Brand Loyalty: Yay or Nay?

Loyalty is typically a trait associated with positive acts and feelings. You would use it to describe your best friend, whether person or dog. So "brand loyalty" seems like it would also be something positive - a mutually beneficial relationship between brand and customer. But where is the line between "brand loyal" customer and "slave to the brand"?

Brand loyalty should mean a genuine appreciation for a brand, whether it be the craftsmanship, design talent, overall value, philanthropic endeavors, or other qualities that generate a positive feeling among loyal customers. In theory, we should all want to be loyal to our favorite designers or those who subscribe to parallel ideals.

But brands, particularly luxury brands, have meaning that reach far beyond our personal tastes and preferences. A Louis Vuitton logo bag and black Christian Louboutin pumps are symbols of status rather than manifestations of loyalty. Rather than convey our priorities or values, many brands express our economic stature.

Personally, I would love to splurge on a pair of Christian Louboutin pumps. But not the nauseatingly basic status heels that are only differentiated by their red soles: I would get a work of art. True brand loyalty is to appreciate the work the designer is capable of, not to show off how much money you spent by perpetually conterfeited products.

 

So during the summer in Italy, I opted for the once-in-a-lifetime Dolce & Gabbana booties over the constantly-reinvented Prada and Miu Miu options. Because although I have an immense appreciation for the design aesthetic of the latter, they weren't worth it. I didn't just want to have expensive shoes: I wanted shoes that were worth the big bucks I paid, ones that I wouldn't find anything comparable to at a lower price point or in a future season.

If you allow any brand to enslave you, luxury or otherwise, you lose a very important part of your style: your individuality. Brands like to provide an identity for the consumers to slip into and a "fashion victim" will easily fit this mold. But just because Miuccia Prada and Karl Lagerfeld are genius designers doesn't mean that we have to love everything they send down the runway (although we might). So although I'd encourage brand loyalty (I own a shirt with Karl Lagerfeld's face on it from his Impulse collections at Macy's and I'm not ashamed), I think it's important to really consider why you're being loyal.