– Victor Luis, Coach, Inc. CEO
Last week it was announced that American handbag brand Coach, Inc. bought Kate Spade & Co. for $2.4 billion.
The once classic handbag line, originally designed by Bonnie Cashin, seems to be shifting into a fashion conglomerate having also purchased shoe brand Stuart Weitzman for $524 million in 2015.
(More fashion news – Mr. Weitzman, who orchestrated the sale of his company to Coach, is retiring this year.)
Is Coach luxury? Kate Spade? Semi-expensive brands, yes, but I never considered either one luxury. I guess they are “modern luxury” whereas luxury is old-school European expensive, a la Hermes and Louis Vuitton.
I suppose it’s relative. One woman’s Vuitton is another woman’s Coach. Actually it’s all luxury, because we don’t NEED any of it … says the woman who owns a few Coach handbags herself (the classic silhouettes only).
OverDressed for Life 
I don’t think luxury is equivalent to “expensive” … there is a lot of cr*p/bling that is very expensive but not luxurious. It’s a connotation issue, but one that has meaning, I think.