A guide to luxury brand success in economic downturns
Milton Pedraza
First the story was that luxury was omnipotent and luxury consumers were immune. Even affluents were trading up, they said, and luxury could do no wrong. Now the story is that luxury has lost its lustre and even the wealthiest are bailing out. Makes for great headlines.
Neither was, or is, an absolute truth. The luxury market, and wealth segments, are very dynamic entities, comprising different products and services categories, and different segments of wealth, respectively, that respond differently to economic cycles. These responses are driven by both consumer...