Content area
Full text
Luxury fashion branding
Edited by Ian Phau and Min Teah
Introduction
This paper qualitatively explores the perception of luxury and luxury brands in women's fashion and examines whether discrete or inconspicuous fashion such as the undergarment (also known as intimate apparel or lingerie) is consistent with other luxury purchases. Recent research has suggested there is not enough research done on luxury brands ([93] Stankeviciutea and Hoffmann, 2010) with a dearth of studies conducted in the area of inconspicuous fashion and luxury consumption. Yet the area of women's undergarment purchasing and luxury brand perceptions is an important one for researcher and fashion industry interest, for a number of reasons. First of all, the women's undergarment market is sizeable and growing. For example, the global lingerie market (lingerie refers to stylish undergarments) is estimated to be around US$30 billion, with a projected growth of perhaps 9 per cent over the next five years ([109] www.Fibre2fashion.com, 2013). Second, the market for lingerie and other women's undergarments is highly brand competitive, and volatile. Renowned brands such as Calvin Klein, Lejaby, Rosy, Lisa Carmel, and Victoria's Secret dominate the international lingerie market, with major women's underwear brands like Hanes and Maidenform losing market share to retailer private labels such as Victoria's Secret over the last four years ([4] Business Insider.com/citi-women's - lingerie market-2012). Third, the women's undergarment market is characterised by a number of categories and product types (e.g. shapewear, comfortwear, daywear, bras, and panties), that require analysis and understanding. Fourth, and importantly, little is known about consumer motivations and rationales to purchase, brand evaluation, and fashion perceptions as regards the undergarment market. With an aging population and changing attitudes to issues like body image, the need for research in the area is critical to better meet consumer needs and guide marketing efforts.
Thus, the research questions addressed in this study include the evaluation of what is perceived as luxury in the women's undergarment category, what product and brand attributes relate to luxury, and what consumer behaviour perspectives - in particular hedonic consumption, may exist with female consumers of the product group of intimate apparel.
The exploration of these research questions aims to advance our knowledge in the above areas in intimate fashion, and also cross-sections several interesting and often...