Does Aryan Khan's Luxury Clothing Brand Deserve the Hate for High Prices? Explained

D’YAVOL X, Aryan Khan’s luxury apparel business, launched its website on Sunday, and some online were stunned by the ‘ridiculously high’ prices. Since a few weeks, Shah Rukh Khan and Aryan have been marketing the brand and its imminent debut, generating a lot of enthusiasm among fans.

Recently, an advertisement featuring the superstar was also released. In it, the father and son are dressed identically in D’YAVOL X. However, soon after the release, users expressed surprise at the high prices and said the items were not affordable for the middle class. Read more on this here

Amid the reactions, let’s understand what makes a luxury brand ‘luxury’ and how the high prices of such brands come about:

What defines luxury?

Luxury is a synonym for quality and brands centred around the idea of it focus on exclusivity, which they say come from pointed craftmenship and attention to detail. Brands that have come to be to identified as luxury also focus on it being a way to show one’s lifestyle, as opposed to just being a consumerist item. For example, old luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton have come to be identified with elegance, versus brands such as Balenciaga, with a more contemporary take.

This feeling of exclusivity is typically evoked by perceptions of quality, comfort, and elegance, the term “luxury” is evolving to encompass several additional things to consumers worldwide, as per a report by Etail. The term “luxury” has different connotations today than it did in past generations.

As per the report, in 2022, Marriott International and Skift Research undertook a global survey of over 5,000 high-income luxury consumers to identify attitudes and behaviours towards luxury in the United States, United Kingdom, China, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates.

Globalisation, in conjunction with the disruptive impact of the internet and digital technology, is resulting in a much broader, multidimensional view of what quality, luxury, and exclusivity can be, the report. Though high-income luxury consumers around the world continue to value long-held concepts of luxury, such as quality, comfort, and elegance, they do so through the lens of a new set of aspirations and lifestyle goals.

The poll indicated that high-end consumers use luxury items to separate themselves from their peers. While this isn’t particularly surprising and hasn’t changed much from previous generations, it was also discovered that today’s luxury consumers believe that not all luxury purchases must be the most expensive, indicating that the bragging rights they seek don’t necessarily revolve around their ability to make exorbitant purchases alone, the report said.

That said, why are luxury brand items so expensive?

According to a report by American Two Shot, unlike fast fashion factories, designer brands rarely employ synthetic fibres in their garments. Hermes and Louis Vuitton, for example, employ genuine animal leather in their bags. These materials are significantly superior than what other low-cost firms can provide.

To assure their clients’ comfort, most designer garments employ true organic and natural fibres such as silk, cotton, wool, and linen.

Designer clothes also incorporates high-end jewellery such as diamonds and gold to enhance its design. These additions contribute to the greater price, the report says.

Labour expenses also contribute to the cost of such items. Labour from Europe and America is frequently used by high-end brands. These continents have a lot of labour expenses. The number of individuals working on a single design is also a consideration. A big number of individuals work on the designer brand pipeline, which requires a premium wage.

Fashion designers, sewers, and material cultivators do not have low-paying occupations. They have compensated suitably because they work on a luxury brand.

The feeling of exclusivity is essential for luxury brands. Because their products are aimed at upper-class citizens, these brands provide their customers with one-of-a-kind clothing.

A few marketing methods, such as reducing the quantity of apparel or making it a collector’s item, are guaranteed to satisfy the need for designer goods, the report explains. For example, instead of creating 100 garments, they will only sell ten. They increase the value by restricting the quantity of items.

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