luck9 Obscene Prices, Declining Quality: Luxury Is in a Death Spiral

The holiday shopping season is hitting its apex. And do you know what I, a longtime fashion editor, will not be buying my loved ones this year? Big-name luxury fashion. I’d sooner set my eyebrows on fire.

Why am I betraying the industry to which I’ve dedicated the better part of the past 20 years of my life, you might wonder? Let me tell you a story.

When, for the fall 2023 season, Marc Jacobs reissued the runway-show version of his Kiki boots — a sought-after, supple-leather style that I’d been lusting after since their 2016 debut — I found a way to squeeze them into my budget. I’d had a tumultuous few months, and I figured I’d treat myself to something I’d treasure forever. Something that would last.

They did not. The right heel cap fell off after a handful of wears, revealing a flimsy plastic cavern. I got it replaced, only to have a four-inch platform base snap off like a rotting tree limb days later. Timber! Two passers-by heaved me up, and I limped home, barefoot. In February, I demanded a refund, which I promptly put toward much-needed physical therapy.

Among national universities, Princeton was ranked No. 1 again, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Stanford, which tied for third last year, fell to No. 4. U.S. News again judged Williams College the best among national liberal arts colleges. Spelman College was declared the country’s top historically Black institution.

My experience sums up everything that’s gone wrong with what once served as semiotic shorthand for the good life. In recent years, luxury of all kinds has become obscenely, disgracefully, inconceivably costly. And the price hikes we’ve seen are steeper than what inflation would dictate. What’s worse? As costs climb, quality hasn’t. In fact, it’s largely declined.

“Luxury is in chaos,” said Gill Linton, a fashion and marketing expert and a co-founder of the luxury vintage platform Byronesque.

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