Redefining luxury in a multipolar world: Strategies for future-ready brands (a design perspective)

This article presents a critical analysis of the systemic crisis facing the global luxury industry. It argues that the sector’s decades-long pursuit of financialization and neocolonial globalization has precipitated a fundamental identity crisis, hollowing out the core tenets of craftsmanship, exclusivity and cultural integrity that traditionally defined luxury. Through a detailed audit against J. N. Kapferer’s luxury strategy framework, the article quantifies the industry’s divergence from its own first principles. It then examines the primary drivers of this decay: the offshoring and consequent death of craftsmanship; the epidemic of logo-mania and creative bankruptcy; the short-termist pressures of financial markets; the unsustainable reliance on celebrity influence; the erosion of price integrity through discounting and the performative nature of sustainability initiatives. Crucially, the analysis contrasts this decline with the concurrent rise of culturally autonomous luxury brands in Asia and Africa, whose success is predicated on the very principles western conglomerates have abandoned. The article concludes that the industry’s survival is contingent upon a radical reinvention. It proposes a detailed manifesto for cultural reclamation, advocating for a new luxury paradigm where value is measured in artisanal capital, equitable cultural exchange and creative sovereignty, thereby ensuring resilience and relevance in an increasingly sceptical and multipolar world.