BY: Karishma Bansal
Just when you feel confident that you know sufficient things about brands, that you can take part in formal/informal discussion about what they are up to or what they have been known for, a visit to a luxury store drops an awestruck bomb and you start questioning your knowledge.
The second field trip organized at the Emporio mall proved the above theory. We went to 5 stores- Dior, Louis Vuitton, Missoni, Roberto Cavalli and Versace. Dior had the most amazing men’s footwear collection. Out of all the merchandise, 2 bags from Ja Dior collection caught my fancy.
Louis Vuitton had the liveliest ambience. Their sales associates were chirpy unlike Dior or Roberto Cavalli where the store representatives were formal. The merchandise at LV boasted of its logo and the instant recognizable monogram. Even the discreet product had the faded monogram and was expensive of all. I learned of their complimentary initials embedding service and the newly launched gifting section.
I had no knowledge of Missoni as a brand, might have heard its name but did not know the story. Missoni is an epitome of colourful knitwear land. The brand has patented its knitwear machine and has no competitor as of now. The most stunning merchandise was their space dyed sweater which was made of a single yarn dipped in 24 different colours. Their concept of non-bathing suits was mildly baffling. I did not buy the point of purchasing a swim suit which is not water friendly and is restricted to the sun deck.
The Versace showroom was filled with Medusa logo everywhere and was stacked with repetitive merchandise in different colours. I loved how their white interiors highlighted the merchandise and totally fell in love with their Ombre fusion women suit.
“excess is success”, which is what a Roberto Cavalli outfit emanates. Flashy outfits were to be seen in every corner of the store. Roberto Cavalli is known for its leopard prints and serpent logo. As much as they looked appealing, I don’t think my personality goes coordinated with their brand belief.
We have learned in our lectures that luxury is not about selling the product, it’s about selling the dream, the desire to get associated with the brand. The mall visit made me realize that this belief is not just theoretical but needs to be stored inside my heart.
Every store personnel had the passion and fire in their eyes with which they were giving us the store tour. I hope to get this passion for the brand for which I will work soon. I realized I have not retained the basics of various brands- their iconic products and the story behind their existence, I plan to take out time to research about brands every week and flourish my knowledge in this domain. In addition to it, I need to work on my fluency to make it better.
