La Prairie Produce Overpriced £1,550 Life Matrix Cream .

 

La Praire is known for its extremely expensive skincare products.  Indeed, it's fair to say the brand is somewhat of a Veblen good.  A consumer good the desirability of which increases with the cost, and indeed which is perceived as more valuable based on said price increase. 

We get it.  Switzerland is a country known for ultra high-end specialist goods.  Fine watches, exquisitely well engineered machine parts, private banking, the privatest of private schools.  When "Swiss made" is inserted into the conversation in respect of a product, it's expected that it will be superior, and deserving of astronomical prices.

However, that comes with an expectation, of the quality of the product matching the price, and it's a sad thing to say, but the new life matrix face cream has a lot of bad in respect of the ingredients listed.  There are only 16 active ingredients, in concentrations that make the price not merely high, but unreasonable.

However, credit where credit is due, the ingredients are an excellent cocktail, of glycoproteins, ginseng, and colloidal platinum, amino acids, minerals and saccharides.  There's no question that a combination of ingredients like this is a very good anti ageing mix.  However, at the price, and quantity, it cannot be recommended.  As there are several brands offering the same mix at a tenth of the price.  However, if you have more money than sense, this may be for you.

Failed Tramp Nightclub set to Re-Open in September 2024 and Possibly Fail Again.

For the uninitiated, Tramp in London is a members only nightclub, opened in 1969 by the son of a bookmaker, Johnny Gold, which became one of the most famous nightclubs in the world.  It has hosted a vast array of celebrities, royalty, nobility, and high-society types, and was featured as part of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal as Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II's son, was accused of dancing with Virgina Roberts, who claimed they were forced to do so.  

We'll take describing it no further, as it's simply not necessary.  Tramp is so well known it even has it's own Wikipedea entry, so lengthy explanation's of it's history are not required.  Save as to mention that in November 2023 it went out of business, and closed.  The excited chatter currently is that it's soon to re-open by new owner's.  In our view, it will fail again.

The bitter truth that few seem willing to admit is that Tramp succeeded because there were no alternatives at the time.  Going out in 1960's West End London meant either stuffy gentleman's clubs, seedy Soho dives, and little in between.  Anabell's was launched precisely as an antidote to this, however, it simply became another spot for the highest of society.  Therefore, Tramp, being a spot in London to drink, dance, and socialise, free from stifling dress codes, and oppressive social cliques, was rather unique.  This meant it attracted the great and the good from the arts, who would not feel comfortable in Anabell's, and who frankly wouldn't be welcome in White's or the Aetheaneum.  And where the arts go, all else follow.

This continued to be the case that through the 1970's and 1980's, as while options began to emerge, there were still few.  Not to mention, Tramp had already established itself.  This is quite difficult for people to realise now, but London had very few nightlife options for a very long time.  However, this began to change come the late 1980's,  and into the 1990's as London boomed, so also the hospitality started to boom. New and exciting alternatives started emerging.  The member's club scene saw the Groucho Club in 1985, Soho House in 1995, and from 2000 onwards there has been an explosion, with hundreds of options in the membership venue scene, and literally thousands of ordinary options to choose from many of which are superior to Tramp in their own right.

For this reason Tramp lost it's allure.  Anyone who actually socialises in London would have walked past Tramp in the years from 2000 to 2023, and seen that it still attracted a clamouring crowd of wannabee's and tryhard's.  But there was just no good reason for someone who wanted privacy, and a smart venue, to choose it with it's faded glamour.  So, like many, many other nightlife venues in the West End, it went out of business.

But wait, now it has a new owner, a former banker turned nightlife empresario, who intends to turn Tramp into a destination once again. As we said already, and the title indicates, we doubt it will succeed.  The location isn't particularly good, and never has been.  Jermyn Street is a strange spot, as a shopping street it's excellent, and restaurant's can do well, but it just doesn't have the feel of a modern nightlife area.  This is one of the reason's it might have failed before, better spots with better locations are everywhere.  Throwing a load of cash at the place to make it look modern won't change that.

It also appears from an interview with the new owner that they have unusual ideas about what makes a place good.  In a recent article in the Evening Standard (link), the new owner said they want it to become more of a "home from home", and plan to remove the dance floor, saying "people don't go clubbing anymore".  Which is flatly wrong, and they simply do. Having a dress code, which is antithetical to the entire point of Tramp.  Along with a bizarre rule of no single sex groups.  An entirely contradictory decision, because, if you want to turn it into more of an intimate relaxed vibe then preventing people from coming with friends unless they are a mixed sex group makes no sense.  

The new owner simply seems quite confused.  They appear to want everything at once, they seem to want it to be a Soho House, and a traditional St Jame's members club, and a hang out spot.  It also is quite evident that some success in life and with other venues has left them in a disconnected bubble where they're unable to perceive quite how out of touch and strange their ideas are.  We can assist here.  Tramp succeeded because there were no alternatives, and failed because it wasn't interesting or special enough in location or concept to compete when alternatives emerged, and trying to emulate others in a confused manner with it  isn't likely to succeed.

We might be wrong, and Tramp London will become the centre of nightlife culture all over again for the next 30 years.  However, it seems very, very unlikely.

Bang & Olufsen's Most Unpopular Product the Beisound Edge Has Been Discontinued.

 

When the Beosound Edge was announced in 2018, we weren't impressed. A chunky, unnatractive lump of a device, supposedly inspired by the British pound coin, it tetered unstably on an odd wall mount or floor mount, and required being rocked back and forward to be controlled physically.  Quite unpractical, and predictably, it resulted in dismal sales.

According to the BeoWorld forum conversations, dealers confided in long term customers that it was their poorest selling product, and that Bang Olufsen stopped producing them as early as 2021, not formally announcing that it was discontinued until more recently so as to move their old stock.

As the screen capture of Bang Olufsen Copenhagen shows, the mask has slipped, and now they are firmly admitting it's gone from their range.  It's no longer on any of their main international sites, and some aftermarket dealers still have old stock at massively reduced prices in hopes they can shift what they have left.

At £2,900 on release, and going up to £3,400 before being finally removed from the range, we always felt it was overpriced.  If however you were always in love with this, but felt it was out of your price range, nows the time to snap up a bargain.  We'd counsel stay away, but there's no accounting for taste!

Rimowa Chess Attache.

 

The luxury travel chess set selection available to those particularly interested in playing chess on the move in the finest possible style is rather limited.  To our mind the only serious option currently on the market is the Hermes Samarcande chess set, which costs around £2600 at time of writing, and is made entirely from wood.  For a limited time, consumers interested now have another option from Rimowa, the Chess Attache.

Made entirely from Rimowa's signature aluminium, it contains a leather covered wooden and aluminium chess board, and rather unique looking aluminium chess pieces, and costs an impressive £4300.

Frankly, there's not much to see here, this is definitely an unusual piece, but we feel for travel it's not practical, as the case measures 35cm x 41.5cm. x 8.5cm.  The reason for it being so large, is that it is simply Rimowa's standard business attache case, which retails for £1500.  So what you're really getting here is a Rimowa attache case with an unusual interior.   This could be regarded as a bargain, since you can remove the chess stuff, but it doesn't really look like it can be removed, so this sees like a terrible waste of a good attache case to us.

However, the chess set is quite attractive, and we haven't seen one with such an interesting design before.  So if you're in the market for an ultra high-end chess set for home, this fits the bill.  But for goodness ske don't try taking it away with you as a portable travel set,  it will just use up your baggage allowance, and frankly even if your flying by jet it still takes up too much space.

Hermes rise Continues with 13% Sales Increase in an Otherwise Battered Luxury Market.

 

Time and Time again one brand rises despite all obstacles, circumstances. and conditions.  That brand is Hermes. 

The company has repeatedly shown it's ability to turn in the right direction within changing times, always making the smart choices, never joining with anything but entirely coherent partners, and either being part of the zeitgeist, or setting trends.

Because of its approach, back in 2019-2022, in the teeth of the Pandemic, while all other brands were taking losses, Hermes sales still grew, albeit by only 2%, but in contrast to it's competitors, a remarkable achievement.  Today, in a market where nearly every luxury brand barring watches are down at least 4.9%, Hermes have grown by 13% for Quarter 2 of 2024, with an impressive $4.02 billion USD.

The brand has even managed to keep its revenue flowing in the Asian marketplace, one in which every other luxury group is faltering.  Hermes however, has remained stable.

The exclusivity of their products is one reason for this, along with brand loyalty.  Paramount however in a mass produced world of mass consumerism, the handmade, artisanal nature of Hermes products have made them in many cases become Veblen goods, an economic term referring to those goods the value and demand for which increases despite price rises.

We hope the brand continues to dominate, and we earnestly hope it does so without being seduced by the bland corporate swan song of LVMH, which is no doubt salivating and dreaming of the idea of owning, and ruining, this brand.

Ventete Collapsible Bicycle Helmet.

 

In the current epoch, where we seem to find re-issues forming the majority of releases that manufacturers put onto the market, and 'innovations' are few and far between, it's refreshing to see a genuinely high-end product that actually incorporated real novelty.  In the Ventete collapsible bicycle helmet we find precisely that.

Developed by engineers at Imperial College London, and tested to an exceptional standard, the helmet uses specialised materials, and inflates with an included electric pump, and deflates in less than 30 seconds, to fold completely flat, and stash into a bag when on the move.

This really is a remarkable product, and as any reader of this little blog knows, we rarely say that.  It ticks every box, being well designed, manufactured to the highest standards, and exceptionally fit for purpose, and, considering these points, its price of £350 appears quite reasonable.  

We don't appear to be the only ones with this view.  It was launched on 16 July 2024, and has sold out it's first run completely, with those interested in it needing to join a waitlist.

Salle Prive Discontinue Clothing, Focus on Perfume and Beauty Only.

 

If there was ever a sign that the luxury fashion industry is more trouble than it's worth, Salle Prive deciding to cease their clothing range might be it.

Their elegant minimalism won them considerable praise.  As recently as 2022, Salle Prive was one of Mr Porter's stand out brands, with special feature editorials praising their high quality products.  Not to mention them beiung stocked at Harrod's, Selfridge's and Harvey Nichols, along with multiple online retailers, including FarFetch, End Clothing and SSense.  Yet according to the brands own website they are putting a "pause" on fashion.

To an extent this is understandable.  It's well known that the beauty arms of large brands are often the most profitable.  For example, Tom Ford, which recently sold his brand, when releasing figures for the deal, demonstrated that the fragrances made 1.5 times more than the fashion, and the entire beauty department was 3 times more valuable.

However, it's still surprising for a brand to make the bold move to entirely abandon fashion.  That's a big declaration that either, they were overstretching, or, they were never doing quite as well as it seemed they were.  There's no real way to know which of these is right.  Along with the fact that there's the additional possibility it's an indication of industry downturn generally.

Whatever the case, when you hear Salle Prive for the forseeable future, think perfume, not fashion.