Luxe Life
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'Luxury Shame': Time to Move On
Continue reading… 1 CommentStories abound of wealthy consumers playing down their affluence by concealing their lavish purchases in plain paper bags and attending underground shopping parties. It's called "luxury shame." Greg Furman, chairman and founder of theLuxury Marketing Council responds to this new behavior and argues that the true, luxury brands will endure.
There's an enormous amount of sound and fury these days about luxury shame and the concept of luxury as passé, and on and on.
True, luxury has been abused by "aspirational" brands wanting to capture some of the aura of "real" luxury products and services. And, yes, the consumer—even the "best customer"—is tuning out as a result of the barrage of overuse and misuse of the word by those that in the most robust of times wanted a piece of the pie.
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Young and Rich Snatch Up Smart Phones
Continue reading… 0 CommentsEven though the economy is shrinking at its fastest pace in 26 years and the country is facing a deepening recession, the wealthy are increasingly snatching up smart phones like BlackBerrys and iPhones, according to a study by the Luxury Institute. Wealthy consumers from households with an average income of $332,000 and an average net worth of $3.3 million were surveyed on their use of mobile devices.
"Luxury advertisers and marketers should be aware that 3G devices are quickly gaining traction as ways to reach high net-worth individuals, especially the youngest and the wealthiest. Mobile devices will be an important component of the luxury experience," says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute.
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Liz Smith Fires Back
Continue reading… 3 CommentsLegendary gossip columnist Liz Smith announced earlier this week that she's been canned by the
the New York Post . The 86-year-old writer—whose column has been published in the New York City newspaper for the past three decades—isn't about to go gently into her retirement years. In an interview with the Daily Beast, the "Diva of Dish" calls being let go "emasculating" and says that it "makes you feel like you've lost your identity to some extent."When asked whether or not she saw the layoff coming, Smith said, "No, I feared from the beginning I wasn't [Post's editor in chief] Col Allan's cup of tea. And I didn't hang around the Post. I never sucked up. I didn't go up to Elaine's and hang out." Smith went to the top of the chain and spoke with Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp., who said that he couldn't overrule Allan's decision.
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Annie Leibovitz Pawns Photo Rights
Continue reading… 29 CommentsAmerican portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz, known for her iconic images of celebrities, has borrowed $15 million in exchange for the copyright, negatives, and contract rights of all her work—past and future—until the loan is repaid.
The New York Times reported today that the artist, who's been drowning in mortgage debt, borrowed more than $15 million from Art Capital Group, a company that assists art owners in creating liquidity from art assets. Sounds more like a glorified pawnshop.
Some of the images used for collateral include the infamous photo of a naked and very pregnant Demi Moore, the controversial picture of tween star Miley Cyrus for Vanity Fair , and images of first lady Michelle Obama used by the same magazine.
Leibovitz also put up for collateral several houses, including townhouses she owns in Greenwich Village and a country house.
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US Airways Drops Nonalcoholic Drink Fees
Continue reading… 2 CommentsThe new era of air travel—saturated with exorbitant fees for things like checked baggage or traveling with a child or pet!—will see minor relief from US Airways, which will resume free beverage service on March 1. Gee, thanks!
US Airways' announcement that it will return complimentary sodas, juices, tea, coffee, and water reverses a portion of the à la carte business model the company adopted last August, when it began charging $2 for all nonalcoholic beverages to economy-class passengers on domestic flights. While other carriers instituted this business model, charging consumers for premium seating, pillows, or curbside check-in, US Airways was the only airline to charge for nonalcoholic refreshments.
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Oscars 2009: Predictions
Continue reading… 32 CommentsThere are only a couple more days left until the 81st annual Academy Awards ceremony, when the winners and losers are finally revealed. If awards season was any indication, this year's Oscars will be far from a nail-biter. Oddsmakers, like intrade, predict that Slumdog Millionaire will win Best Picture and Best Director. Heath Ledger is locked in for a posthumous Best Supporting Actor award for his superb portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight. So if you've entered a pool and are making last-minute changes to your Oscar ballot, you're probably going to have to bank on those obscure categories, like Achievement in Sound Mixing and Best Live-Action Short. Have you even seen Spielzeugland?
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Tiger Woods 'a Few Weeks' From Returning
Continue reading… 4 CommentsJust days after winning the U.S. Open in a remarkable playoff last June, when Tiger Woods grimaced and grunted in pain during every swing, the world's No. 1 player announced he would undergo reconstructive surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament and would need time off for rehabilitation. Let's be honest: The PGA tour has been pretty boring since then. Poor attendance for Tour events and a drop in TV ratings are proof of that.
A major comeback could be on the horizon, however. Caddie Steve Williams told Television New Zealand that Woods is "a few weeks" away from a return to the PGA Tour and could decide in the next few days where that return will happen. Williams also said that Tiger will come back to the tour mentally stronger.
"It's going to be anytime—shortly," Williams said. "He's probably 95 percent of the way there. He was waiting for the birth of his second child, which just came last week, so he's ready to go. He just needs a little bit more walking. He hasn't been able to walk too well," he added. Williams noted that Woods has been doing six hours of rehab a day on his knee.
