Chapter 3
A passion for fashion:
the luxury fashion
consumer
‘Twenty years ago, youngsters wanted to look like their parents. Now
parents want to look like their children.’
Jean-Baptiste Danet, CEO, Interbrand FranceThe consumer is king
Gabrielle Coco Chanel thoroughly understood the luxury consumers of her
time. She also recognized the influence of the wider society on shaping
consumer expectations and outlook. In the early twentieth century after the
First World War, fashion designers continued to apply the pre-war styles char-
acterized by extravagant and elaborate designs. Chanel however opted for
classic and practical clothing such as trousers and the famed little black dress
for women. This design approach was embraced by society because consumer
needs had evolved after the war. Women who had been forced to work during
the war and also cater for their families in the absence of their husbands had
been exposed to a different lifestyle that required dressing in a different and
more realistic way. After the war, they maintained the same attitude towards
fashion. They were no longer attracted to extravagant dressing but desired
more practical clothing like trousers. Chanel’s designs offered the fashion
solutions they sought. The approach to anticipating and meeting consumer
expectations formed one of the key success factors of the Chanel brand. It
also significantly contributed to the continuous existence of the brand unlike
Coco Chanel’s contemporaries like Paul Poiret, Madeleine Vionnet and Elsa
Schiaparelli who have all closed shop.
In a similar manner, when Gucci’s former Managing Director, Domenico
de Sole and former Creative Director, Tom Ford, left the company in 2004, the
seat of de Sole was filled by an industry outsider, the former head of
Unilever’s frozen foods division, Robert Polet. The unexpected choice of this
man considered as a stranger to fashion was a surprise to several practitioners
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