Women’s Wear Daily reports:
Affluent consumers may be highly aware of a particular luxury fashion brand, but that’s no guarantee they will accord it high social status.
In fact, some of the best-known high-end brands
command the weakest cachet with the well-heeled set.
Six of the 10 luxury brands scoring the loftiest ratings for social status in a recently concluded study by the Luxury Institute were present in the minds of between 21 and 59 percent of a nationally representative sample of 500 wealthy consumers.
Bottega Veneta, which led a list of 21 designer brands evaluated for their social status – a designation based on their association with people who are admired and respected – nonetheless ranked at the bottom of the awareness scale, as assessed by the 500 adults, ages 21 and older, surveyed.
The group had a median annual income of $318,000; a median net worth of $2.5 million, including home equity, and a median age of 49.
With exclusivity and uniqueness being important aspects of the traditional luxury experience often high-end brands achieve greater awareness by expanding and broadening their
distribution.
The wide availability of designer labels at discounters is a long-term challenge that some high-end companies have begun to address.
One exception to the down-market status chill is Giorgio Armani, which has diversified but has
maintained a halo effect.
Indeed, Armani was the third-best-recognized designer brand, known by 74 percent of the affluent adults, and was a close second to Bottega Veneta in the realm of status, as 57 percent of those who knew the Armani name strongly agreed it was worn by people who are admired and respected.