This year’s Little Red Rooster Summer Showcase featured four keenly attended talks across subjects of sustainability, selling hi-fi to Gen Z, affiliate links and what luxury means today, all taking place in a dedicated area at the top of our townhouse in London’s Soho.
The first of these talks kicked off at 10am – fuelled by some much-needed caffeine served from Smeg coffee machines.
Titled ‘Luxury’s New Meaning’ we were thrilled to be joined by four guests who couldn’t be better equipped to provide us and our audience with insight into how the luxury landscape is changing.
They were Alan Whyte, UK managing director of Loewe; Nigel Palmer, marketing director of Victoria + Albert Baths; David Harber, the designer known for his incredible garden sculptures and John Ayton, chair and co-founder of Annoushka and co-founder of Links of London. Joining the panel was Little Red Rooster’s own associate director and head of design & interiors, Izzy King.
Here’s what we learned…
Buy less, buy better
“The consumer is thinking much more carefully before going and buying masses of stuff,” said John Ayton, citing the long-lasting quality of his wife Annoushka’s jewellery – “her bête noire is gold-plated!” – as well as his experience investing in and supporting pioneering luxury brands such as Orlebar Brown, who created a whole market with £100+ swim shorts for men – the quality was so good it meant they wouldn’t need to be replaced.
“It’s quite a subtle change but more and more we see our customers come in with the expectation that when you’re in the top end of the market that you’re going to have to deliver,” agreed Nigel Palmer. “What they’re expecting is they are buying a product that’s going to last.”
Victoria + Albert Baths’ York bath
People still love to buy British. Just maybe not for the reasons you think
It wasn’t long before the dreaded ‘B’ word – Brexit – came up, with the panel agreeing it had caused a load of paperwork, headaches and had made us look quite silly on the international stage.
However, all is not lost.
“I think we’re quite fortunate,” said David Harber of his own business. “In that while we are selling a product, it’s actually perceived as art. So therefore we’re trading on the Britishness – but actually it’s not just a Britishness. It’s quirkiness, it’s maverick and it’s clever. And that has meant that we’re riding the storm. In America we’re selling incredibly well.”
David Harber x Annoushka ‘Sycamore’ sculpture
Others agreed that ‘British quirkiness’ was a plus. And pointed to the fact that we have an incredible wealth of creatives, designers and products coming out of this country, all the time. And that’s not going to change, whatever the politics.
Provenance matters
With customers being increasingly clued-up – everyone had more time to gen-up on brands and products online during lockdown, for one – being authentic is essential for any high-end brand. You can’t just slap a big price tag on something and call it ‘luxury’. Customers respond best to brands with stories that are honest and true. And that’s something you can’t fake.
“You don’t necessarily have to be a heritage brand,” said Alan Whyte. “You can’t make up history. But the story is really important. When we talk to customers we don’t tend to talk about the specifications. When we talk to people we exude a passion for Loewe. That, to me, is what makes a luxury brand.”
Loewe’s iconic TV
Make every touchpoint luxury
With competition becoming increasingly fierce across every area of the sector, the knock-on effect is that everyone has had to up their game. This is a good thing!
For the brands every “touchpoint” – as Alan Whyte put it – has to matter. And for the press, there may be fewer luxury print titles than there were 10 years ago, but that just means the bigger ones have diversified how they reach their audience. Offering more opportunity for genuine quality to come shining through.
“In the national media there’s been an interesting shift because the goal posts might be slightly narrower,” said Izzy King. “But that means the engagement that you get from being in titles like Times Luxx, FT How to Spend It and Telegraph Luxury, and the value you get from maximising that through your social media and other channels, has become hugely valuable.”
To catch up on the session in full, you can check it out on video here.
