How Luxurious is the Internet?

An article on today’s NYT describes the forces behind the proliferation of online luxury good stores. These goods cost over a couple of thousands of dollars and are seen as highly exclusive. While in past years one usually tied online buying to goods found in big retail stores or “All- America” mall stores this is no longer the case.

Technology has allowed images to be displayed in a “prettier” manner. Who needs to be there when you can see it move though an online fashion runway video?

Pressing zoom a couple of times will not allow you to touch the fabric but it will allow you to notice the faintest pattern, something you couldn’t have done 5 or 10 years ago.

Technological innovation has created high fashion online stores in which designs, as stated in the NYT, “will not diminish their marquee status.”

High fashion and luxury goods have always been about exclusivity.

Though high tech has facilitated their transition into the internet I do not think it is the sole driving force. The movement of high fashion into the internet is about a change in the consumers’ lifestyle.

For starters, the growth of internet stores has been triggered by the fact that a great number of people in non-traditional fashion and wealth meccas want and can buy 5,000 dollar shoes.

Considering that the demand for luxury goods is low, in comparison to your average j-crew sweater or your old navy pants and that designers can’t place stores near every client, it was about time that designer’s found a way to increase business without having to wait for their client’s to schedule them in while vacationing in Milan or Paris.

According to Brendan Hoffman, president of Neiman Marcus Direct, most clients buy online “on weekends and after 8 p.m, once the kids are in bed.” If their customers are busy during the day earning the 7,900 dollars they need for their Valentino gowns they won’t have time to go and physically shop.

Yes, technology has helped, but online technology is just reacting to a change in lifestyle.

As for exclusivity, as long as the price tag on a pair of shoes reads $5,000, designers shouldn’t be worried about diluting their exclusivity.