Purpose:The purpose of this thesis has been to study, describe and analyze how luxury fashion brands have responded to fast fashion. Background:It has been stated that the life of luxury fashion brands has become more difficult since the proliferation of fast fashion brands. The Italian luxury fashion designer Giorgio Armani has said that "Fast fashion is a growing reality in our sector". Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of American Vogue has credited Zara for creating a ‘seasonless cycle for fashion’. Fast fashion brands such as H&M, Zara, Mango and Topshop have through interpreting catwalk trends with a speedy time-to-market been extremely successful at attracting the fashion conscious consumer. Even loyal high-end customers have started to mix their luxury fashion with fast fashion. Luxury fashion brands once dismissed the fast fashion brands as irrelevant to their high-end business, which however have started to drain away sales from the luxury fashion brands.Method:A qualitative research approach was taken to meet the purpose of collecting the relevant data. An interview was made with PR and Marketing Manager at Group 88, Robert Meeder who manages brands such as Gucci, Burberry and Bottega Veneta in Copenhagen. We also did a content analysis on articles collected that address the issue of how different luxury fashion brands have responded to fast fashion for the empirical study.Conclusion:Luxury fashion brands have responded to fast fashion by inclining towards the fast fashion model or reacting against it. Some of the reactions have been to offer lower priced lines under their own sub-brands. They have also allowed their customers to buy products during online webcasts in order to ensure early deliveries. Improvements have been made within logistics in order to speed up the time-to-market. The luxury fashion brands are also working more ‘seasonless’ than before and focusing on their heritage to portray a slower and more indulgent image to the consumer. / Program: Magisterutbildning i Fashion Management

<p>Recent years have seen a significant increase in growth of the Asian luxury market, of which China has clearly come to make up the new major market. As the strategic considerations for international companies differ between countries, an individual approach needs to be adopted to customize operations. With this master’s thesis, the author aims to map out the key current challenges for international luxury fashion companies in China. Through in-depth interviews with industry experts, the study identifies and analyzes a set of thirteen challenges, and finds unique issues within each of the challenges investigated. While further research is needed to further validate the findings of the study, its results points towards a broad spectrum of challenges and considerations, thus purposedly acting as a springboard for future research.</p>

Recent years have seen a significant increase in growth of the Asian luxury market, of which China has clearly come to make up the new major market. As the strategic considerations for international companies differ between countries, an individual approach needs to be adopted to customize operations. With this master’s thesis, the author aims to map out the key current challenges for international luxury fashion companies in China. Through in-depth interviews with industry experts, the study identifies and analyzes a set of thirteen challenges, and finds unique issues within each of the challenges investigated. While further research is needed to further validate the findings of the study, its results points towards a broad spectrum of challenges and considerations, thus purposedly acting as a springboard for future research.

Ao se pensar em produto de vestuário de moda luxo, tem-se como premissa um alto valor agregado que expressa uma qualidade diferenciada e quase exclusiva. Surgem questionamentos sobre a manutenção da qualidade de um produto de moda luxo diante seus processos terceirizados de desenvolvimento e produção. O aumento da utilização da estratégia de terceirização de processos que não compõe o core business das empresas se fez presente no setor de moda. As confecções de moda com caráter de luxo no Brasil não fugiram à regra, e passaram a terceirizar algumas partes de seus processos de desenvolvimento e produção com o objetivo de aumentar sua capacidade produtiva. Partindo do exposto o presente estudo tem como objetivo estudar o produto de moda luxo e sua qualidade a partir da terceirização. Para tal foi estudado o luxo, seus conceitos e parâmetros, produto de moda luxo, qualidade deste produto, seu processo de desenvolvimento e produção, buscando identificar possíveis inadequações com base em um estudo de caso. Em relação aos procedimentos metodológicos, a presente pesquisa é caracterizada como exploratória, bibliográfica, documental e estudo de caso. O instrumento para coleta de dados foi observação de campo acompanhada de entrevista semiestruturada aplicada com indivíduos que tenham contato direto com o desenvolvimento e produção de produtos de vestuário de moda luxo, utilizando como estudo de caso uma marca de moda luxo renomada localizada na zona oeste da cidade. Percebe-se que há uma diferença entre os parâmetros do que é moda luxo para o consumidor nacional e internacional, e que de alguma forma a terceirização influencia na qualidade do produto final de vestuário de moda luxo no Brasil / When thinking of luxury garments, there is a premise of a high added value and near exclusivity. Questions arise as regards to sustaining the quality of a luxury fashion product with its outsourced processes of development and production. The increased use of an outsourcing strategy for processes that do not make up the core business of enterprises has been present in the fashion sector. The luxury fashion manufacturers in Brazil did not escape the rule, and began to outsource parts of their development and production processes in order to increase their production capacity. From the aforementioned, the present paper aims to study the luxury fashion product and its quality with outsourcing. To that end, luxury was studied, taking into consideration its concepts and parameters, the luxury fashion product, the quality of this product, its development and production processes, seeking to identify possible inadequacies based on a case study. Regarding the methodological procedures, this research is characterized as exploratory, bibliographical, documentary and as a case study. The instrument for data collection was a field observation along with a semi structured interview with individuals who are in direct contact with the development and production of luxury fashion apparel products, using as a case study a renowned luxury fashion brand located in the west borough of city. What has been gathered is that there is a difference between the parameters of what is luxury fashion for national and international consumers and that somehow, outsourcing influences the quality of the final luxury fashion apparel product in Brazil

