Can You Manufacture Luxury?

A Conversation Over Lunch Between Louis Vuitton’s Former President Nicolas Villeger and a Delphi Gold Member

A sophisticated night-time view of a Louis Vuitton store, highlighting its iconic branding and the warm glow of its windows, symbolizing modern luxury and high-end retail in urban settings.

There are moments in business that crystallize a complex problem into a single question. For me, that moment arrived over a typically tasty lunch at The Oak Door in Tokyo, and the question was this: Can luxury be manufactured? More specifically, can you take a product born from science and imbue it with the “soul of“ luxury?

The question was posed by a Delphi "Gold" member, a country manager facing a fascinating challenge: how to pivot a groundbreaking, highly technical medical product for the High-Net-Worth-Individual (HNWI) market. Seated across from us was the one person uniquely qualified to answer, the renowned luxury expert and former President of LVMH, Nicolas Villeger.

Our lunch demonstrated that for the most nuanced business challenges, the solution isn't found in a search engine, but through access to direct, trusted, and agenda-free human expertise.

The Challenge: When something amazing is not necessarily desirable

The Delphi member's situation represents a modern business paradox. His product is a marvel, the result of millions of hours of research and development. By any logical measure, its value is immense. Yet, in the world of luxury, logic is only half the equation. The real challenge is translating that intrinsic value into extrinsic desirability.

This task has become harder than ever. As Nicolas pointed out, luxury is having an epiphany—or perhaps, a reckoning. For years, the industry has stretched the gap between the manufacturer's cost and the consumer's price, relying on the "theatre" of marketing and brand heritage. But consumers are growing resentful of being overcharged. The emotional component has been over-emphasized, and a shift is underway. Today’s discerning clients, from connoisseurs to tech millionaires, are demanding more functional value. They want more quality, more uniqueness, more proof of the talent behind the price tag.

From 'Theatre' to Tangible Value: A Masterclass in the Modern Luxury Code

Nicolas's insight was a masterclass in navigating this landscape. The key, he explained, is not to disguise the product's scientific nature but to reframe it. The solution was to position science as the new craftsmanship.

Think of the hallmarks of traditional luxury: a Purdey shotgun, with its thousands of hours of custom engraving and balancing; a classic Rolls-Royce, built by hand for royalty. The immense value was in the visible, time-intensive human talent. Nicolas argued that the millions of hours of research and brilliant scientific talent that went into the member's product are the modern equivalent of that meticulous craftsmanship. The laboratory is the new atelier. This is the "edge" that today’s luxury consumer seeks, something real, defensible, and born from genius.

A detailed shot of the iconic gold Spirit of Ecstasy figurine adorning a Rolls-Royce, symbolizing unparalleled luxury, heritage, and the meticulous craftsmanship inherent in high-end automotive design.

Frankly, the Delphi member's life-saving diagnostic product is far closer to the luxury of Roman emperors, Russian Tsars and European royalty than the last 70 years of interchangeable watches, bags, and shoes, however fancy the models wearing them.

Of course, you don’t sell this by trotting out scientists in lab coats. As Nicolas wisely noted, the final step still requires a master storyteller—someone who can translate the complex narrative of the lab into a compelling tale of innovation and exclusivity for the ears of the super rich. But this time it's a story with real substance - a "Charles Dickens" equivalent, not the the recent Jaguar advertisement.

This shift also plays into the trend for the "de-materialization" of luxury, where firms aim to capture the lifestyle spending of the wealthy through services and collaborations. By partnering with a luxury hotel, for example, a high-tech medical product can seamlessly integrate into the target client's life, offering functional value within an ecosystem they already trust.

While modern luxury is sold through tiny details surrounding the product, the Delphi member’s product is a reversal to the “thing” itself - just like luxury used to be, where the theatre of a Faberge egg, a Japanese sword and tea ceremony, or a Rolls Royce Phantom III was innate.

"New Luxury" - the " New New Look" so to speak - can use its appreciation of science to flip hospitals from places of sickness and death to a place of life and health. Skilled doctors and caring nurses provide the relief from pain and suffering that raises luxury to new heights and extends our understanding. After all, what is more "desirable" to use Luxury's favourite world - than relief from pain when you are hurting, or longer life when you are already old?

The Power of an Agenda-Free Answer

This level of insight is priceless. The conversation flowed from global consumer psychology to specific market realities, like the Japanese consumer's canny focus on function over pure emotion—a vital consideration for the Delphi member's strategy in Tokyo.

This is the reason Delphi exists. For leaders facing a pivot, wading through sponsored content, agency pitches, and generic articles is inefficient. Our purpose is to provide the signal in the noise, a direct connection to a trusted source like Nicolas Villeger, a friend we have known and admired since is time as Country Manager at Tesla, who can provide an answer with no agenda, deceit, or distortions. It’s about facilitating the one conversation that can solve the problem and unlock millions in potential value.

As the lunch proved, in today's business world, clarity is not a luxury (desirable but unnecessary), and in a sense therefore, Delphi is not in the luxury business.  Nicolas had shown that the Delphi member's challenge was not an insurmountable paradox. His product wasn't some unqualified outsider crashing the luxury party; it was possibly the party's future, positioned to answer the modern call for authentic, talent-driven and literally life-changing value