March 6, 2008
Keith Richards and the baby boomers
Bernard Arnault presumably knows a thing or two about what sells Louis Vuitton bags, or he would not feature so prominently on the Forbes list.
Still, I was struck by seeing the well-worn face of Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones guitarist, in an advertisement in a glossy magazine for Louis Vuitton. You can see the photo here.
One British brand consultant sums it up thus to Bloomberg:
Keith Richards is timeless and ageless. He’s lived his life on the edge, but he’s not a sleaze bag. He’s lean and mean and he’s still current.
So then, not a sleaze bag but the kind of man whose bag you covet. According to Mr Arnault, Mr Richards is one of several “achievers who’ve changed things” to be featured in ads for the luxury goods company.
The lesson I take from this is that baby boomers buy a lot of luxury goods and that any baby boomer icon - including one renowned for drug-taking and louche living - is therefore a potential front man.
I don’t suppose that Keef envisaged when the Stones started, nor after Altamont, that he would wind up as the face of Louis Vuitton. But sensibilities change, and so does the luxury market.