Today it seems like fast fashion brands are affecting luxury brands. Have the fast fashion brands been ignored too long and have luxury brands failed at protecting their brand values?  Luxury fashion brands make collaborations with fast fashion designers, something that would have been unthinkable a long time ago. Luxury brands have increased their number of seasons, some have diffusion lines and others sell online on their own websites. Luxury brands and fast fashion brands are sold on the same streets, worn by the same customers and can be found in the same magazines. Once fast fashion brands were irrelevant for the luxury brands and they ignored them, but time has changed. Fast fashion has affected the luxury industry in several ways. “Fast design turnover”, “Limited-edition products”, “brand communication”, “celebrity products and brand endorsement”, “prestige retail location” and“co-branding with luxury fashion designers” are just examples of tactics fast fashion brands use to imitate luxury brands (Okonkwo, 2007). But luxury brands have characteristics that fast fashion brands don’t such as high quality, exclusivity, high prices, status, and offer highlevels of symbolic and emotional values (Tynan, McKechnie, &amp; Chhuon, 2009). Common characteristics for fast fashion brands are trendy clothing, cheap, interpreted after fashion shows and the collections are delivered quickly (Plunkett, 2010). This study is of qualitative nature and the topic is under-researched academically, which makes it more interesting to explore. However, the fast fashion and luxury fashion has been examined by an extensive literature review. The fast fashion has been dominating the fashion industry in recent years. The purpose was to find out how fast fashion brands and luxury fashion brands were connected. Seven interviews were conducted with people working in the luxury industry. Luxury and fast fashion, consumers, e-commerce, seasons and collaborations will be explored in this paper. This dissertation will mainly focus on how the fast fashion already has affected luxury brands. The conclusion was that luxury brands have been affected by fast fashion brands in numerous ways, it seems to affect bigger luxury brands more than independent designers. Clearly, the luxury industry has been affected by the fast fashion industry.

Brand heritage and consumer perceived value are two concepts which separately have received a growing interest among academics for quite some time. However both of them combined, hence consumers’ perception of the value of brand heritage is a relatively unexplored field of research. This study therefore intends to explore how consumers perceive the value of brand heritage of luxury fashion brands. To achieve this purpose, the study will investigate consumers’ perception of the value of brand heritage of four European luxury fashion brands – Burberry, Chanel, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton – which serve as illustrative/reference brands in this study. These four European luxury fashion brands are chosen as illustrative brands in this study based on the determination that heritage is a central part of their brands. Secondary data was collected through Internet based document analysis of the illustrative brands to determine whether these qualify as heritage brands. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect primary data for the purpose to explore how consumers perceive the value of brand heritage of the illustrative brands. The findings of the study reveal that consumers perceive the value of the brand heritage of the illustrative brands because it serves as a source of credibility and trust between the consumers and the brands. There is a perception that the brands have managed to maintain a certain standard regarding quality and craftsmanship, and likewise delivered according to consumers’ expectations over time. Furthermore consumers perceive the value of the brand heritage of the illustrative brands since it contributes to a sense of belongingness and social acceptance. They value the identity and meaning of the illustrative brand, hence the perception that the brands have managed to persistently deliver according to their core values and promises over time. It provides the consumers with the opportunity to connect with the brands on a personal level and to create their own individual identities and lifestyles through the brands. All this, in combination with the perception of the brands as timeless and durable, that they inhabit a sense of credibility and trust, which in the long run may generate loyalty - they value that the brands are loyal to them - conclude how consumers perceive the value of the brand heritage of the illustrative brands.

