In a truthful account of the luxury goods industry, Dana Thomas divulges how globalization has transformed luxury brands from couture to cheap in her recent book “Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster.”

Thomas, a Newsweek correspondent, provides a compelling overview of each major player of luxury – Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, Prada, Pucci, Gucci, Givenchy, and the list goes on – and how their elementary establishments initially eschewed the mass market. By tracing how mega corporations’ successes have become contingent upon the outsourcing of labor to China, Thomas makes it clear that luxury companies are no different. Though Thomas provides extensive historical context for the roots of each luxury company, it becomes a bit lengthy. After reading the first section of the book, I was more than ready to learn about the contemporary situation.
Thomas explores, with punchy prose and keen insight, the evolution that transpired once top executives recognized the powerful social message that a luxury brand possessed, realizing the profitability at hand.
A Prada handbag, an Armani suit or a Christian Lacroix jacket, Thomas astutely discusses, all radiate a powerful mystique to consumers: opulence.
Luxury houses learned that the upkeep of a brand simply required spending exorbitant amounts of cash on marketing a way of life. Aside from couture quality, luxury goods were what their advertisements dictated.
Thomas investigates the new generation of luxury brand admirers, discovering that the image that a high-end label conveys says it all.
“When you look at Louis Vuitton, you see it is mass-produced luxury. Vuitton is a status symbol. It’s not about hiding the logo. It’s about being a bit of a show-off,” Marc Jacobs, renowned designer and creative director of Louis Vuitton, the biggest luxury label today, tells Thomas.
Thomas presents a fair balance of narrative reporting and hard data. Louis Vuitton, the “LV” in the luxury behemoth known as LVMH (Louis Vuitton Mo