Diamond-encrusted, alligator-skin handbags. Eighteen-course feasts. Yachts the length of city blocks. In the twenty-first century, many point to such conspicuous consumption as reflecting the moral failings of a rampant capitalism that sacrifices community values on an altar of greed. Television shows such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians illustrate the folly of wealth without responsibility even as they elevate their subjects on pedestals of desire. Our discomfort with extravagance is not new. The ancient Greeks and Romans fretted over the ideal relationship between morality and luxury. Politics, religion, and economics influenced the debate, with the concept of luxury as a moral question becoming a core issue in Christian theology and even a cornerstone of the founding of America. People have long feared luxury's evil influence. Society has publicly and privately extolled the virtues of moderation and restraint, and condemned luxury as a breeding ground for vice and sin. After capitalism and the consumer revolution removed its stigma, the concept of luxury underwent a radical transformation, from a vice to be feared to a marketing tool of the new capitalist era. In this lively and thought-provoking narrative, William Howard Adams shows how this simultaneous distrust and embrace of luxury has pervaded Western thought for three millennia, leading us to the question, what price the soul?

This book addresses the No 1 challenge of all major luxury brands today: How can these brands pursue their growth yet remain luxury? How do you reconcile growth and rarity? Kapferer on Luxury offers a selection of the most recent and insightful articles and original essays on the luxury growth challenge from Jean-Noël Kapferer, a world-renowned luxury analyst. Each chapter addresses a specific issue relating to the luxury growth challenge such as sustaining the 'luxury dream', adapting the internet to luxury demands, re-widening the gap with premium brands' competition, and the importance of non-delocalization. It also explores in detail facing the demand of the Chinese clients, rising sustainable quality and experiential standards, developing real luxury services and managing luxury brands within groups without diluting their equity and more. As such, Kapferer on Luxury is the perfect and timely resource for luxury executives, communication managers, luxury observers and advanced students willing to deepen their understanding of this major luxury challenge.

Discover the secrets to successful luxury brand management with this bestselling guide written by two of the world's leading experts on luxury branding, Jean-Noël Kapferer and Vincent Bastien, providing a unique blueprint for luxury brands and companies. Having established itself as the definitive work on the essence of a luxury brand strategy, this book defines the differences between premium and luxury brands and products, analyzing the nature of true luxury brands and turning established marketing 'rules' upside-down. Written by two world experts on luxury branding, The Luxury Strategy provides the first rigorous blueprint for the effective management of luxury brands and companies at the highest level. This fully revised second edition of The Luxury Strategy explores the diversity of meanings of 'luxury' across different markets. It rationalizes those business models that have achieved profitability and unveils the original methods that were used to transform small family businesses such as Ferrari, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Chanel, Armani, Gucci, and Ralph Lauren into profitable global brands. Now with a new section on marketing and selling luxury goods online and the impact of social networks and digital developments, this book has truly cemented its position as the authority on luxury strategy.

Fleeting human moments memorialized by Oberto Gili's camera translate formally into beautifully balanced classical images. His camera, like his personality, is whimsical questioning, non-judgemental and tenderly objective. Gili's images of interiors capture fundamental moments of human existence, quiet moments and basic needs, wether it's a man on sitting on his coach surrounded by his dogs, a young couple getting into bed, a woman watching herself getting dressed in the mirror or a girl swimming alone in a pool, we experience narrative, isolation, intrusion through Gili's lens. Gili shows us different perspectives of home: color, happiness, sex, depression, arrogance, creativity, simplicity, boredom. These images in this stunning volume are a diairy of the interiors and situations that have, over the last thirty years, strung Gili's curiosity and fantasy the most. Simple, still and understated, Gili's images of interiors all have possibility as their subtext. Illustrated

Unique and timely, this Research Handbook on Luxury Branding explores and takes stock of the current body of knowledge on luxury branding, as well as offering direction for future research and management in the field. Featuring contributions from an international team of top-level researchers, this Handbook offers analysis and discussion of the profound socioeconomic, psychological, technological and political changes that are affecting the luxury industry, and that will continue to shape its future.

As luxury brands become commonplace, businesses must incorporate more sustainable practices to handle the brands continuous growth. To achieve short-term financial goals, luxury brands employ mass marketing techniques that result in the creation of "masstige" (mass prestige) brands. Sustainable luxury marketing through a cross-cultural perspective requires tailored marketing strategies for luxury brands that emphasize the exclusivity and high quality of their products while integrating eco-friendly practices. Such marketing plans may also resonate with diverse cultural values across business sectors. Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Luxury Marketing explores ongoing trends in sustainable luxury marketing using cross-cultural viewpoints. It examines the usage of immersive technologies by luxury brands and their impact on consumer relationships. This book covers topics such as consumer behavior, luxury fashion, and data analysis, and is a useful resource for consultants, policymakers, economists, business owners, sociologists, academicians, scientists, and researchers.