 |
 |
|
      
|
 |
As we’ve done now for the last three (I believe) Louis Vuitton price increases, we’ll be having a Price Increase sale at FASHIONPHILE when LV raises it’s prices this month.
We’ve heard conflicting info on the exact date: August 12, 17 and 19… but keep your eye out for my blog. When the prices go up- ours will go down (for a week, anyway!)
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
We don’t let anything like a pesky global economic downturn get in the way of us and our handbags!
So interesting that LVMH and Hermes posted record earnings this quarter, when everyone else is getting totally hosed. Starbucks is closing doors left and right and Bennigans is shutting down completely but we’re buying luxury bags and designer jewelry in record numbers!
We see that here at FASHIONPHILE. It seems like people are needing cash- so we’re getting a ton of consignments. But, people also are into the luxury handbags that they’ve gotten used to when the times were fat- so they’re still buying. They just are willing to buy pre-owned to save a little money!
Read the story in Vogue…
and Bloomberg.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Well at least if you’re in Chicago!
Louis Vuitton opened thier first in-store boutique in a Nordstrom on North Michigan Avenue. Read more about the opening here.
We’d heard about the opening and were hoping that it would be unveiled when Emily and Ben were at eBay Live in Chicago this year at the end of June. But alas- it didn’t finally open until just this week.
Lucky for us… vtachgyrl from The Purse Forum WAS able to check it out and got some really cool pictures of the Norstrom Louis Vuitton window display that she’s graciously let me share. I think it’s so interesting. Take a peek:
Yes, those are Louis Vuitton Neverfull bags being blown in the wind by steel industrial fans.
I’m trying to get my tiny little brain wrapped around this. I keep thinking about the scene in the Louis Vuitton & Marc Jacobs documentary where LV upper-ups are walking around like this huge area with all of the display windows that are to be used all over the world. I’m wondering what Arnault, Carcelle, etc would think about the concept.
What do you think Nordies LV is trying to say?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
(Cake not authorized by Louis Vuitton nor served to the bloggers at the little get together…)
Full disclosure here: I’m totally jealous, would have loved to have been invited, etc. etc. But, I’m also of course happy to give my two cents on it.
So, Louis Vuitton invites about 15 fashion bloggers- Bag Snob, Fashion Indie, Nitrolicious, Fashion Tribes, Fab Sugar, Haute Concept, Get Kempt, Gala Darling to a little get together to answer the question, “How do we work with you?”
It’s soooo smart for LVHM to connect with these folks. I mean, they pay bloggers absolutely nothing- to write about what they (LVMH) happen to be selling. You can’t buy that kind of publicity.
Or can you? I’m just hoping that it takes more than a little face to face with LV Brass, a couple croissants & a coffee or two to get some of our favorite “independent” fashion bloggers to lose their objectivity.
I was disappointed in this comment in response to the meeting from one of our favorite bag bloggers, Bag Snob:
“While you may be tempted by eBay and other unauthorized outlets, the only safe bet to ensure the authenticity of your LV bag is to purchase at an LV boutique.”
;(
I mean, obviously another totally safe bet would be to buy a bag from www.eluxury.com, owned by LVMH.
And hey, there a ton of reputable consignment and resellers of Louis Vuitton both online and off. For sure, you have to be careful- there are thousands of ways to get scammed online. But, if you buy from a seller like us here at FASHIONPHILE, you really can be confident that #1) your bag is authentic and #2) if there are any problems whatsoever, we’ll make it right.
As we’ve been told, we’re “the best kept secret in Beverly Hills.” If you’re interested in an authentic vintage, limited edition or currently available authentic Louis Vuitton piece… you can not only pick that item up from us for sometimes hundreds of dollars below retail- but you can trust us!
Don’t drink the Koolaid!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
(Martha Stewart and her Birkin…)
It’s been floating around- but Bloomberg reported today that there is some speculation that a bid from LVMH may be one factor behind the recent boost in Hermes stock.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Forbes just reported on the World’s Most Powerful Luxury Brands (Millward Brown uses the BrandZ database to rank the Top 100 Most Powerful Brands from a list of 50,000 worldwide brands). Check their “In Depth” report on the top ten…
I love the intro:
Instead of focusing on American film stars to help sell their flash-in-the-pan looks, the company–owned by billionaire Bernard Arnault’s French conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH)–has gone back to basics, targeting its original customer: the jet-setter. Why? In this fickle economy, it’s likely more customers are looking for useful goods, not trendy bags. So, this time around, the company’s pushing its 154-year-old luggage collection–and using a retirement-age rocker with a questionable past to do it.
But the whole article’s worth the read.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
So Louis Vuitton, LVMH sues artist Nadia Plesner for an image she created that includes a bag that is obviously (and potentially confusingly) similar to a Louis Vuitton Multicolore Audra. She claims that she didn’t use LV’s multicolore monogram exactly, and that it was for charity. LVMH responds, cease & desist. And honestly, I feel for LV, because for Pete’s sake, who wants to be associated with the nightmare going on in Darfur.
