Luxury brands have often been associated with the core competences of creativity, exclusivity, craftsmanship, precision, high

quality, innovation and premium pricing. These product attributes give the consumers the satisfaction of not only owning expensive items but the extra-added psychological benefits like esteem, prestige and a sense of a high status that reminds them and others that they belong to an exclusive group of only a select few, who can afford these pricey items. The luxury sector targets its products and services at consumers on the top-end of the wealth spectrum. These self-selected elite are price insensitive and choose to spend their time and money on clothes and accessories that are plainly opulence rather than necessities. For these reasons, luxury and prestige brands have for centuries commanded an unwavering and often illogical customer loyalty. everal luxury and prestige brands such as Louis !uitton, "urberry and #hanel were launched in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when a strict social class system defined society and royalty and aristocracy reigned supreme. $uring this period, designers like #hristian $ior, Louis !uitton and %uccio %ucci designed clothes, luggage and leather goods exclusively for the noble men and women of society. Their work was an art form that took several weeks and sometimes months to produce and this was all a part of the &luxury and prestige' experience. $uring this period, it was the norm to literally dress in one brand from head-to-toe. (n the present )*st century environment, the story is different. The luxury scene has changed due to several factors. First a mass class of wealthy people have emerged the world over. +t the beginning of the century, luxury consumers were a small segment of the population who all looked the same. (n the last three to four decades however, a vast amount of wealth has been amassed by individuals due to several economic, social, and technological breakthroughs. econdly, there has emerged a sea of luxury brands and this has affected the high entry barrier that the industry guarded for centuries. (t has also given luxury consumers more choice than ever before. Thirdly, the rapid growth of digital, information and communications technology has given consumers more variety in luxury product offering, easier access to view the choices and lower switching costs especially on the (nternet. This has empowered the consumers to become more individualistic, experimental and bold enough to mix luxury and high-street fashion in one outfit, something that their mothers and grandmothers would have considered a taboo in the past. The result of this change is the phenomenon of &trading-up and trading-down.' The new wealthy mass class who are en-oying their ability to trade up to acquiring luxury products practice trading-up. Trading-down is the practice of mixing the use of luxury items with fashion brands. This practice is also popularly called &the democratisation of luxury.' Therefore it is no longer a surprise to find a wealthy celebrity wearing -eans from ./0, earrings from #hanel, shoes from #oach, a shirt from 1ara and a bag from Louis !uitton. Luxury consumers have unconsciously formed a pedestal for fashion brands to stand side by side with luxury brands. The so-called fashion brands such as ./0, 1ara, 0ango, %ap and Top hop are redefining their branding and marketing strategies to reflect a &luxurious' appeal to the consumer. +s a result of this, for the first time in their history, luxury brands are facing competition from the &lesser' mass fashion

brands that are gradually edging into the lives of luxury consumers. Luxury brands have always had well-defined territories along which they operate and there has never been any question that they hold the strings in determining their consumers2 behaviors until now. The mass fashion brands are showing that they have understood the language of differentiation and individualism and are able to offer the luxury consumer alternatives to their luxury products or complimentary goods at better price-value. They have also developed sophisticated operations techniques to spin off their products in a short time. This has enabled the mass brands to graduate from &mass' to &mass-premium' brands, as they like to be referred. 3hile they are still fantastic consumer brands, they are no longer low-end or middle-end brands. They have understood that it is no longer a problem for a young wealthy $uchess to combine a 456 pair of -eans from 1ara with a 47,666 bag from !uitton and a 45,666 8*) watch from #hanel, and they are exploiting this development. This goes to say that the luxury bag or watch alone is not solely required to enable the consumer fulfill the needs of esteem. +nother factor that has enabled the christening of the fashion brands as premium brands is the manipulation of the marketing mix strategies to be similar to those of the luxury brands. + typical example is the introduction of limited edition clothes and accessories by high street brands such as the 9:2s 0arks and pencer2s or the recent wave of high advertisement expenditure in fashion maga;ines like Vogue and Harpers & Queen, which were previously the sole domains of luxury brands. !iewing a Top hop advertisement beside #hanel or .ermes advertisement in !ogue undoubtedly does something to the mind of the consumer. (n addition, the mass-premium brands now open in the best locations in fashion capitals of <ew =ork, >aris, 0ilan and London. They now act and speak as if they are really the high-end brands that set the trends. They have become aggressive in their manner of communication to their target audience, who are largely luxury consumers. +nother example is the teaming up of legendary luxury fashion designer and $esigner of the .ouse of #hanel, :arl Lagerfeld with ./0 to design a limited edition women2s wear collection in <ovember )66?. This collaborative effort would have been unthinkable ten years ago. The crucial questions are@ +re luxury brands now mass brands like fashion brandsA +re fashion brands becoming luxury brandsA 3here can we draw the line between luxury and fashion brandsA

+ccording to industry experts, luxury and prestige brands such as Bolex, Louis !uitton and #artier represent the highest form of craftsmanship and command a staunch consumer loyalty that is not affected by trends. These brands create and set the seasonal trends and have the ability to sell an item for 4)6,666 and another for 4)66 to different consumer groups. They are also capable to pulling all of their consumers with them wherever they go.

Premium brands are those brands like >olo Balph Lauren, #alvin :lein and Tommy .ilfiger that aspire to be luxury and prestige brands but their marketing mix strategies are more attuned to a mass market, albeit a luxury mass market. ome experts also call this group, mass-premium brands while others have termed them mass-luxury brands and yet some others refer to them as high-end brands. This category has perhaps witnessed the greatest changes from the consumer and aggressive competition from global fashion brands like 1ara and ./0. Fashion brands on the other hand are those that dress the masses. + recent evolution brought about by competition has created a significant change in the fashion brands category. "rands like 1ara, ./0 and %ap can no longer be considered as merely fashion brands, in the same boat as any high street fashion brand as they have elevated their offerings and strategies. (n order to differentiate themselves from the mass-fashion brands, they now refer to themselves as >remium Fashion brands. They are playing a key role in the trading-down phenomenon of the luxury consumer. The difference between luxury brands and fashion brands is not only in the aspects of product quality and pricing but also applies to availability and exclusivity of the products. Fashion brands are for the mass market, whether they are of high quality or not. Luxury brands are for a distinct narrow market and are defined by high quality, differentiation and precision in product design and manufacture. + brand is either a luxury brand or it is not. There is no go-between. (f a brand does not set out to target the high-end market, then it is difficult to become a luxury brand. o what brands are the true luxury brandsA .eritage and tradition have always played a vital role in this sector. This is the reason that the industry is emphasi;ing the differences between luxury and prestige brands, premium brands and fashion brands. The traditional view of luxury has been affected by the recent changes in the consumer landscape. $espite this, the true luxury and prestige brands such as Louis !uitton, #hanel, .ermes, #artier, Bolex and %ucci, remain unwavering and not compromising their core values and continuously influencing their consumers2 thinking, albeit a more mass consumer base. These brands have strategies that address the difficult paradox of the combination of exclusivity and availability and to appeal to many while appearing to be right for only a special few. Finally, a simple test can be used to ascertain that a brand is a true luxury and prestige brand. (f you move the Louis !uitton boutique 76km away, will the consumer be ready follow the store 76 km away to the new locationA (f you take the ./0 boutique 76 km away, will the consumer go an extra 76 km for a pair of ./0 trousers or will they find an alternativeA This answers the question@ 3hat is a luxury brandA Uche Okonkwo (MBA) is an ndependen! Business Ana"#s! based in $ondon%