Industry News: Green Packaging: Redefining Luxury
A new generation of luxury consumers may embrace streamlined, pared-down packaging—if luxury companies find the right way to market it to them, said the Luxe Pack New York panel.“Our definition of luxury may be outdated,” said speaker Karen Young. “To younger consumers, luxury today means paying $200 for a pair of torn designer jeans or purchasing an iPhone. Luxury brands have been slow to change.”
Luxury consumers still want to feel an emotional connection with a product, she said, but “instead of a quest for ‘bling,’ perhaps what the beauty industry needs is to realize that what consumers desire now is elegant, refined, and simple.”
“Luxury no longer has to subscribe to the ‘more is more’ principle,” said package designer and panel moderator Marc Rosen, adding, “Give the customer credit for understanding sustainability goals.”
Appealing to younger luxury consumers also means educating them about sustainability and connecting with their feelings of wanting to be eco-friendly. “If we don’t begin to redefine what luxury is to a new generation of luxury consumers, then we’re all in trouble,” added Young, who also teaches students at The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
George Utley, president of package prototyping firm Utley’s Inc., agreed that based on the luxury package designs he’s been working with, the luxury market still subscribes to the “more is more” theory. However, “What will get us to the point of ‘less is more’ is education,” he said. “We need to train the creative forces and future package designers in the industry [to think green].”
Another interesting point raised by Utley: “The luxury market is still a small segment of packaging. Shouldn’t we be focusing on making change with mass-market goods?”