Changes

|title=Luxury Fashion Branding: Trends, Tactics, Techniques

|author=Uche Okonkwo

|genre=Politics and Society

|summary=Do you know your H&M from your D&G, your Birkin from your Paddington? You will, and much more besides, after reading this lengthy and in-depth investigation into the world of luxury fashion branding.

|buy=Maybe

|borrow=Yes

|pages=320

|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan

|isbn=978-0230521674

}}

I have a confession to make. My idea of heaven would be a shopping spree in a deserted branch of Primark, where I could tear through the racks and mounds of clothes with no one and nothing getting in my way. You might therefore think I'm not the kind of person who would appreciate or enjoy a book on luxury fashion brands, but that's where you would be wrong.

What I didn't like about this book was that it could be a bit wordy at times, and in parts would state the obvious too such a degree that you wonder how on earth the author thought that level of explanation was needed. One example is when she quotes ''What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet'' by " ''legendary'' English playwright William Shakespeare" (in case you were wondering), and then proceeds to take no less than 13 lines and 2 paragraphs to explain what he meant when he wrote it. That, as they say, is overkill (The flip side of this is that the book is very clearly written and not awash with jargon, making it easy for the 'common' person to pick up and flick through without difficulty). But, for the whole, the wordiness is little more than mildly irritating, and it's quite easy to skim read a few lines whenever it crops up, until you're back to the good stuff.

The book in itself almost feels like a luxury item, with glossy pages and numerous clear colour photos. It is like a treat to read it, and the 'oh really, so ''that's'' how/why they do that' moments are worth the time investment alone. Even though I'm not a big buyer of top end fashion, I was intrigued by this book and could relate to what they were saying. I may have shopped in all the fashion hotspots in the last few years - New York, Paris, Milan - but my purchases were woefully few and far between, and in my wardrobe, my Next suit is one of the 'posh' items. And do you know what? That doesn't matter in the slightest. The book is interesting in a way that means you don't have to know all that much about the subject to be captivated, much as I can read a book about Starbucks without ever having sampled one of their coffees. If you know what they're talking about, then so much the better, but if it's a new topic for you, or one with which you are only vaguely familiar, there's still a lot you can learn and enjoy in this book, and an inability to recognise the difference between a Birkin and a Paddington is not a barrier to this.

Alternatively if you do like the business voice, how about [[The Rise and Fall of Marks & Spencer: ..and How It Rose Again]].

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[[Category:Business and Finance]]