This Week's Obsession: The Power of Community
The Power of Community: Everyone Benefits
The holy grail in business today is to have a thriving community. But if you think of most businesses you interact with, you wouldn't consider yourself to be a community member but a customer. The reason this is so important for a business, is community translates to customer loyalty, which of course benefits the company financially.
A community is a group of individuals who share common interests, values, beliefs, or goals and interact with each other in a social, professional, or geographical context. Communities are characterised by a sense of belonging and mutual support among their members, often facilitated through communication and shared activities. That's a fairly tall order for most organisations and the work that needs to be done can be daunting. In the sharing economy this is not just a 'nice to have' but a necessity.
Communities have a special place in the sharing or collaborative economy because sharing by nature cannot exist without the community. The sharing economy, characterised by the shared use of resources and services facilitated by platforms like Airbnb, Uber, and various peer-to-peer marketplaces, brings numerous benefits to communities. Having been customers of Airbnb and Uber I don't see them as a community but as a service that I am a customer of. For those sharing platforms that cultivate communities the benefits are plentiful for all parties.
Here are the Top 5:
1. Cost Savings and Additional Income:
Sharing resources reduces individual expenses and allows people to monetise things they own that they are willing to share. In the case of co-owning items the savings can be up to 80%.
2. Community Building and Social Cohesion:
Sharing platforms foster connections and enhance social cohesion because
participants develop a sense of belonging and build trust within the community. This then allows people to share more because they feel their items will be take care of - and off course that's good for sustainability.
3. Environmental Sustainability:
Resource optimisation reduces the need for new production, increase resource usage, and decreases waste and lowers the community's carbon footprint. If items are taken care of their lifespan can be extended and their value retain for sale on the secondary market.
4. Improved Access and Inclusivity:
- Provides access to goods and services that might be unaffordable otherwise or are impractical for many. A good example of this are luxury assets because while they represent quality and longevity they are highly desirable but due to their price tag, feel impractical or unaffordable. Sharing allows these goods more people to participate and enjoy these goods. While the cache of luxury maybe exclusivity at the end of the day, the more people who enjoy them the better for all.
5. Encouragement of Innovation and Entrepreneurship:
Sharing promotes innovative business models and new platforms. Recognising this potential, we saw a significant opportunity to to redefine how luxury consumers engage with luxury goods and each other.
Redefining Luxury Consumption: Our Vision of a Circular Model
From the outset, we aimed to create a fully circular luxury platform that addresses overconsumption in the luxury fashion sector while democratising access to high-end goods. Our vision is to reduce waste and make luxury more accessible by encouraging new ways of enjoying luxury items without the necessity of ownership.
Building a Highly-Engaged Luxury Community
Our goal was to cultivate a vibrant community of luxury enthusiasts who are passionate about high-end fashion but also conscious of their consumption habits. By offering alternatives like rental, resale, subscription, and co-ownership models, we strive to reduce overproduction and overconsumption. This approach not only benefits the luxury brands and their customers but also aligns with our mission to promote sustainability.
More Luxury Club: A New Way to Enjoy High-End Goods
We invite individuals who are committed to making mindful choices in their luxury consumption to join our Circular Luxury Club. This membership not only provides financial benefits but also contributes positively to the environment. By embracing a circular model, members help reduce the overall consumption and environmental impact associated with traditional luxury shopping.
Changing Mindsets: Ownership vs. Access
In our circular model, customers can rethink their approach to luxury consumption. Instead of traditional ownership, members can choose rental, resale, subscription, and co-ownership models based on their needs. This shift in mindset allows luxury goods to be shared within the community, increasing their utilisation while lowering individual investment.
Ensuring Trust and Community Integrity
A crucial aspect of our platform is building a community of trusted members. Trust is essential to ensure that everyone follows the rules, takes care of shared resources, and maintains the benefits of sharing. To achieve this, membership in More Luxury Club is mandatory for participation, fostering a sense of accountability and community spirit.
Our Role in Promoting a Circular Luxury Economy
- Reduce Overproduction: By adopting sharing models, we can produce fewer items, reducing waste and resource use.
- Partner with Sustainable Brands: Collaborating with brands focused on longevity and sustainable production practices.
- Invest in Quality: Prioritising high-quality luxury goods designed for extended use and sharing.
- Increase Utilisation: Ensuring that luxury items are actively used rather than sitting idly.
- Maintenance and Repair: Extending the life of luxury goods through regular maintenance and repair.
- Resell and Extend Life: Facilitating the resale of items to continue their lifecycle.
- Vintage Offerings: Investing in high-end pieces that can be part of our vintage collection in the future.
