Reading back a bit on The Runway Scoop, I got philosophical thinking about Maria’s post inspired itself by The Bag Snob. What was originally going to be a comment on that post turned into this entry. I’ll paste an excerpt here for some background.

Bag Snob shares some news about Hermès expanding into India with the first store planned for New Delhi. Some readers of Bag Snob are a little concerned about a luxury brand becoming too big and being available to the “masses”.

One reader says:

“…as soon as luxury brands expand they usually become less avant-garde in order to please the tasteless masses.”

I’m sorry but everyone deserves some luxury. Whether it’s a rich Lindt chocolate or a peanut butter sundae, high-thread-count linens or even cozy fleece and sleeping in, a taste of technology, the love from pets, prettying oneself up in any form, or in the fashionista’s case—lots of bags or even saving up for a few designer bags. Perhaps some see their luxury as finding the good fortune to attend a quality university or the luck to work at a job or hobby one loves AND of course—sitting cool, warm, and healthy in one’s own (or rented perhaps) home—of any size, filled with whatever, but it’s yours, theirs, one’s own. Knowing you are safe and cared for. Maybe we all have our own luxuries.

And so is designer luxury better than those? Hermès is an extreme rule-setting standard because of price, but maybe they’re not even the ultimate luxury in some ways. Yes, the best leather, you hear, but they only have two nice looking bags! Heh. Hermès is much more status than luxury.

What is wrong with opening stores in many countries? Not all brands should start separate low-quality/price lines like at Target, of course. But excluding people, especially if it’s falsely and needlessly raising prices (AHEM LV) is just a company ATTEMPTING to be luxury, perhaps, and that makes the name of lower quality—just maybe? Exclusion for exclusion’s sake doesn’t make a product better, it’s all lies and pretense.

Please just make the best items possible and let those with the taste and style for it aspire for it. Isn’t it rude to appear to wish to refuse business to some? Why would we, more affluent or not, commercially or otherwise support this? … as fashionistas … as “snobs”, whatever. Let’s not be a part of such a problem in this rude world.

Hey, even DesignerElla has gone all indie for the sake of my dreams to design my own bags … creating my own … “luxury”.

Creativity is another luxury, don’t you know, and let’s all practice the luxury we are given at birth to exercise our minds!