The following photowalk took place yesterday around the area of my apartment in NYC where we are visiting for a week in which I am combining work and family time with Nina and my four children. I chose to mainly photograph luxury brands as I consider them endangered species. I am not saying that all luxury brands will disappear. Many endangered species do not become extinct. But the total revenues collected by luxury brands, after decades of enormous growth is shrinking rapidly and many of these brands will either go or be a fraction of what they were. So here\u00b4s a picture collection of these brands as I found them along Park Ave and 5th Ave that can serve as one more testimonial so in 2012 you can say, remember how the world of luxury was like?<\/p>\n
I must say that personally, regardless of how I have done as an entrepreneur, I have always avoided luxury brands. I shop at Zara and H&M, Diesel, Pepe Jeans, Replay are already an extravagance for me, and from there on I show no interest. No matter how well I do as an entrepreneur I will never part with thousands of dollars to buy shoes, suits or other clothing. I do however admire the mostly Italian, French and American entrepreneurs who manage to cash in on people insecurities and pay them 10 times cost for perceived brand value. The combination of original design, exhaustive PR and ubiquitous advertising that creates a luxury brand is something, I admit, I will never be able to create as an entrepreneur. Now I am a sucker for Apple products and that is the closest thing to a luxury brand shopping experience that I will go for.<\/p>\n