Low-Key Luxury: Shoppers Love Designer Brands, Hate Logos

Photo: Revolutionpix/WENN

Fashion designers have long depended on logos to make their brands stand out in the crowd.

Louis Vuitton monogrammed bags are  the epitome of luxury, and designers such as Chanel, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent have all used their initials to label their goods. However, there is a shift in the dynamic between consumers and designers, and it all revolves around the famous designer logos.

According to The Washington Post, shoppers are looking for low-key, subtle designers pieces, opting for high-end, one of a kind pieces rather than easy to recognize labels such as Gucci and Prada.

In essence, shoppers are going logo-free.

“We clearly can see that this is something where people are not wanting to show their wealth quite so conspicuously,” said Sarah Quinlan, who studies consumer spending patterns as the head of market insights for MasterCard Advisors.

Photo: SIPA/WENN

Combined with the want to go incognito with their fashion purchases, the shift is also being blamed on the political debate on income equality.

“This is really what keeps me up at night,” Johann Rupert, the chief executive of Richemont, which owns Cartier and other big luxury brands, said.“Because people with money will not wish to show it. If your child’s best friend’s parents go unemployed, you don’t want to buy a car or anything showy.”

And there are obvious signs that those logos are having negative impacts on designer labels. Gucci’s sales went down in 2014, so did Prada’s and Louis Vuitton’s. In comparison, smaller designer brands with logo-free designs such as Miu Miu, which is owned by Prada, saw their sales soar. The shift has also seen major changes at these logo-happy design houses with Gucci hiring Alessandro Michele and Louis Vuitton tapping Nicholas Ghesquiere.

Another reason for the shift is our obsession social media.

“Social media does play a huge role in desensitizing us to these things that used to feel so special, because we’re seeing it over and over again,” said Aba Kwawu, principal of TAA PR, which works with luxury fashion clients. “By the time things are hitting the stores, customers are over it.”

Whatever the reason, it seems, for now, designer logos are out, and subtlety is in.

“I think as customers have begun to notice changes in their own income and the income of others, they begin to feel a little bit of yuppie guilt around purchasing the logos,” said Charles Lawry, an assistant professor at Pace University who studies luxury marketing. “It’s the idea of not wanting to seem as if you’re trying to brag about the products that you own.”

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