Luxury Brands We Should Leave In The Past

Ah, luxury brands. The originators, the trendsetters, the big names in the big rooms making big decisions.

A lot of the currently popular luxury brands have been there for ages – like Chanel, for instance, that has been founded 110 (!!!) years ago as of 2019; others, like Off-White, have only been there for five.

Some of the older brands remain iconic; others, however, have lost their spark. Some (relatively) newer brands continue to impress; others, however, have devolved into doing the same thing, over and over again.

It’s time for some of the well-known luxury brands to go. The market is oversaturated, the old fans are forgetting them, the new people are bored.

Ralph Lauren

Yes, we get it. Polo. Groundbreaking.

Ralph Lauren has been doing almost the same thing for god knows how many years now. It’s not like the designs are bad per-se – truly, there are some way worse brands out there.

Still, it’s a bad sign that when you find Ralph Lauren’s official online store on Google, one of the first things you see is the “Discover timeless and authentic designer clothing” description.

Timeless in what sense, exactly, are we talking about here?

Burberry

Overpriced, unexciting, too by-the-book – Burberry has been painfully dull and unimaginative… always, really, if you don’t mind my saying so – but at this point it’s really time to stop.

The iconic trench coats, while lovely, all look mostly the same as they did almost ten years ago – yet still all cost anywhere from £1500 and up.

For such money, I’d expect luxury brands to come up with more than just different shades of beige and brown.

Louboutin

The one and only Christian Louboutin that has stopped really surprising us years ago. His shoes are painfully iconic – the word painfully coming through in all possible meanings here.

Painfully important to the history of fashion – because everybody knows this name; painfully fought for in numerous lawsuits because, of course, what is Louboutin if not the iconic red soles; painfully memorable, because they’re quasi-impossible to walk in.

Honestly. They’re impossible to walk in.

Dolce & Gabbana

The kings of kitsch and controversy, a photo of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana should, by now, appear in the dictionaries next to the definition of the word excessive.

Of all the luxury brands, they truly do stand out, in their own way – the Barocco designs that scream the words rich and boujee in your face without making a sound are often gorgeous, despite being alarmingly over-the-top; but is it worth it?

The two men have been the protagonists of many controversies, varying in degrees of awfulness anywhere from using knives in their promotional campaigns (quite tame), to rampant homophobia (as the duo opposes adoptions by gay people), opposition to IVF and sexism, and, most recently, racism (with their Chinese promotional campaign in autumn 2018).

There are other brands to go to for gorgeous designs – often less expensive and problematic, too.

(pictured: a D&G dress)

Coach

Only a shade of their former selves, Coach are no longer that influential; in complete honesty, they are no longer even simply just memorable.

Classy and sleek looks are always appreciated, of course, but that’s the only thing Coach really does. They do it well, but there are other brands that would have a wider choice, while still providing you with the comfort of classic minimalism if desired.

There aren’t any reasons as weighted to leave Coach behind as there are to leave D&G; still, there is an incredible amount of newcomers that you would benefit far more from paying attention to.

To be fair, there’s a large amount of older brands that are clogging the market. The whole difference is whether they are willing to adapt to the newer audiences, like Gucci did, or if they want to keep doing the same thing because it’s “iconic”, like Burberry do.

What are your favourite luxury brands? Any newcomers you are particularly excited about? Share them with us in the comments below!

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