Reality Check

Sometimes I wonder if the downside of studying fashion is that you start to lose touch with reality. Case in point, last week my brain set off no alarms when our teacher told us about a 30,000 Euro custom fragrance from Cartier. I hope that at least 50% of you are shocked by the price tag.

This made me think back to a few years ago in Vancouver, when I remember seeing a one bedroom apartment in my building going for around $400,000. "OMG," I thought. "What a deal!" Yep. For 640 square feet. I had lost touch with reality, and I was only familiar with Downtown Vancouver prices. Then I'd see ads for apartments in Langley, that could be bought in full for the same down payment you'd use towards an apartment in Vancouver, and have to remind myself that you can't compare apples to oranges. $1,000,000 for a two bedroom apartment in downtown Vancouver with no water view? I'm certainly not in the market for it, but I think the price is legitimate. That scares me. But at least real estate is an investment.

I sometimes feel like an observer in the world of luxury, the same way I felt like I was an observer in the Vancouver real estate market. I was never the consumer, but that wasn't because I felt the price was unjustified. I was just not in the market to settle down in Vancouver.

In the fashion luxury industry, I feel like an observer simply because I can't fathom spending so much money on something that might be useless after a season. Sure, some pieces are investment pieces and I can understand those purchases much more, and will probably make a couple in my lifetime. But with the 30,000 Euro fragrance, I just can't imagine spending that much money on something that will disappear after a while. I would either never use it, or I would break down in tears if I accidentally missed my neck while spraying and wasted 100 Euro.

But, just as there is a market for Vancouver real estate, there is a market for fashion luxury.

I plan to be a successful fashion buyer, and want for nothing, but at what point is 30,000 Euro considered reasonable for a fragrance, even if it is customized for you and takes months of consultations and work to create? I just don't think I could ever get to a point where that's a consideration. Could you? If so, at what point?