Is high-end bespoke becoming accessible?
With the advances of the sharing economy, some argue that consumers are becoming less and less attached to ownership of objects — one uses a bicycle, a car, a dinner jacket without necessarily buying them. The economist Jeremy Rifkin declared that "the Era of Property is drawing to a close, and we are now entering the Era of Access." Yet, in a somewhat paradoxical way, one notices that consumers are increasingly fond of individualised, personalised, and bespoke objects. To satisfy this growing desire, supply is becoming democratised — and while it once concerned only luxury products, it now reaches mid-range and upmarket products too. But if luxury no longer has the privilege of individualised objects, how can it differentiate itself?
Very recently, Coca-Cola placed personalised bottles with hundreds of first names on its shelves. Nutella gave its consumers the possibility of personalising their own labels using a Facebook application and printing them to stick on their jars. According to the Marketing blog, this is about "creating the link and reinforcing consumer affection for the brand." From our perspective, we think it is above all about implementing a new industrial process made possible by a series of technological innovations. This democratisation of personalisation is something the industry has borrowed from luxury and craftsmanship. As one can read on Webandeluxe: "personalisation is a living tradition of the great houses, part of their DNA since the time when sovereigns from across the world came to seek the ultimate distinction there." Craftsmanship exploited the same vein. We all have a family object — from jewellery to knives, including watches — which we hold particularly dear because it was engraved with our initials or those of a loved one.
This brings us back to technological innovation: today, it is the use of web interfaces that allows both established names and luxury start-ups to offer customisable products to a wider audience. What of bespoke?
By definition, bespoke requires know-how that is not that of industry. Yet here too, the implementation of new processes allows bespoke to be "systematised" and made more accessible. The Arturo Belli shoe brand, for example, offers consumers three major types of individualised products: "Personalised: you choose the products, the finishes and your name is inscribed inside the shoe." "Made to measure: you choose the shoe model, the leather, its colour, and the desired finishes." And finally: "Entirely bespoke: you design your own model, in collaboration with the master shoemaker." The client's participation progresses through the production process. One might object that this example still belongs to the luxury domain. But more and more companies are now making bespoke accessible to "upper mid-range" clients. The ski brand Limpid, for example, offers an interface on its website for clients to design their own skis. The cabinetmaker Mydimm allows you to design and have delivered a piece of furniture that you yourself conceived.
"Louis Vuitton has become too ordinary. You see it in all of Betting's restaurants." This quote, taken from The Bling Dynasty by E. Rambourg, evokes the whole paradox of the great names of luxury today. Victims of their success, they are now accessible to a wider portion of the population — on one hand, because they have "democratised" certain individualised products; on the other, because certain brands, not perceived as great luxury names, are also positioning themselves on product individualisation. How to stand out, and above all, how to compete? Soon, with 3D printing, the consumer will print what they want, where they want, when they want. All these constraints are pushing the luxury sector towards excellence — to provide its most demanding clients with increasingly exclusive products. This is the case, for example, with objects produced in limited and numbered series. One finds a perfect example through the Mémoire du Vin brand, where each wine cellar management unit is produced in a limited and numbered series.
Yes, the demand for individualised objects is flourishing everywhere — from mass retail to luxury, via leisure products. Contrary to what some suggest, there will always be objects dear to our hearts that one will wish to possess exclusively. Fortunately, technological innovation is there to satisfy the demand of the greatest number.
