Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster

"Fascinating . . . The story of luxury goods today is really about globalization, capitalization, class, and culture."--Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek

"What Fast Food Nation did for food service, this book does for fashion."--Los Angeles Times

Luxury was once available only to the rarefied, aristocratic world of old money. It offered a history of tradition, superior quality, and a pampered buying experience. Today, however, luxury is simply a product packaged and sold by multibillion-dollar global corporations like LVMH, Kering, and Gucci, that focus on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and, above all, profits. Journalist Dana Thomas digs deep into the dark side of the luxury industry with this uncompromising look behind the glossy facade, to ask: How did luxury lose its luster?

From the author of Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes