Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster
by Dana Thomas
List Price:
Our Price: $9.11
You Save: $5.89 (39%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.58 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Dana ThomasEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2008-07-29
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster
Book Review: The NY Times said it better than I ever could have . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
This is quoted from an article that enticed me to buy the book:
"With Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, Ms. Thomas -- who has been the cultural and fashion writer for Newsweek in Paris for 12 years -- has written a crisp, witty social history that's as entertaining as it is informative. Traveling from French perfume laboratories to Las Vegas shopping malls to assembly-line factories in China, she traces the evolving face of the luxury goods business, from design through marketing to showroom sales.
She gives us some sharply observed profiles of figures like Miuccia Prada, who was a Communist with a doctorate in political science when she took over her family's small luxury goods business in 1978, and the business tycoon Bernard Arnault, who relentlessly built LVMH into a luxury monolith with dozens of brands (including Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Dior) sold around the world.
Ms. Thomas peppers her narrative with lots of amusing asides about everything from how orange became Hermès's signature color because it was the only color widely available during World War II to the money-saving benefits of raw-edge cutting, which has been marketed to the public as a cutting-edge, avant-garde innovation."
Bottom line: Highly recommended to anyone interested in the marketing mindset of luxury products.
Summary of Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster
Once luxury was available only to the rarefied and aristocratic world of old money and royalty. It offered a history of tradition, superior quality, and a pampered buying experience. Today, however, luxury is simply a product packaged and sold by multibillion-dollar global corporations focused on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and, above all, profits. Award-winning journalist Dana Thomas digs deep into the dark side of the luxury industry to uncover all the secrets that Prada, Gucci, and Burberry don?t want us to know. Deluxe is an uncompromising look behind the glossy façade that will enthrall anyone interested in fashion, finance, or culture.Social Sciences Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Social Sciences Books
Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Classby Lawrence Otis Graham
Harper; Published: 1999-01-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops:
Cutting Loose: Why Women Who End Their Marriages Do So Wellby Ashton Applewhite
Harper; Published: 1997-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.98
Price in other shops:
Dance of Angerby Harriet Lerner
Harpercollins Publisher; Published: 1985-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $59.95
Blue Suburbia: Almost a Memoirby Laurie Albanese
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-03-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbandsby Laura Schlessinger
Harper; Published: 2003-12-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops:
Secret Channels: The Inside Story of Arab-Israeli Peace Negotiationsby Mohamed Heikal
Harpercollins Pub Ltd; Published: 1997-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $346.80
Trusted Moleby Milos Stankovic
Harpercollins Pub Ltd; Published: 2001-03; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
INFORMING STATECRAFT (INTELLIGENCE FOR A NEW CENTURY)by Angelo Codevilla
Free Press; Published: 1992-03-30; Board book; Book
Best price: $14.00
Price in other shops:
BLACK BOURGEOISIEby Shervert, md Frazier
Scribner; Published: 1962-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $39.98
![Life at the Extremes: [The Science of Survival] Image](/images/Life-at-the-Extremes-The-Science-of-Survival-0006551254-X.jpg)
Life at the Extremes: [The Science of Survival]by Frances M. Ashcroft
Flamingo; Published: 2001-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.25
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Front Row: Anna Wintour: What Lies Beneath the Chic Exterior of Vogue's Editor in Chiefby Jerry Oppenheimer
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2006-02-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Luxury World: The Past, Present and Future of Luxury Brandsby Mark Tungate
Kogan Page; Published: 2009-11-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.45
Price in other shops:
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the Worldby Dan Koeppel
Plume; Published: 2008-12-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops:
Selling Luxury: Connect with Affluent Customers, Create Unique Experiences Through Impeccable Service, and Close the Saleby Robin Lent, Genevieve Tour
Wiley; Published: 2009-06-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.79
Price in other shops:
(un)Fashionby Tibor Kalman, Maira Kalman
Harry N. Abrams; Published: 2005-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.75
Price in other shops:
Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods--and How Companies Create Themby Michael J. Silverstein, Neil Fiske, John Butman
Portfolio Trade; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
Bringing Home the Birkin: My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World's Most Coveted Handbagby Michael Tonello
William Morrow; Published: 2008-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.29
Price in other shops:
The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greedby Sara G. Forden
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2001-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
The End of Fashion: How Marketing Changed the Clothing Business Foreverby Teri Agins
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2000-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.45
Price in other shops:
The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brandsby Jean-Noel Kapferer, Vincent Bastien
Kogan Page; Published: 2009-02-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $30.56
Price in other shops: