Hermes Anti Trust Birkin Lawsuit Dismissed Pending Appeal

 

Readers of this little blog will be well familiar with the amount of times we have discussed Veblen goods, so should by now clearly understand them as a concept.  The Birkin bag from Hermes is one of these, as demonstrated by the fact the image in this article is a screen capture from a Wikipedia article on the product.

Another point of interest in the Birkin story is its lack of availability.  Like steel Rolex watches, Ferrari's and Cristal champagne, the supply is deliberately restricted to increase demand.  A classic Veblen good tactic.  However, a number of consumers took considerable.e offence to this, and filed a lawsuit in America alleging Anti Trust.

However, in a 17 September 2025 Judgement, the Northern District court of California ruled that this action had no merit, and indeed took the decision to do so with prejudice, debarring the Claimant from further action.  

This doesn't prevent them from appealing, and the Claimant has done so.  However, it is a significant victory, and well demonstrates that choosing to throttle your stock to increase demand doesn't necessarily qualify as anything other than a smart business decision.

Our view on this is simple.  Hermes is one of the last true luxury brands,  While luxury conceptually can be subjective, and mean things to an individual such as "quality time", Hermes does remain however an institution that manages to retain the aura of luxury despite changing times, and is evergreen in that.  Its sales practices might be slightly suspect, but ultimately, that's part of the allure.   

Bang Olufsen Beo Grace Fail to Impress Prior to Reviews

 

Bang & Olufsen has continually failed to impress in one area of their product ranges, that being their in ear headphones.  They haven't managed to capture the market since the days of their A8 headphones, and with their latest wireless earbuds they appear to be harkening directly back to those Halcyon days.  Yet forums and tech journalism is not persuaded.

Those who consume design led magazines and newspapers might be fooled, as several of the higher end publications have written in the most glowing terms about these.  Waxing lyrical on the high design, and stunning feature set.  Yet a glance towards outlets that regularly write about technology, along with forums for B&O, show a far more circumspect view, which firmly seems to have declined to drink the marketing Kool Aid.

Amongst these more realistic groups the 4.5 hour battery life has been derided as beyond disappointing.  While the claims of battery replaceability having been simply laughed at.  The major reason for this is the price, which is £1,000, or $1,500.  This makes them at the same level as IEM's, yet while IEM's can offer world class sound, these seem to lack high resolution codec, only supporting AAC, SBC and LC3.

It's difficult to discern what the marketing team at Bang Olufsen are thinking here with the pricing.  The H100's are pricey, but they offer an entirely different value proposition.  Over ear headphones can last for many, many years.  In ear headphones won't.  No amount of marketing guff will change that.  We can't help feeling that using these is more likely to get you laughed at than admired, as they are simply overpriced at their release.

Brunello Cucinelli Eyewear Demonstrate's Dominance of Jacque's Marie Mage

 

It's difficult to conceive the absolutely seismic impact that Jacque's Marie Mage has had on the luxury eyewear industry.  The brand has encapsulated the idea of storytelling, the mythologising of very specific artisanal manufacturing, specifically heavy Japanese acetate, and the concept of "limited editions.  It has weaponised these and created a brand which produces products that are both overwhelmingly in demand, selling out consistently, while also being astronomically priced, for example the starting price for frames is $900.00, going up to several thousand dollars.

The idea of pricey glasses isn't new.  Cartier make frames that are excessively priced as routine.  However the manufactured image JMM has fostered allows them to dominate the marketplace.  Whether you know it or not you have seen your favourite celebrity wearing this stealth wealth yet loud brand. With an example of how extraordinary their popularity is being the period movie, Babylon, starring Brad Pitt, set in 1920's Hollywood, where Pitt insisted on using his JMM Zepherin glasses, despite the brand only having launched in 2014 nearly 100 years after the period the film is supposed to be set within.

It's often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but more often than not in consumer goods, it reflects a desire to capture a market that has moved in a given direction.  And unquestionably luxury glasses manufacturers are copying JMM in hopes they can grab some of that halo of success.  One overwhelming example is the Brunello Cucinelli "Mr Brunello" sunglasses, and their remarkable similarity to JMM glasses.

From the bold design, to the description which heavily references "bilayer acetate", to the packaging which even replicates JMM's red colouring, as the images on this article show, with JMM on the left, and Cucinelli on the right, anyone failing to see the parallels is clearly fooling themselves.  

In our view, JMM does it better. There's little to say here.  JMM had a vision, they followed it, and continue to produce products in line with it.  We don't find them without fault.  Their constant claim of limited numbered editions, while constantly producing the same frame with the minutest difference is annoying.  But they are still stunningly well made glasses that redefined luxury glasses.  Until something else comes along they continue to lead the way, and imitators beware, lest ye be called out by irrelevant commentators like us.

Hermes Rare Swing and a Miss With Connected and Terre Speakers, and Headphones plus more Audio Plans.

 

Just yesterday we ridiculed the Loewe x Jacob headphones as risible (here), yet we turn around and immediately find another luxury audio technology release bordering on the ridiculous, and this time from out favourite luxury merchant, Hermes.  

First we have the connected speaker, in leather, for £24,000 per speaker, next the Odyssey Terre which has a detachable "mini" speaker for $27,000, then the wireless headphones on limited release for $15,000, and a £250,000 statement jukebox not worth mentioning as it isn't on general release.

The speakers, and limited release headphones, give no information about the specifications, no updates on the technology inside, and nothing speaking to what they do, just the price tag and the vaguest of information on the fact they are audio equipment.  According to the most Delphic press statement imaginable from Axel de Beaufort, Ateliers Horizons' creative director, “We need to understand the engineering of things. It doesn’t mean that we do the engineering, but we need to understand and we need to be able to push boundaries." Whatever that means.

As the headline states, in out view this is a miss for Hermes, and smacks of the same slightly sad desperation seen in the Loewe Jacob release.  The luxury market is contracting, so they are flailing desperately and trying to do something, anything, to draw clientele back to spend money.  But this isn't it.  We're not saying luxury technology isn't desirable, Bang Olufsen regularly show that with £100,000 plus speakers.  But this isn't luxury technology, because technology by its nature should move with the times.  This is obviously very low end tech which is likely already obsolete, covered in Hermes leather, with vague press releases promising commitment to more tech, identical to the Jacob Loewe set of headphones.  Which is a sad indictment of how Hermes must be doing. 

We only hope they don't do poorly enough to consider allowing themselves to be acquired by LVMH, and therefore loosing everything that makes them special.  That, not the sad outdated old hifi kit they attempting to rip clients off with, will be the true tragedy.

Loewe Jacob $135,000 Headphones Desperately Flail in a Failing Luxury Market.

 

On its face, these pairs of headphones which are a collaboration between Loewe technology and Jacob the jeweller are yawn inducing.  They follow the staid and predicable trend of attempting to grab attention with eye-watering prices.  The silver pair being white god and diamond costing $135,000, and the fancy coloured black set costing $120,000 with multi hued sapphires and yellow gold. 

We've frankly seen it all before.  With excessively vulgar brands such as Gresso pumping out diamond studded iPhone's, and special limited edition premium versions of everyday items, such as the $2 million diamond shoes also from Jacob the Jeweller (here).

Yet, there was a whimsical, playful, and genuine sense that those other items were fun.  The Loewe Jacob headphones smack of desperation in the current dire luxury market's climate.  Launched at an event in Monaco which appeared to have been attended by a cast of super villains, a Forbes article waxed lyrical about how these are redefining what luxury means (here).  If they mean producing pointless tasteless products no-one wants and nobody will buy, as even the super wealthy would make fun of anyone buying these, then yes, they most certainly are "redefining luxury". 

Aime Leon Dore North Face Collaboration.

 Brands seeking a steer in respect of how to properly effect a collaboration need look no further than in the direction of this micro capsule between Aime Leon Dore and North Face.  Collaborations often fail to address a key question, which is "why?"  If the only thing the collaboration produces is a different colour, it's pointless.  The true answer to the question is "to bring together to two companies and produce something that synthesises their specialisms".  Which this collection does in spades.

First, it's short and sweet, six pieces, no more, no less.  Second. it's North Face items, the Nuptse jacket, Denali Jaket, North face hat and backpack, and one original shell jacket.  Third it applies Aime Leon Dore's notable ability to source high quality producers, by main the Nuptse in Casentino wool fleece.  

The result is a targeted, intentional, and sharp collection of choice pieces ranging in price from £130 to £700.  Available now on Aime Leon Dore's website.

Leica ZM1 and ZM2 Urban Green Watches Fail to Inspire.

 

It's an understatement to suggest Leica are known for their lenses, whether on camera's, glasses or optics, their excellence in this puts them only second or equal to Hasselblad dependant upon your preference, meaning either the premier or number two in the world in this specialism.

The problem with being the best at something is it gives you the idea you can be good at everything.  In our view Leica's watch releases are testament to that.  We can't fault the technical excellence of them, but for us they feel like Apple products. Bland and uninspired.

Sadly our view doesn't appear to be widely held.  As companies rarely continue to develop new products unless they have some success. Therefore the new Urban Green edition ZM1 and ZM2 Leica watches appear to demonstrate there is a market for these.

Who knows, maybe Leica is taking a loss-making approach to these, and will give up in a few years.  We hope so.  Too many brands want it all, and while we don't oppose heterodox thinking, nowadays vanilla means having "range's" in the same way every movie is a trilogy.  We say bring back narrow specialism, and profit motive be damned.

In the event you disagree the Leica watches are available from £12,000 now.