Is Louis Vuitton Losing Its Luxury Status?

Authentic luxury brands like Louis Vuitton are characterized by their offer of status, exclusivity, quality, and expensive pricing. However, of late, Louis Vuitton has widened its scope, offering its product to a broader audience, causing a dent in one of those elements: exclusivity.

As you must already know, if a brand lacks at least one of these elements, it is not considered a true luxury. This has led many fashion enthusiasts to believe that Louis Vuitton has begun losing its luxury status.

So, the question is: is Louis Vuitton really losing its luxury status, or are people only over-imagining things? We will answer this question and other related questions about Louis Vuitton’s luxury status in this article, so keep reading.

Is Louis Vuitton Still a Luxury Brand?

Louis Vuitton is still very much a luxury brand because it’ll take more than “scope widening” to strip it of its luxury status. Louis Vuitton has been a luxury brand for as long as we can remember, and that’s unlikely to change soon.

The question of Louis Vuitton’s luxury status is something beyond a stock market evaluation; luxury is something you covet. Moreover, the brand’s last earnings report generally claims its 30% investors’ return, meaning someone still believes in its luxury status.

Luxury means different things to different people, but it is generally something that brings you joy, temporary or permanent. The LV brand has pivoted its offerings to inculcate a more street element, attracting a broader audience and breaking the earnings record. LV, however, still needs to be careful about how widely it spreads its nets to avoid becoming the new YSL.

One of the key elements to a successful luxury brand’s trajectory is exclusivity; losing that can disturb its brand image.

Louis Vuitton’s heritage is for luxury luggage, and the world recently entered a period of restricted travel. The brand’s supply chains are different now, especially after the death of Virgil Abloh, who brought LV a more cultural heritage.

LV is considering navigating its hold on what the fashion world considers the luxury status. The brand moves to become more responsive to its customers, reassuring them that they get something realistic with Louis Vuitton.

Is Louis Vuitton a High-End Brand?

Louis Vuitton is a high-end division of the LVMH and is considered by Forbes to be the world’s most valuable luxury brand. The brand deals in different collections of leather goods, trunks, jewelry, accessories, watches, handbags, clothing, and shoes.

Most of Louis Vuitton’s products are adorned with the brand’s iconic monogram. Louis Vuitton is considered one of the most profitable luxury fashion brands globally, with a profit margin of around 30%.

Louis Vuitton launched its first collection of perfumes in 2016, seventy years after the last perfume collection. Then, the French Conglomerate, LVMH, built a state-of-the-art fragrance factory to fully develop the perfumes, with Emma Stone being the star.

The brand later added men’s fragrances to its collection in 2020 as the brand celebrated its 165th-anniversary last year. Famous actresses Alicia Vikander and Lea Seydoux became the Louis Vuitton brand ambassadors.

The “big three” brands in the fashion industry are Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Hermes. Thus, owning a Louis Vuitton product, like watches, bags, or shoes, is more than simply owning a designer product. Louis Vuitton is a symbol of status and luxury, so the brand can charge as much as it does.

What Does Luxury Mean Today?

The meaning of luxury has changed over the years; it is no longer what it used to be. We can probably blame that on the internet, the rise of on-demand services, and the shift in consumer values.

Thanks to the younger generations becoming more important buyers of high-end goods, the traditional perception of luxury is being challenged. Around the edges of luxury brands’ classic symbols, the concept of luxury is becoming blurry, making its beginning and end unclear.

Luxury fashion brands are starting to turn to sneakers and sweatpants for sales growth. Meanwhile, environmental and social awareness have become potent markets of status and affluence for luxury brands like Louis Vuitton.

Although luxury and fashion aren’t the same, many luxury brands have followed consumers toward less formal dresses. That means they’re producing more athletic wear and casual, logo-heavy streetwear, which was evident when LV hired Virgil Abloh.

Regardless of how well-crafted and expensive a pair of Balenciaga sneakers were, they would not have been considered luxury a few decades ago. This reflects the desire o fashion designers and shoppers to break from old taste standards and stand out on Instagram.

Why Is Louis Vuitton So Luxurious?

Louis Vuitton’s products being some of the most expensive on the fashion market is not without justifiable reasons. For one, Louis Vuitton on celebrities raises the standards and value of the brand almost immediately.

Most of the time, customers of designer brands pay more to buy luxury items because of the name those items carry. Another reason is the cost of making the item, and Louis Vuitton products are manufactured with high-quality, expensive materials.

Moreover, Louis Vuitton has been a legend in the fashion world since its inception in 1854; it grew stronger in public appeal. The LV brand is known to release limited editions of its fashion pieces, thus increasing their demand.

Only loyal customers are notified when a new LV product is released, and the buying frenzy starts. LV customers know that delay is dangerous when getting the brand’s items because they may lose their chance.

Louis Vuitton is careful not to put too many of its high-quality goods on the market, knowing it’ll mean value loss. Brands dance between too many products and not producing enough in the luxury fashion world.

Designer brands like Louis Vuitton would rather make limited series of products to give their customers the whole exclusivity experience.

Conclusion

Although Louis Vuitton is widening its scope to reach a wider audience, the brand isn’t lowering its luxury status. On the contrary, the brand is trying not to make its products too available even as it aims to reach more people.

The LV brand still offers exclusivity to its loyal customers by producing limited products in every series. Over one hundred years after its inception, Louis Vuitton is still regarded as a luxury and high-status symbol.