Luxury Brand Management in Digital and Sustainable Times. Michel Chevalier
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that needs additional specific attributes to perform its function of distinction in a human group. This ability of luxury to indefinitely segment the markets shows us how it has been able to blend, by transforming itself, in our modern civilization of mass consumption.
The second point is that this modern luxury appears to carry rather positive connotations. Obviously, it also has its excesses, its indecency; however, the fact that we can now speak of luxury in positive terms already certifies a remarkable semantic evolution. In order to measure this evolution, we must return to the etymology.
Etymology and Transformations
The word luxury comes from the Latin luxus, which means “grow askew, excess.” Its root is an old Indo-European word that meant “twist.” In the same family, we find “luxuriant” (yielding abundantly) and “luxation” (dislocation). In short, the term originally refers to something of the order of aberration: it is almost devoid of any positive connotation.
We have used the dictionary Le trésor de la langue française informatisé, which offers a brief overview of two centuries of use.
1607: “way of life characterized by large expenditures to make shows of elegance and refinement”
1661: “character of which is expensive, refined,” luxury clothing
1797: “expensive and superfluous object, pleasure”
1801: “excessive quantity,” a luxury of vegetation
1802: “which is superfluous, unnecessary”
Little by little, the notion of guilty excess disappears, while the ideas of distinction and refinement gain in strength. In the Classical Age, luxury is already full of ambiguities: speaking of women's toilette, La Fontaine relates the “instruments of luxury” to everything “which contributes not only to cleanness, but also to delicateness.” This does not prevent him from condemning, moralistically, “these women who have found the secret to become old at twenty years, and seem young at sixty.”3 Around the same time, the grammarian Pierre Nicole wishes that “great people,” by their example, deter us from “luxury, blasphemy, debauchery, gambling, libertinage.”4 In sum, the luxury already connotes sophistication, but it remains morally suspect.
At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the connotation of superfluous—which is not motivated by economic and utilitarian logic—begins consolidating. It becomes more nuanced with the advent of mass consumption and the civilization of leisure. The superfluous is not debauchery; it is beyond the commercial sphere, but it can also mark the promotion of a certain quality of life.
As for the price dimension, it appears very early and remains virtually unchanged over the years: luxury is something that is to be paid for.
From the same French dictionary, we see that current usages of the word “luxury” show evolutionary meanings: the original meanings are enriched by others, introducing the word into the sphere of day-to-day experience (“little luxuries”) while affirming the notion of a pleasure without complex (“innocent luxury”):
1 Social practice characterized by lavish expenditures, the search for expensive amenities or refined and superfluous goods, often motivated by a taste and desire for the ostentatious and fatuous.
2 Luxury (as an adjective). Of very high quality, sophisticated and expensive. Article, object, luxury product, grand luxury, semi-luxury, luxury style, luxury animal.
3 Refers to a thing, a behavior valuable because of the enjoyment it provides. “The toothbrush still plays me tricks and also the tube of toothpaste that always breaks from the bottom. One must sacrifice these small luxuries to the great luxury of time” (Paul Morand).5
4 Qualify a thing, a behavior valuable because of its rarity and sometimes by the fact that it is devoid of utilitarian function. “The emerging forms of society today are not making the existence of intellectual luxury one of their essential conditions. Probably, the unnecessary cannot nor should interest them” (Paul Valéry).6
The adventures of the word reflect those of the concept. It shows that luxury emerged first as a licit experience—a practice of distinction—and then, when everyone wanted to distinguish himself from everyone, as a common experience. From the etymology of excess or botanical deviation, the meaning extends into excessive or unnecessary, redundant, expensive objects. The previous senses are still present, but they evolve to include scarcity. Soon the meaning attached to the valuable, rare, and expensive object will apply to the lifestyles of their owners and mean wealth, ostentation, and, therefore, power.
With the emergence of the postmodern brand—that is, the appearance of brands communicating in the registry of luxury by offering imaginary worlds associated with luxurious lifestyles, without necessarily offering expensive and certainly not rare objects—new meanings emerge and are superimposed on the previous ones.
The aesthetic treatment of objects, design, and creativity become more relevant. At the social level, luxury gathers additional values of seduction and elitism, not foreign to the values of power and prestige. Hedonism becomes the latest addition to the valences of luxury, a characteristic of our times of postmodern consumerism.
The Advent of Intermediate Luxury
This transformation of meaning is based on a contemporary sociological revolution, a direct consequence of the mass production and especially of the rise of the brands: the advent of intermediate luxury. Truly luxurious lifestyles are present, more than ever, in any modern communication: but they form only part of the equation. Intermediate luxury brands offer countless possibilities for the middle class to take part symbolically, partially, or virtually into this world.
The global luxury chessboard is therefore distributed on two levels, if not more: on the one hand, “true luxury”—which few people can afford—increases its hold on the market. The growth of the number of wealthy or well-to-do consumers (especially in the BRIC countries) combined with a bigger supply—investments in the luxury industries that have been yielding higher returns on investment than ordinary brands—have led to a strong visibility of luxurious lifestyles. The press and the media in general contribute actively by exposing the life of the rich and famous.
On the other hand, intermediate luxury brands, in applying their logic of volume of production and communication, ensure the democratization of luxury. They multiply the opportunities for consumers of the middle classes, to be in contact with the possible imaginary worlds they offer. What is more naturally human than to aspire to signs of social recognition, success, comfort, and prestige? This democratization is rampant. Nervesa, the Italian brand of men's ready-to-wear, does not hesitate to promote “low-cost prestige.” The American brand Terner Jewelry promotes its products in airport shops with broad signs showing “Luxury at €12.”
The ultimate symbol of this democratization could be the recent attention paid to soccer—a popular sport, anti-elitist par excellence—by some brands, much bigger than Terner and Nervesa. The kick-off had taken place in 1998 in Paris, when Yves Saint-Laurent presented a parade of some of his historic fashion models at the opening ceremony of the World Cup at the France Stadium. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Louis Vuitton presented an advertising campaign where the mythical champions Pelé, Maradona, and Zidane competed in table soccer (baby-foot). Parmigiani, the Swiss watchmaker, was “the official watchmaker of the football club Olympique de Marseille” in the 2010s. Its direct competitor Hublot sponsors the soccer clubs Juventus of Torino, Chelsea, and Benfica, as well as Jose Mourinho (coach), Pele (the legendary Brazilian player), and Kylian Mbappé (an international French player at Paris-Saint-Germain). It was also the official timekeeper of the 2018 World Cup. The English Premier League is a favorite target of the luxury watches because of the widespread worldwide coverage it benefits