Luxury vs Designer - Topic of the day 5/2/25
We often hear that one brand is designer or luxury. What makes a brand designer or luxury? Is it possible for something to be both?
7 Replies
there is a lot of space for interpretation but TO ME
- "designer" clothing is attributed to a person
(whether or not that person is actively designing clothes currently): rick owens, mainline ralph lauren, balenciaga are designer; old navy and crocs aren't
- "designer" is often a legacy description - tommy hilfiger and betsey johnson are generally considered designer despite having far less impact/presence currently
- nowadays i think the colloquial term of "designer" is "showing a collection at a fashion week for buyers" vs just releasing it to stores/stockists/online
- "designer" does not automatically mean "high quality"
- "luxury" brands imply a high quality of material, craftsmanship and often a smaller supply of goods; luxury brands generally are expensive, owing to a higher valuation if their work
- "luxury" does not imply "higher quality", though usually luxury brands will highlight it as a positive
- some brands are both, usually due to longevity and impact - hermes, dior, chanel, to name a few (again imo)
i think a glib shorthand is "if there's a market for fakes/dupes/reps its probably designer"
but
- expensive clothes are not automatically designer or luxury (e.g. drakes)
- neither designer nor luxury clothes are inherently more aesthetic, more versatile, or a better value than non-designer clothes (e.g. levi's and chuck taylors aren't designer by themselves but people still seek them out)
- neither designer nor luxury brands are automatically better quality
that said designer and especially luxury goods are usually constructed better or use better materials or else are designed in such a way that can justify the higher price, whether or not that's a good price for a consumer
i mean yea zeo said it
i can and have been wrong previously but thank you for thr affirmation
in all of that i forgot to say there's a difference between designer and a designer; there's plenty of talented clothing designers with great offerings who don't have the same name recognition or reach
It’s not always the case I’m sure, but another way that I tend to think of the two differently is what they’re attempting to signal at the broadest, most reductive level: wealth vs culture
Financial capital vs cultural capital might be a more accurate but annoying way to put it
Kate spade and Todd snyder are technically designer but idk if id call them luxury
honestly idk if id ever even personally use the term 'luxury' because it feels too loaded to me
I will say that does not apply to watches unless you go expensive. Majority of those you are paying for the name until you breach the like 2k mark. At which point they start doing interesting things/are a decent value proposition.
I associate designer with a signature look and a strong persona. I associate luxury with both, as well as an insistence on quality, although luxury goods have been declining in quality (which I view as a bug due to businesses’ greed and not originally a feature of luxury brands, which often started priding themselves on the quality of their goods). But for me, the fundamental difference is exclusivity.
Agreed. Also agree with @zeometer and with @jibba on wealth vs culture.
Kate Spade is designer. I consider it premium, but not luxury.