A League of Their Own
In my previous article which was dedicated to the history of the Hermès brand I coined the phrase ‘The Big Four in Fashion and Beauty’. In this article of mine I would like to expand on the concept of The Big 4 in Fashion and Beauty because I believe that it will be very useful to all other brands to be cognizant of what they lack at present and what they need to acquire in the future in order to join the stellar club of The Big 4 in Fashion and Beauty. I would like to remind you that The Big Four in Fashion and Beauty comprise Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Chanel. Those high-end fashion, fragrance, and luxury beauty brands have formed a league of their own and every other brand would love to achieve their status.
Of course, I am well aware of the fact that currently Louis Vuitton do not have their own luxury beauty line. However, I have no doubt that it is a matter of time for Louis Vuitton to launch their own luxury beauty products. By the way, Hermès started their luxury beauty business only in 2020. Yet, narrowing down the concept of the Big 4 only to fashion would do injustice to those glorious brands because the makeup and the other luxury beauty products offered by them are an extremely important part of their image (and of their market profits as well).
So, the key question that everyone would ask about the Big 4 is: What sets them apart from all other high-end fashion and luxury beauty brands? Or to put the same question in another way: why do the Big Four stand out among all other brands? Here come my answers 😊
Traditions, traditions, traditions
The key defining feature or an attribute of the Big 4 in Fashion and Beauty is without doubt their past. It has taken quite a lot of time for Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Chanel to become the most revered brands in the worlds of fashion, perfumery, and luxury beauty. As I pointed out about the Hermès brand in my previous blog post, their foundations were laid exactly two centuries ago and Hermès had to maintain their reputation for being a superior manufacturer of luxury goods for quite some time before being recognized as one of the top fashion brands in the world. So, the history of the Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Chanel brands is probably the most important aspect of their greatness and exclusivity.
Some kind of magic
It is sometimes impossible to explain why we like so much a particular product or a brand (or a music band or a movie for that matter) because we can fully realize that we are strongly attracted to the product or brand in question and at the same time we are not too critical of potential deficiencies or flaws in the product or the brand. This phenomenon is due to the reputation of the brand which makes people fall in love with almost every product offered by the brand they adore. So, I might conclude that the Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Chanel brands have some halo around them or mojo if you will. And believe me – this intangible trait of the Big 4 is equally important to their fans as their history and status.
Strong following of the Big Four in Fashion and Beauty
The afficionados of the Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Chanel brands are countless. Moreover, the fans of any of the Big Four brands are fervent and loyal collectors of their products. So, without their die-hard fans the Big 4 would have never risen to their current A1 status.
The Paris cult
The Big 4 in Fashion and Beauty have all strong connections to Paris. And Paris is a magical place as I have explained in this blog post of mine. Therefore, the Big 4 have succeeded in ‘stealing’ some particles from the irresistible charm of Paris and using them for their own benefit. I simply can’t blame them for doing it. Wouldn’t you? 😊
The status associated with the Big 4 in Fashion and Beauty
The Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Chanel brands offer not only extremely expensive and high-quality goods to their customers. What their clients buy as well is the status that everyone always associates with those top and high-end fashion, fragrance, and luxury beauty brands. The Big 4 offer positional goods and thus their products easily convey very high status in society to the persons who can afford them.
The marketing strategies of the Big 4 in Fashion and Beauty
In some of my previous articles I had the chance to analyze the unusual and sometimes even bizarre marketing strategies of the Big 4 brands. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the Big Four have gathered top talents in their marketing teams and the efforts of those talented marketing experts more often than not pay off quite nicely.
The superb quality of their products
It goes without saying that the quality of most of the products offered by the Big 4 is simply first-rate. Actually the products of the Big 4 are synonymous with top quality.
Wide range of products
I am sure that a lot of people do not realize that the Big 4 have such a wide portfolio of luxury products that it is hard even for their most dedicated fans to keep tabs on everything that is launched by the respective Big 4 brand within a given year. Accordingly, this commodity diversity brings a lot of prestige and finally success to the Big 4 brands.
Constant development and innovation
I have given a lot of examples in my blog posts about the consistent efforts exerted by the Big 4 brands in improving their luxury beauty products or coming up with some revolutionary ideas about new products. It is no coincidence that the Big Four are trend-setters in the worlds of high-end fashion, fragrances, and luxury beauty.
Geography
The products manufactured by the Big 4 can be found anywhere in the world. The demand for their products is always very high despite their steep prices. The Big 4 are using various supply chains for their products but what matters most is that every country all over the world has access to at least some of the products offered by the Big 4.
And maybe something else as well?
Well, I might have skipped a key characteristic of the Big 4 in Fashion and Beauty but I have not done it on purpose. Therefore, if you can think of an attribute of the Big 4 in Fashion and Beauty that has eluded me, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and/or follow me on Instagram and share on those media your hot take on this issue. Thank you in advance!
Read my article on the history and the achievements of Hermès HERE
You can read my article on the one and only Coco Chanel HERE
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