The city of Love

Paris is one of the most romantic, beautiful and luxurious cities in the world. The beauty of the people found it in, the fashion, the food, the whole atmosphere is simple amazing, and luckily enough I was able to visit the city last week. Looking at Paris on a fashion level, the city is perfect. The home of Haute Couture, Paris screams luxury, and the whole experience will be unforgettable. The Chanel Flag Ship store, as well as Louis Vuitton, the whole elegance and welcome from the city is just incredible, and the layout of the streets, and the hustle and bustle of the city centre is just phenomenal. The layout reminds me very much of New York, with blocks around the main shopping centre: Lefayette. The day was perfectly balanced between Fashion Shopping and sightseeing! I would recommend Paris is a place to visit if you have any sort of interest in fashion, the whole ora of the city is just beautiful! 

Store Placements

Next I headed to the home of Madame De Pompadour’s home, the mistress of Louis XIV; now home to the Wallace Collection which is a house which burst of Paris, from the huge staircase to the ‘Gold Room’, it not only developed my understanding of Vivienne Westwood’s inspirations for a lot of her designs, but it made me incredibly excited for Paris; which was exactly one month on Sunday! Around the Wallace exhibition is home to a lot of wealthy Londoners, which suits the exhibition perfectly. 

Walking back along Oxford Street, we now walked the entire street of Bond Street; both old and new. This was one of the main sections of the whole day which really stood out to be, and made an impact on my understanding of the placement within the fashion clustering. Old Bond Street is full of luxury fashion houses, such as Tiffany, Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton. Like Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton has tried to create a unique experience for the customers, and another unique selling point to the brand. This store has been redesigned to feel like you, as the consumer, are inside a jewellery box! This strange idea, is actually incredibly effective, as the tall ceilings and the sectioned store allows the store to have something extra in comparison. However, there is one more important factor which I noticed about Bond Street, There is a large Chanel store opposite to Vuitton, however, there is now a Dior being built right next door to Chanel; this push of competitiveness is key to keeping up to date with what the other is planning, and will help both to develop and continue to cluster together to re-enforce their position amongst rivals.

Luxury Fashion

Luxury brands offer a range of products which are priced just high enough so everyone can feel that they are a part of the elite fashion market, yet the pieces they’re paying are more affordable. The luxury brand has been around since the 19th Century, therefore it is new to the world of fashion. The luxury market is run by many different groups, LVMH, Kering and Richemont; these allow the groups to distinguish the level of luxury which the brand is offering. Unlike Couture, there is such a range in the entry level, that it really cant be distinguished; from brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Burberry and Hermes, there is such a range in their individual entry levels and prices. The target audience for luxury products is aimed at the younger generation to attract them into the market, however 76% of the buyers are aged 35-54, who can be found in social class A, which the majority will earn over 100,00o per year. Within the luxury market, China is the largest consumer of goods. On the other hand, 99% of Louis Vuitton’s products are fake throughout the world, meaning that at the end of the year, he burns all of the leftovers to make sure that the desire for his work doesn’t loose the luxury value to it.