The giant monogram is gone, but status still has to read across a room. So luxury swapped it for the craft signal: a code you recognize instead of a name you read.
- Bottega's woven intrecciato, Margiela's four white stitches, Prada's little triangle now do the job the logo used to.
- The timing is money, not taste: new bosses at Chanel and Gucci, and a Kering carrying 10.5 billion euros of net debt, still need you to clock status at a glance.
- The catch: a weave is real hours of a trained hand. A stamped triangle is a stamp.
A craft signal only means craft when there is craft under it. Turn the thing inside out before you pay for the outside.