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Own Your Own Town: Albert, Texas, for Sale
Continue reading… 11 CommentsIf you've ever had aspirations of owning your own town but didn't have the means, now might be the perfect time for you. The ghost town of Albert, which encompasses 13 acres nestled in the Texas hill country, 20 miles east of Fredericksburg, is up for sale. Price: $883,000.
The town's features include an 85-year-old dance hall, an icehouse and beer garden, a creek, a historic limestone schoolhouse (attended by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1920), pecan and peach orchards, and a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home.
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Trump Casinos File for Bankruptcy
Continue reading… 0 Comments"The Donald" can't be too happy about having his name attached to a debt-laden casino operator. Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc.—which owns and operates Atlantic City hotels Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza, and Trump Marina, filed for bankruptcy protection today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden, N.J. The embattled company has already been through bankruptcy twice.
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Luxury Stores in Moscow Shut Down
Continue reading… 2 CommentsIt was only a couple of years ago when analysts considered Russia to be the world's fourth-largest spender on luxury goods, behind the United States, Japan, and China. Big names setting up shop in Moscow included Tiffany, Prada, Versace, and Ferrari. But with today's global economic downturn and decline in oil prices, the most affluent Russians are tightening their grip on their wallets, demand for luxury goods is decreasing, and luxury retailers are closing their doors. With Russia's economy heavily dependent upon energy and commodities, low oil prices pose the biggest threat to the country's economic stability.
Designer brands like Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, and Lanvin have recently announced that they are closing their stores in Moscow, according to the AP.
I wrote in December about how LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA shelved its plans for a Louis Vuitton flagship store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district and how Japanese consumers are increasingly trading down for designerlike goods at chain stores such as H&M and Zara. Same appears to go for Russian consumers: "I think the consuming will simply be redistributed," said Anastasia Pyatina, editor of the Russian magazine Cosmopolitan Shopping. "People who can't afford Stella McCartney and McQueen would be buying H&M, and this is not that bad."
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Miley Cyrus Sued for $4 Billion Over "Slanted Eye" Photo
Continue reading… 311 Comments"I was simply making a goofy face," blogged Miley Cyrus in a response to a photo in which the Disney star and her friends are seen pulling their eyes into a slant. Oh, Miley. Your mea culpa for the racially offensive gesture just wasn't enough.
A Los Angeles woman has filed a $4 billion class-action lawsuit against the 16-year-old on behalf of the city's entire Asian-Pacific Islander population, claiming they are entitled to civil rights damages.
The court documents, filed in L.A. County Superior Court yesterday, show that Lucie J. Kim is asking for $4,000 damages per potential claimant. Kim claims that Miley Cyrus "should have known that her image would be publicly disseminated via the media, which Cyrus knew focused on her private life."
Although I'm also outraged by the tween star's infamous gesture, I do have a couple of questions about the lawsuit: 1) Can one woman legally represent an entire group? 2) Who even asked her to do this? It'll be interesting to see whether or not this case gets tossed out of court.
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Merrill Lynch Paid $121 Million to Top Four Bonus Recipients
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Merrill Lynch dished out a combined $121 million to the top four bonus recipients at the firm, right before Merrill was acquired by Bank of America Corp. Sheesh. Talk about shady timing.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been investigating the last-minute timing of the bonuses and presented his findings earlier this week to Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank.
"One disturbing question that must be answered is whether Merrill Lynch and Bank of America timed the bonuses in such a way as to force taxpayers to pay for them through the deal funding," Cuomo wrote in a February 10 letter to Frank. The letter became public yesterday, the day that the chief executives from the eight largest U.S. banks faced the ire of lawmakers at a committee hearing in Washington.
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Struggling Starbucks Offers Breakfast 'Pairings'
Continue reading… 7 CommentsFor years, Starbucks has thrived on an image of selling gourmet, premium products. The Seattle-based coffee chain has probably raked in millions of dollars in free advertising from photos of celebrities holding its drinks. But now, Starbucks is struggling to keep customers affected by a deepening recession and will offer breakfast "pairings" next month. Sounds more like McDonald's, actually.
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District Hotels Raked in $95 Million in Inauguration Room Revenue
Continue reading… 0 CommentsD.C. area hotels were the big winners in the four days leading up to and including the presidential inauguration, raking in $94.8 million in room revenue, according to the city's tourism arm, Destination DC. More than half of that revenue came from the 110 hotels within the District. The numbers, compiled by Smith Travel Research of Tennessee, do not include revenues for food, beverages, and other nonhotel sources.
Occupancy rates hit 98 percent in D.C. on January 19. Visitors paid an average of $605 per night to stay in a D.C. hotel on inauguration night and about $300 per night outside of the District. That's more than three times the average room rate in January 2008.
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MTV's "True Life" Opens Its Eyes to the Recession
Continue reading… 2 CommentsMTV has never been shy about endorsing the luxe life. The Hills, The City, My Super Sweet Sixteen, Daddy's Girls, and Cribs are just a handful of shows pandering to the young and affluent. The cable television network, known more for its reality shows than playing music videos, seems to have finally opened its eyes to the deepening global recession. It's actually happening!
