The phenomenal growth of the global luxury industry has propelled an intensifying interest in luxury management ideas, research, and literature. However, researchers have somewhat neglected to provide an in-depth richness to the business and economic history of luxury. This is a significant omission. Global Luxury is a unique and timely book that takes confident first steps toward addressing this gap. This volume of essays provides a broad historiographic perspective of luxury that identifies critical perspectives for present and future luxury strategies. This book is both consistent in quality and diverse in content—a result of the excellent work done by the editors. The chapters focus on the period beginning in the 1970s, as it is arguably at this point in time that globalization initiated a significant turning point in the luxury sector.

The book is neatly organized around three key themes. The first theme is organizational change. In the first chapter, Pierre-Yves Donzé provides an important overview of the rise of so-called “luxury big business,” typified by the rapid and significant growth of the luxury conglomerates LVMH, Richemont, and Kering. This trend toward industry consolidation is continuous, as confirmed by the recent acquisition of Jimmy Choo by Michael Kors and Coach's acquisition of Kate Spade. Elisabetta Merlo goes on to provide rich insight into the development of the distinctive Italian luxury textile industry; we are left to reflect on the competitive advantage that was instrumental to the success of that industry and the allure of the “Made in Italy” label. Stephen A. Doyle and Christopher M. Moore set out to investigate the defining features of British and U.S. luxury brands, using executive interviews as an ingredient of their data collection. They identify several dimensions of British and American luxury brands and amalgamate these geographical areas based on the assumption that they share a transatlantic or “Anglo-Saxon” cultural identity. Their chapter certainly opens the debate of the veracity of this notion. The roots of their assumption are not unfounded. Others have postulated that the success of U.S. brands in China can be attributed to American values such as democracy, social mobility, and optimism—values that lead to an identifiable “American luxury lifestyle.” Yves Tesson's fascinating story of the champagne industry since 1945 not only details its transformation, but also has transferable lessons for other sectors. For example, Tesson notes that champagne production has increased from twenty two million bottles in 1947 to more than three hundred million today. This has wider implications in that luxury firms face an extremely delicate balance of managing the trade-off between accessibility and exclusivity.

The second part of the book is concerned with the theme of markets. Several chapters tell stories of expansion and market entry. Véronique Pouillard uses Christian Dior as a case in point to document its market entry strategy into the United States in 1948, with a focus from the 1970s onward. The author notably observes that “in some ways Dior US broke the rules of luxury marketing,” implying that luxury brands need to be innovative in order to ensure market success (p. 128). The following chapters in this section focus on East Asian markets. Rika Fujioka, Zhen Li, and Yuta Kaneko examine the evolution of the Japanese luxury market between 1960 and 2010 through a socioeconomic lens. Academics and practitioners are inclined to understand the origins of the democratization of luxury as rooted in postmodern Western markets; however, one thought-provoking thesis of this chapter is that the Japanese democratization process has its true origins in the postwar years aided by Japanese department stores with the objective to expand the reach of Western luxury brands. In a similar vein, Insoo Baek and Fujioka investigate the impact of duty-free shops and department stores on the expansion of the luxury market in South Korea from 1980 to 2010. This chapter contends that luxury brands need to adapt to local market conditions in order to succeed in new international markets. The final chapter in this section focuses on the history of Swatch Group, comprised of Omega and Longines, and its market entry strategy for China, which began in the 1980s. Although there are no blueprints for the success of luxury brands entering the Chinese market, Donzé is able to weave a detailed account of how this Swiss company was able to overcome significant barriers through local partnerships and the ability to secure access to key retail space.

The final part of the book groups chapters under the theme of new marketing strategies. Hervé Munz takes us back to the Swiss luxury watch industry, over the period from 1975 to 2015, and asserts that the concept of “heritage” was one key factor in its renaissance. It will be interesting to see the future unfold as “smart” watches seem set to disrupt the competitive and technological market environment. Karina Pronitcheva shows the reader the legitimizing link created by exhibitions of luxury within the context of public museums. Although this is not strictly a new phenomenon, it is certainly one with a powerful marketing message that underlines “objective” quality craftsmanship and might hold promise for other appropriate traditional luxury brands. Laurent Tissot discusses how the global luxury hotel sector evolved between 1980 and 2010 from both a demand and supply perspective. Here, the quality of services and luxuriousness of the environment seem to be the common denominator of success. However, global variety is a complex issue and generalizations difficult to support. Individual markets reflect different traditions, such as the development of heritage hotels in India. Finally, Tomoko Hashino documents the attempted survival strategy of the Japanese kimono industry, providing remarkable insight into how global styles and trends have infringed upon local cultural norms. There are strong parallels in other markets, such as China and India, which offer a warning to local designers who are masters of century-old traditions that have come under threat from gradual cultural shifts and changing consumer preferences.

This assemblage of thought-provoking chapters concentrates on Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, and several key East Asian nations. It leaves us wanting more stories of luxury brands from even farther afield. Vast new geographical markets for luxury—such as Africa, South America, and India, to name a few—could certainly merit further research through a culturohistorical lens to enrich typical contemporary business and economic viewpoints. Overall, Donzé and Fujioka succeed in providing an intriguing set of readings for luxury marketing practitioners, marketing scholars, and business historians. It is a compelling book that has the capacity to motivate more research in this captivating domain. It is an ideal addition to the libraries of individuals curious about the luxury industry, especially in that it adds key ideas from various corners of the world about its evolution since the 1970s, a period of globalization and upheaval.