“Where marketing must adapt its offer to the market, luxury must safeguard what sets it apart—even if that means defying the customer’s expectations. Luxury is about inspiring dreams, not granting satisfaction.” How many times have we quoted Jean-Noël Kapferer, master theoretician of luxury marketing, to justify a distant attitude toward clientele? This principle, a cornerstone of the 1990s, shaped an entire industry convinced it was delighting the consumer by keeping them at arm’s length—more entranced by myth than by the fulfillment of desire.
Is that still true in 2025? No. Luxury brands can no longer afford to lock themselves into the belief that they can impose their vision come what may. Today, luxury can no longer afford that posture. The landscape has reversed: the luxury of new generations, deeply connected, lives in the present moment. Clients no longer settle for the dream; they want a grip on reality—on the object, the story, and the exchange. Technology, now sovereign, has entirely redrawn the map of creation and desire: scanning a sneaker, discovering its history in one click, co-designing a bespoke piece, speaking directly with creative teams—this is the new paradigm.
Today, a luxury brand that fails to listen runs not only the grave risk of no longer selling, but worse, of no longer remaining luxury. So it is: dialogue and attentiveness to the client, once seen as signs of democratization, have become the very conditions of survival—and excellence. What once passed for opportunism or compromise has become an absolute imperative. The luxury consumer has changed: assertive, informed, multifaceted—setting the tempo, dictating desires, demanding transparency and personalization.
The proof? Look at prestige automobiles. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley—all had proclaimed an “all-electric” future to align with environmental storytelling, even at the cost of unsettling the mechanical soul of their myth. Yet reality has spoken: customers are not convinced. Sales of electric supercars disappoint; the attachment to the visceral experience of combustion prevails. As Bentley candidly admits, “Electrification is still our goal, but we need to take our customers with us.” Lamborghini goes further: “We could do a very powerful, very fast fully electric car, but it’s not about what we are able to do, it’s about fulfilling the dreams of customers.” That says it all.
The same tidal shift shakes the entire luxury industry. Gucci, faced with waning desirability and declining sales, has restructured its creative leadership and recalibrated its offer to reconnect with the true expectations of its clients. Louis Vuitton is investing in local rootedness, personalization, and experience. Yes—the time has come to acknowledge it. The client is always right. Even in luxury.
Contact Guillaume Jourdan via LinkedIn
