Nicola Ruiz, 03.25.08, 12:00 PM ET
The Nielsen Company has conducted an online survey, asking 25,000 consumers in 48 countries which luxury brand they would buy if money were no object. Top on the list, of course, was Gucci. Gucci's worldwide sales have increased since Mark Lee has become the president in 2004 and CED in 2005. As Michael Macko, a fashion director of Saks Fifth Avenue puts it, "That red and green stripe is some of the most iconic luxury branding ever created, and people want a piece of it."
Chanel and Calvin Klein tied for the second place. Chanel has provided all those classic yet stylish products including dresses, tweed suit and quilted handbags. On the other hand, Calvin Klein has been successful as well: its global retail sales increased to $4.5 billion in 2006.
The interesting fact is that when looking at who actually buys these designer brands, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong come out on top. There are only 7% of North American shoppers who would actually buy these. Not only so but 37% of North American consumers claimed they would not buy the designers' even if money were no object.
Contrast to Asians who would, in a matter of second, pick out a fake bag, North Americans are less aware and less concerned about the designers' products.
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It’s always interesting to see which brand is THE most famous. Actually I thought Prada would be the number one brand on the list because of the movie “Devil Wears Prada.” Prada was on the list but in 9th place.
From this article I, again, realized the importance of acknowledging the regional and cultural differences. I always thought that North America may be the number one consumer of these designers’ brands but it was totally different. Rather, the places that I didn’t’ really thought of, the places like Middle east countries as well as Asian countries are more interested in these and buy more of it. Now it makes sense a bit. When thinking of North American countries, the word that comes into mind is ‘Individualism.’ They don’t really care about what others think about them than the Asian countries or any other countries. On the other hand, Asian countries including Korea, Japan and China, people really care about how they would be seen in the others’ eyes and how others think about them. It’s a humongous difference. I knew that there should be a great difference but through this article I felt it directly.
Gucci Gucci founded the House of Gucci as a saddlery shop in Florence in 1906. A century later, the company's horse bit and stirrup motif is an enduring symbol of luxury. He started out selling leather bags to horsemen in the 1920s and progressed to luxury luggage as his clients graduated from equine transportation to horseless carriages. Today, with Frida Giannini at the creative helm, handbags with the interlocking double-G logo are among the company's biggest money makers.
Chanel is one of today's best-known fashion brands, and has been practically since it was founded by Coco (Gabrielle) Chanel in 1909. Coco Chanel established herself as the 20th century's single most important arbiter of fashion by offering women no-nonsense, elegant, relaxed and functional clothes. Today, the tweed Chanel suit with a nipped-at-the-waist cardigan jacket remains one of the most popular--and most copied--fashion staples. In 1983, Karl Lagerfeld reinvigorated the brand with a dose of sexiness. He's been designing the collection ever since.
In 1968, Calvin Klein and an investor started the company as Calvin Klein Limited with a small line of men and women's coats. In the '70s, Klein won two Coty Awards for his minimalist styles, and by the middle of the decade he had created a designer-jeans craze by putting his name on each pair's back pocket. Advertisements featured a 15-year-old Brooke Shields who famously said, "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins." In 2003 Phillips Van Heusen acquired the brand, and today there are three tiers within the collection ranging from high-end pieces to moderately priced casualwear.
The French luxury fashion and leather goods brand, now a main division of the French holding company LVMH, was founded in 1854 as a luggage retailer. The company is now known for its monogrammed leather handbags and employs designer Marc Jacobs as its creative director. Keeping up with the demand for exclusive luxury, the company is collaborating with a series of artists for limited-edition handbag collections.
The designer founded the company in 1945 and quickly became famous for the "New Look," a fitted jacket with a nipped-in waist and full calf-length skirt. After the rationing of fabric during the World War II, Dior's lavish use of material was bold and shocking. Since 1996, chief designer John Galliano has been at the creative helm of the French fashion house, owned by the LVMH luxury goods group.
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