READ THIS: Deluxe How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas Sponsored by Liz Barbatelli's The Laundry at Linens Limited and E. Braun & Co. in Beverly Hills
Whom You Know has Highly Recommended The Laundry at Linens Limited, one of Liz Barbatelli's companies:
In addition, her company offers the The Laundry’s Finest Laundry Powder which is the perfect detergent to add to your green equation. The concentrated detergent formula is more effective than plant extract formulas and contains no synthetic chemicals and polluting additives. It is free from optical brightening or bleach alternative additives and protects your clothes against fading and discoloration. It is eco-friendly with its pH balanced, biodegradable and organic formula. Recycled materials make up the sturdy, refillable canister good for 40 high efficiency loads of laundry or 20 loads in a conventional machine. The canister comes with a handy dispensing scooper and can be easily refilled with pre-measured plastic refill bags, thereby reducing landfill waste. As a result, today the company is recognized as the foremost fine linen laundry service in the country and its commitment to being environmentally friendly and being biodegradable make the world a better place! www.linenlaundry.com
Both of these companies exemplify the word luxury. For generations, E. Braun & Co. in Beverly Hills, Liz Barbatelli's second venture, has been the unrivalled source of the world’s most luxurious linens for the table, bed and bath. You can customize your entire home with E. Braun & Co. in Beverly Hills making for a comfortable fit of use and lifestyle! In this generation, the legend is renewed, as E. Braun & Co. emerges as the classic American linen house with the 21st century perspective. Whom You Know highly encourages that you consult E. Braun & Co. in Beverly Hills for your linen needs where Liz and her team of experts cater to your bespoke vision. Today, E. Braun & Co. assembles the finest collections of traditional and contemporary linens, staffed with experts ready to guide you in selecting the linens that will give you the greatest satisfaction and enjoyment for years to come.
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Luxury can be a word that has different meanings to different people these days. To us at Whom You Know, luxury means quality, not a name brand, but true quality in a product which is why we personally review each and every single thing that we consider writing about because just simply slapping a brand on something is not necessarily quality. To that end, many people recommended that we read this book and they were right-it was excellent and historical and each reader is bound to learn a lot. We agree with Miuccia-luxury is satisfaction. However, the direction of the luxury industry is a sad story and the mass-market that has gobbled up tradition and excellence points us personally in the direction of finding new brands that are committed to quality, or older brands that have not yet found their way to being household names...yet. Something to note: this book was published in 2007 which was pre-Lehman collapse (9/15/08! how could we forget...) and a lot of economic turmoil since then which has inevitably changed the climate of luxury around the world. Luxury had lost its luster in 2007 but we'd argue it needs even more polishing now. This book is packed with interesting tidbits of history that you'll want to know- did you know Marie Antoinette's annual budget was $3.6 million and that John Adams wrote that "she was 'an object too sublime and beautiful for my dull pen to describe.'" (page 22) And did you also know that Empress Josephine spent half of the $15 million France earned selling the 500 million acre Louisiana territory to the United States in 1803 on clothes in 10 years. Did you know there is a Louis Vuitton museum of travel? We want to go. Did you know beets are a component of Chanel perfume? We were pleased to see two of our Movers and Shakers quoted: Carol Brodie (p. 120, 129-130, 132) and Barbara Kolsun! (p. 285) Also in reading this great work, you'll see how everything ended up to being where it is today; Givenchy was the first to understand the power of celebrity endorsement...and contrary to today's less discriminating age, he of course used Audrey Hepburn as his ambassador. On page 322, Alexander McQueen (alive at the time: remember he died in 2010 and this book was written in 2007) was quoted: "'All these big companies don't care about you as a person,' former Givenchy designer Alexander McQueen said. 'You're only a commodity and a product to them and only as good as your last collection.'"
Luxury as an industry-we are praying for you-just please produce quality across the board, and make that your priority, not profit alone. And care about the designers as well as clients as people! Whom You Know highly recommends Deluxe How Luxury Lost Its Luster.
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Once luxury was available only to the rarefied and aristocratic world of old money and royalty. It offered a history of tradition, superior quality, and a pampered buying experience. Today, however, luxury is simply a product packaged and sold by multibillion-dollar global corporations focused on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and, above all, profits. Award-winning journalist Dana Thomas digs deep into the dark side of the luxury industry to uncover all the secrets that Prada, Gucci, and Burberry don’t want us to know.Deluxe is an uncompromising look behind the glossy façade that will enthrall anyone interested in fashion, finance, or culture.