The Benefits of Joining More Luxury Club
Initially launched with our designer bag collection, the club will soon expand to include jewelry co-owners and subscribers. The benefits for members are extensive:
- Fractional Investment: Members make a smaller financial investment compared to outright ownership.
- Hassle-Free Ownership: Our team handles cleaning, maintenance, insurance, storage, and delivery.
- Access to More Designer Bags: Members can borrow bags from fellow club members.
- Monetise Your Share: Loan out your items to other members when not in use.
- Trade Up: Sell your share to another member when you want to upgrade.
More Luxury Club is perfect for those looking to consume luxury goods more consciously or those who simply want to enjoy more designer items without the high costs and responsibilities of ownership. It’s a savvy way to have more of what you love while contributing to a sustainable future.
Joining coommunities and embracing circular luxury models offer more than just material benefits; they provide a sense of community, shared values, and a step towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Be a part of the change and enjoy luxury in a way that’s beneficial for you and the planet.
Luxury Quality under Fire
Last week we reported on the RetailX Luxury Report 2024 for Europe, where the 92% of European consumers site quality as the number one reason they purchase luxury items. This of course it based on their perception and trust that the brand is delivering on their promise of quality and craftsmanship. But what happens when that perception is shattered?
There are have been rumblings of quality issues with brands for some time now especially in the light of price hikes. Chanel in particular, has been hit with a great deal of criticism about their quality. And if you speak with people in the resale and repair space they will tell you the quality has declined as the prices have gone up.
LVMH-owned Dior is just one of more than a dozen fashion companies swept up in the Italian investigation linking luxury brands to sweatshop labour. In the manufacturing facility, a discovery was made of nearly two dozen workers, some being employed off the books, crafting luxurious leather bags and accessories for the renowned brand Dior. The removal of safety measures from the machinery allowed for expedited production, with operations commencing early in the morning and extending late into the night as outlined in legal documentation. Shockingly, a single handbag assembly fetched the supplier €53 ($58) while Dior retailed it for €2,600, as detailed in the records.
Whatever the investigation finds, the very fact that it is happening is hitting the industry hard. It comes soon after the Bloomberg exposé in March, which accused LVMH-owned Loro Piana of charging $9,000 for a sweater but paying little to the community that sources the vicuña fibres it’s spun from. While Loro Piana refuted the claims, it raised questions about the luxury industry’s supply practices. Now, trust is at risk of further erosion.
Luxury consumers expressed their disappointment online. “I paid thousands for a bag that cost $57 to make. It just doesn’t feel luxurious to me anymore,” wrote one disgruntled consumer in an r/handbags Reddit forum. “I knew beforehand that there were obviously markups but I had no idea the workers were treated so badly. And I just can’t get over it,” wrote another. Others, however, were not so surprised.
Today’s consumer wants to be educated on how and where their luxury items are made. Hopefully, growing consumer awareness will force the industry to change its ways. “A new generation is re-engaging with these conversations, and this time with social media propelling them. Maybe the pendulum will finally swing back.”
For many, legislation is key to rebuilding trust in the luxury space.
“Currently, the supply chain is very lean. The power is with the brands,” says an industry insider. However, that doesn’t have to be the case, especially if the industry wants to build trust back up. “By throwing light on positive manufacturing and manufacturers, we can democratise the industry so that good manufacturers are working with good brands.”
Love It or 'Hate' It
We read luxury fashion blogs daily in order to bring you the best curated collection for our monthly voting. When we saw the headline, "Gucci Gifted Me the Perfect Summer Tote", we got exited. When we opened the article ands saw the photos of the perfect tote we were less than excited. And when we the price of £1670, we were less than impressed.
The blogger's view is, "A tote is a handbag necessity. It’s the hauler of our things and an essential pillar in anyone’s bag closet. It doesn’t need to be fancy or heavy, with the primary goal of practicality. This bag is all of that, plus it speaks to my GG-logo-loving and perfect blue hue colour-obsessed heart."
We agree that a tote is a necessity, but this one doesn't look luxury in our opinion. And while we usually love this colour blue in bags, we have to say we're not a fan of it in this bag. If fact, we prefer it in the original Gucci GG canvas in blue or ebony. We are also not fans of the handles - while practical for loading up the bag (I have a Gucci tote that I've had to replace the handles twice), they look rather pedestrian.
Gucci describes the tote online:
Envisioned by Creative Director Sabato De Sarno, the Gucci Totissima blends the word 'tote’ with the Italian superlative ‘issima’, or ‘the most’, emphasising the bag's functionality and enduring style. We don't see the "issima" in it.
Now to be fair, if Gucci was gifting us the tote, we might feel differently but we doubt it. What's your view? WhatsApp us.
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