But, I don’t want to get into the nitty gritty of the suit. Other bloggers are doing that.
I’d like to talk about this subject in light of one of Louis Vuitton’s recent artistic collaborations (a collaboration with an artists who represents a genre and movement that makes this case just a smidge ironic, IMO).
First, we have LV’s work with Richard Price. Even if you know very little about the art of Richard Prince before he met Marc Jacobs, you probably know that he is one who made his mark as “The Man Who Invented Appropriation“
“What is appropriation?”, you might ask. Well, that’s why I’m here…
The definition of “Appropriation Art” from the ArtLex- art dictionary:
“To take possession of another’s imagery (or sounds), often without permission, reusing it in a context which differs from its original context, most often in order to examine issues concerning originality or to reveal meaning not seen in the original.”
MPR said in it’s article “The Man Who Invented Appropriation”:
“Painter and sculptor Richard Prince is famous in the art world for taking other people’s work and presenting it as his own. Some people see it as theft, others see it as creating a new cultural understanding.”
Richard Prince became famous taking pictures of other people’s pictures. His photographs of old Marlboro Man ads have made him millions (one alone selling in 2005 for $1.2 million).
Prince said of his use of the Marlboro images,
“No one was looking. This was a famous campaign. If you’re going to steal something, you know, you go to the bank.”
You can read more about what the original photographic artist of one of these Marlboro images had to say about Princes’ appropriations in this New York Times article.
Here’s an example of a Richard Prince piece appropriately titled “Rolex”. It’s a “$40,000-$60,000″ picture that he took of an old Rolex ad.
I’m just saying… I’ve always thought it an ironic partnership. Richard Prince, the man who took taking other people’s work into the artistic mainstream and Louis Vuitton, maker of what Elle magazine calls “the most counterfeited bags in fashion history“.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
(Founder and Chief of LVMH, Bernard Arnault)
Apparently, Bernard Arnault isn’t worried about the recent boycott of LVMH that’s spread across cyber space through Chinese blogs, chat rooms and discussion forums. The Cyber Boycott includes not only Louis Vuitton handbags and accessories, but all 60 companies owned and operated by LVMH including Christian Dior, Tag Heuer, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, etc. So far, over 20 million people have signed online petitions to join the boycott. (Read more here: NYT)
China is Louis Vuitton’s third largest market (behind Japan and the USA)… but Arnault said in Le Figaro, “The consequences for our company are very limited”. (Read more here: Forbes)
(Picture Credit: Patrick Kovarik for the New York Times)
The boycott stems from not only the little debacle as the Olympic torch worked its way through Paris, April 8 but general Western support of Tibet. Protesters for Human Rights and Tibetan freedom actually managed to extinguish the flame a few times in the scuffle.
Arnault actually said in response to the torch incident, “If we want to have dialogues with China, the Olympic torch should not have been a target of attacks when it passed Western cities… boycotting the Olympics is not a solution.”
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Well, once again… we here at FASHIONPHILE are looking out for you and feeling your pain. Louis Vuitton’s raising their prices again tomorrow- April 17.
Price Increases stink, but LVMH bean counters are smart to defend against the weak dollar. And it’s paying off to the tune of billions of dollars in profits.
Still. We don’t like it any more than you do. So we’re having another one of our “Price Increase” sales. Any purchase made on our www.fashionphile.com site OR our weekly auctions for one week will get standard shipping absolutely free***! Starting tomorrow, Thursday April 17 through Thursday, April 24, all US buyers will get free shipping if you use coupon code “freeship4u”!
** Sorry, offer only good in the US of A. If you are one of our International buyers- let us know if you buy something during this period, and we’ll see if we can do something for you too…
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
(Yves Carcelle, LVMH Chairman & CEO)
While the dollar flounders, house values plummet and folks from the very top are no longer only whispering rumors of a US recession… Louis Vuitton again posts huge gains in first quarter sales.
LVMH reported 5.3% gain first quarter. They saw growth in every catagory but wines and spirits (folks must be resorting to cheap liquor to drink away their economic woes). Watches & Jewelry rose 11.6% with $332.9 million in revenue.
But, my personal favorite- the fashion and leather goods group reported the highest revenue. With all the price increases we’ve seen in the last year, I am not suprised. Fashion and leather goods rose 7.1% to $2.3 billion.
Interesting quote:
“But it’s not as if the economy hasn’t affected LVMH altogether. If the euro wasn’t so strong compared with other currencies — particularly the dollar — revenue would be much higher. There’s little doubt the brands have lost some aspirational customers — those who buy small items like Louis Vuitton keychains, or J’Adore Dior perfume. The company plans to combat this by continuing to expanding in emerging markets, particularly China and Russia.”
Read the article from Forbes…
From FoxBusiness…
From Marketwatch…
From Bloomberg…
From Reuters…
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
     
|
|---|
