Luxury and ignorance: from ‘Savoir-Faire’ to the unknown
Luxury and ignorance: from ‘Savoir-Faire’ to the unknown
The label ‘luxury’ evokes vague and often unknown qualities that give a good or service the capacity to command a substantial price premium. Hence, in this article, I argue, firstly, that a core component of luxury is ignorance, or the unknown. To support this argument a systematic examination of the place of ignorance in the promotion and consumption of luxury goods and services is provided. In this way, a typology of ignorance of relevance to luxury is developed. Secondly, I argue that ignorance is deployed by both promoters and consumers in their separate and collaborative engagements with luxury. To illustrate this, ignorance in the promotion of luxury is analysed through the case of Louis Vuitton’s ‘Savoir-Faire’ print advertising campaign. Bringing to light the interactions between luxury and ignorance provides insights into the unknowns that constitute an inherent element in all that is classified as luxury.
Luxury; Knowing; Ignorance; Unknown; Louis Vuitton
21-41
Roberts, Joanne
c49f0cf6-8c79-4826-b7f2-8563d7aa99cf
2018
Roberts, Joanne
c49f0cf6-8c79-4826-b7f2-8563d7aa99cf
Roberts, Joanne
(2018)
Luxury and ignorance: from ‘Savoir-Faire’ to the unknown.
Luxury: History, Culture, Consumption, 5 (1), .
(doi:10.1080/20511817.2018.1430884).
Abstract
The label ‘luxury’ evokes vague and often unknown qualities that give a good or service the capacity to command a substantial price premium. Hence, in this article, I argue, firstly, that a core component of luxury is ignorance, or the unknown. To support this argument a systematic examination of the place of ignorance in the promotion and consumption of luxury goods and services is provided. In this way, a typology of ignorance of relevance to luxury is developed. Secondly, I argue that ignorance is deployed by both promoters and consumers in their separate and collaborative engagements with luxury. To illustrate this, ignorance in the promotion of luxury is analysed through the case of Louis Vuitton’s ‘Savoir-Faire’ print advertising campaign. Bringing to light the interactions between luxury and ignorance provides insights into the unknowns that constitute an inherent element in all that is classified as luxury.
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Luxury and Ignorance Prepublication
- Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 14 December 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 14 May 2018
Published date: 2018
Keywords:
Luxury; Knowing; Ignorance; Unknown; Louis Vuitton
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Local EPrints ID: 416701
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/416701
PURE UUID: c7967f3a-9076-46e5-81a7-938b66e714b0
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Date deposited: 05 Jan 2018 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 06:04
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