The 405 Club, a site for New Yorkers collecting unemployment benefits, received a request from one of the producers of MTV's True Life —which produces hourlong documentaries on tough topics like steroid use and anorexia—to spread the word about a show potentially called I Can't Afford My Lifestyle.
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It Takes 6 Figures to Be Middle Class in New York City
Continue reading… 10 CommentsNot everyone's "hearting" New York these days. Stratospheric rents, lengthy commutes, and exorbitant living costs are just some of the culprits driving the middle class out of the Big Apple, according to a study released by the Center for an Urban Future.
A person living in Manhattan needs to earn $123,322 a year to be considered middle class, the equivalent of a $72,772 salary in Boston and a $50,000 salary in Houston, the study says.
America is already facing foreclosures, a rapid decline in housing sales, and massive layoffs. Couple those conditions with the fact that expenses in New York have risen faster than wages, and you've got your mass exodus. The city, of course, has never been cheap, and even when times are good, NYC can hardly support a middle-class lifestyle. About 150,000 residents fled the five boroughs for other locales in 2006, compared with a loss of 141,047 in 1993, when the city was in much worse shape economically, the study says.
New York has always been a city of aspiration. Now it's on the verge of losing that status. Some of the findings shed light on how this happened:
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Valentine's Day Sales Slow Down This Year, but Not by Much
Continue reading… 2 CommentsLove is in the air, but cash gets a slight squeeze. Consumers plan to spend an average $102.50 on Valentine's Day gifts and merchandise, versus $122.08 per person last year, according to the National Retail Federation's 2009 Valentine's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions survey. Total Valentine's Day spending is expected to reach $14.7 billion.
People will continue to spend on traditional Valentine's gifts, including jewelry, flowers, and greeting cards. Sixteen percent will purchase jewelry, compared with 16.6 percent last year, and 35.7 percent will buy flowers versus 35.9 percent in 2008. "A bad economy won't stop Cupid this Valentine's Day, but it might slow him down," said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin.
According to the survey, the majority of people (90.8 percent) will spend the most on their spouse ($67.22), with other family members such as children getting about one fifth of their budget ($20.95). Consumers will also spend on friends ($4.74), children's classmates/teachers ($3.59), coworkers ($1.94), and pets ($2.17).
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Degas Ballerina Bronze Sold for $19.2 Million
Continue reading… 3 CommentsA rare sculpture of a young dancer by French Impressionist Edgar Degas sold for a record 13.3 million pounds ($19.2 million) yesterday at Sotheby's auction house in London. It was expected to sell for up to 12 million pounds ($17 million). Collector and philanthropist Sir John Madejski paid 5 million pounds for the statue at the British auction house in February 2004. The bronze cast was one of only 10 remaining in private collections.
La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans, or Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, a bronze figure of a young ballerina with her chin tilted up and hands clasped behind her back, was bought by a private bidder in Asia. The record sale price for a Degas statue made it the top lot in Sotheby's auction of Impressionist and modern art, which earned a total of 32.5 million pounds ($46.2 million). Twenty-two of the 29 lots found buyers, proving that the art market can still attract wealthy buyers, even during a recession.
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Degas Ballerina Bronze Expected to Sell for Up to $17 Million
Continue reading… 2 CommentsAn iconic sculpture of a young ballet dancer by French Impressionist Edgar Degas could sell for up to 12 million pounds ($17 million) when it's auctioned off in London today, according to British auction house Sotheby's. The bronze cast is one of only a handful remaining in private collections. The sale represents an incredible opportunity to acquire a rare piece of Impressionist art.
La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans, or Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, is a bronze figure of a young ballerina with her hands clasped behind her back and her head tilted up. Degas's model, the daughter of a Belgian tailor and laundress, was a ballet student in the Paris Opéra named Marie van Goethem. Degas used many of these dancers as a source of inspiration.
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Aretha Franklin's Hat Requested by Smithsonian
Continue reading… 0 CommentsThe Smithsonian Institution wants to put Aretha Franklin's big-bowed inauguration hat in an exhibit that will highlight Barack Obama's place in history as the first African-American president.
The dove-gray, wool chapeau, dominated by a massive Swarovski rhinestone-bordered bow, would be displayed alongside other inaugural items, including first lady Michelle Obama's asymmetrical ball gown from the historic evening.
The Queen of Soul's headgear has been in high demand since the January 20 swearing-in ceremony, where the legendary singer performed "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." The Los Angeles Times says that the hat's designer, Luke Song, has been flooded with requests for the hat, which goes for around $500. He plans to sell a replica for $179.
Aretha is still uncertain whether or not she'll donate the hat. "I am considering it. It would be hard to part with my chapeau since it was such a crowning moment in history. I would like to smile every time I look back at it and remember what a great moment it was in American and African-American history. Ten cheers for President Obama," she said in a statement, according to New York magazine.
Several video spoofs of the hat can be found on YouTube.
