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Luxury

Opinion: The Big Luxury Simulation Is Over

Consumers appear to be calling time on an industry that long ago stopped selling real luxury goods, writes Eugene Rabkin.
Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring/Summer 2026.
Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring/Summer 2026. (Launchmetrics)
By
BoF PROFESSIONAL

In “Simulacra and Simulation” (1981), the late French philosopher Jean Baudrillard posited that we no longer live in a directly experienced reality, but in a “hyperreality”: a world so heavily mediated by images that they are more powerful in shaping the way we live our daily lives than the real world.

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Further Reading

How Loro Piana Was Linked to Labour Exploitation

LVMH’s high-end cashmere firm cultivated unassailable luxury credentials with its commitment to quality and craft. According to Italian prosecutors, thousands of its cashmere jackets were made in illegal, Chinese-owned workshops on the outskirts of Milan.

A Slap on the Wrist Won’t Solve Luxury’s Sweatshops Problem

This week, Italy’s Competition Authority closed a probe into whether Dior misled consumers about working conditions at its suppliers without finding any wrongdoing. But a new case linking Valentino to poor labour practices suggests this is a problem that won’t go away easily.

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