Purpose The aim of this master’s thesis is to gain in-depth insight into the emotional connections of consumers to the brand heritage of luxury fashion brands. Another aim of the paper is to investigate how brand love is enriched by the communication of brand heritage dimensions on Instagram. Design/Methodology/Approach This study is adopting an epistemological position of interpretivism and an abductive qualitative methodology. Seven semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with emerging luxury fashion consumers. Further, to gain insight into the meanings attributed to heritage luxury fashion brands, visual participatory methods were implemented. The methods used were a digital tour and a visual collage. The data was analysed with the help of thematic coding. Findings The current study finds that emerging consumers form emotional connections to heritage luxury fashion brands through dimensions of brand love: self-brand integration, passion-driven behaviours, long-term relationships and declarations of affection. This process of forming brand love for heritage luxury fashion brands is named ‘heritage brand love phases’ by this study. Additionally, the study finds that brand heritage is an enricher of brand love for emerging consumers on Instagram, where the consumer is already ‘highly brand-involved'. Managerial Implications It became evident in this study that there is a compatibility conflict between heritage luxury brands and social media. Brand managers ought to weave brand heritage seamlessly into their social media strategy for it to succeed. It is further suggested that managers take into account the ‘heritage brand love phases’ when devising heritage-related social media strategies. Originality/Value This paper explores brand heritage as an enricher of brand love on Instagram. This represents an unexplored area of brand love research. The study expands knowledge of luxury fashion by investigating how one dimension of luxury, brand heritage, impacts emerging consumers’ brand love.

Background and problem: The perception of luxury fashion has been shaped throughout history with well-known brands’ innovative strategies and designs. Along with its crafts and arts, exclusivity has been one of the main pillars of luxury fashion, creating the perception of luxury fashion products only being available to the ‘elite’; which has been feasible to maintain in an analog society. However, as luxury fashion brands have moved into the digital landscape; using digital channels such as e-commerce, social media, and disruptive technologies such as augmented reality, virtual clothing; distribution channels have opened up, contradicting traditional practises.  It has been found that it is the consumers’ perception that determines luxury brands separation from the ordinary. Raising the question of how consumers may perceive luxury fashion brands when operating in the digital landscape; since the use of digital channels and disruptive technologies contradicts with the characteristics defining luxury fashion, in particular exclusivity.   Purpose: In order to contribute to literature and create new understandings of the digitalisation of the luxury fashion industry; the purpose of this study is to explore how consumers perceive luxury fashion brands’ use of digital channels and disruptive technologies, specifically regarding the perception of exclusivity.                         Method: The study broadly followed an interpretivist research philosophy where qualitative data was collected by conducting eight semi-structured focus groups with Swedish luxury fashion consumers, born between the years of 1992-2000. The empirical findings were analysed through the general analytical approach, and thereafter discussed in relation to the frame of reference.  Conclusion: The findings suggest that consumers perceive that luxury fashion brands’ use of digital channels and disruptive technologies are diluting the perception of exclusivity, as luxury fashion becomes more accessible and visible with an increased attainability.

In recent years, the concept of environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility are crucial for consumers and companies. This thesis was made to explore and gain a better understanding in how luxury consumer evaluation of alternatives are manifested by luxury companies' environmental sustainable practices. To investigate this, the research question: How do a variety of factors, including environmental sustainability, manifest in consumers' evaluation of luxury brands and products? was formulated. A qualitative research method was used with semi-structured interviews together with an inductive approach. With purposive sampling, fourteen interviewees that have consumed or are consuming luxury fashion were participating to help us gather helpful information for our bachelor thesis. The information gathered from the participants were analysed with thematic analysis method and discussed in connection with the literature review. In the conclusion it is shown that durability and quality are important considerations when making purchases, with price sensitivity being more important for infrequent consumers. Evaluations must take into account both external and internal factors. Despite the fact that many customers consider themselves to be environmentally conscious, there is a disconnect between this belief and how they actually purchase luxury fashion. Future sustainability in the luxury market is, however, looked forward to with confidence as customers demand more environmental responsibility from companies.

The co-branding strategies are gaining attention from research due to the special difficulties of implementing a collaborative strategy. Hence, this paper evaluates the effect of the co-branding strategy between a luxury brand and a high-street retailer on the luxury consumers’ brand equity of the luxury brand post-co-branding. Additionally, this study aims to find differences between the generation Y and X cohorts in terms of brand equity impact from co-branding. This effect was evaluated from three brand equity dimensions: perceived quality, brand image and brand loyalty. To conduct this research the data was collected at the department store Harvey Nichols in London where luxury fashion brands are sold. Later the data was analyzed with a regression, analysis and t-test. The consumers showed differences in terms of their attitude towards the co-branding strategies between a luxury fashion brand and a high-street retailer. In addition, this research found that all the brand equity dimensions suffer a direct influence from the attitude towards co-branding for all the consumers in the study. Direct influence means that the co-branding strategies may cause positive or negative spillover effects. Moreover, the results conclude that there is only a difference in the brand equity dimension of brand loyalty between the generation cohorts Y and X.