint Laurent. There I discovered an exquisite suit of smoky blue wool with softly drawn charcoal stripes. The generous lapels recalled Johnny Depp in Blow. I slipped into the lean, button-fly trousers and looked at myself in the mirror. It was expensive but, after all the miserable suits I had seen, this one was the one. I felt tall, fearless, and suited for battle.
Black Friday may be blacker than most this year — and that’s not a good thing.
That’s because so many retailers are getting a jumpstart and offering discounts and well before the landmark shopping day with special offers that could threaten to kill the rest of the Holiday shopping season.
The soft push for retail sales was visible as early as late October. H&M’s decision to launch its Versace collection last Saturday was more than likely to build momentum for Black Friday and the rest of the holiday shopping season.
However, it’s social media sites that are driving the bulk of discount sales before shoppers even have a chance to step through the door of a store.
In a recent Nielsen survey, consumers are actually “liking” a brand simply for giving them a discount, with North American leading the way in the trend, with 45% of those surveyed saying they’ll shop and like ‘em — if they get a discount.
Across a sample of ten major markets*, nearly 40 percent of active Internet users visited Coupons/Rewards sites such as Groupon, Coupons.com and Living Social from home and work computers during September 2011.
In the U.S., NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey company, reports that almost 60 percent of social media users visit social networks to receive coupons or promotions, with 23 percent saying they do this on a weekly basis.
During September 2011, 43 percent of visitors to Social Networks and Blogs also visited a Coupons/Rewards site, while 44 percent of Facebook’s audience and nearly two-thirds (63%) of Twitter’s audience visited these sites.
Facebook was a key source of traffic for Groupon and Living Social during that month – meaning Groupon’s and Living Social’s visitors came directly from Facebook.
Meanwhile, Black Friday is going head-to-head with Cyber Monday (one of the lamest names I’ve ever heard) with deals starting as early as 9 P.M. on Thanksgiving Day. So much for foreplay.
And just in case you were feeling less than cheered about shopping this year, Occupy activists are planning to demonstrate in order to protest the ultimate symbol of greed and consumerism with an “Occupy Black Friday.”
Bah, Humbug? No it’s just Christmas in America — 2011.
If you’re like me, you might have done a double take when you noticed that your local Walgreens had suddenly become a grocery store. Well almost.
Rows of fresh fruit, sandwiches, salads, and even sushi are now on display only a stone’s throw away from the cough syrup and toothpaste. What began as an experiment roughly a year ago is now set to include nearly all of Walgreens’ 7,545 stores.
A man considers Walgreens offer: an emphasis on prepared meals but fresh fruit is heavily showcased
In a nod to the idea of a pharmacy and “wellness,” the graphics and signage in their new grocery sections are in shads of green, with imagery of fruits and vegetables and the words, “Eat Well.”
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Bryan Pugh, vice president of merchandising is quoted as saying, “We won’t get our customer every day on the way home, but if we could get 50 percent of our customers one day a week on the way home, that would do wonders for our sales.”
Fresh fruit anchors a corner of a San Francisco Walgreens that previously was devoted to film processing.
So does it confuse the brand or simply expand on the idea of the brand? I’d say it’s a fairly natural metamorphosis. Walgreens has nurtured customer expectations that “we have everything.” In recent years the range of good available at their stores has included televisions, radios, and even a sewing machine. Is Walgreens benign? Well nobody in retail is doing it for a hobby, and when you put Walgreens beside a fast food restaurant, which would you rather have in your neighborhood? Case in point, consider the fact that fast food outlets have long been criticized for taking over many low-income neighborhoods, supplanting the corner groceries and creating an “addiction” to high-fat, high calorie foods in minority communities.
My guess is that customers might be surprised or even confused at first but will move seamlessly into making Walgreen’s their one-stop neighborhood store. While they probably won’t do their serious grocery shopping here (well, some might), the market share Walgreens gains is considerable when you factor in that many stores have extended hours (until midnight) and fill a void once held by 7-11 back in the day.
Many Walgreens feature their new grocery concepts in full street view, such as this one on Market Street in San Francisco
Case in point, in Asia 7-11 is a powerhouse, offering everything from dim sum to Dimetapp, and many even double as a post office. In one 7-11 I saw in a village in Taiwan, Johnny Walker Blue Label and French wine were also available.
Walgreens isn’t far behind. Last December Walgreens rolled out a private label collection of wines in 1,500 locations. A Chardonnay with that sushi?