TRANSPORT: The KABE Royal Tower is a double-decker caravan. The 8.2m-long camper is 4.4m-high, allowing people to stand up straight even on the top deck. The lower deck features a living room, kitchen and breakfast dinette, plus a bedroom with single beds, while the upper deck has a ‘lounge’ with an L-shaped sofa and a cocktail cabinet. A door from the lounge leads out onto the roof of the front section, which serves as a sunbathing terrace. The new double-decker caravan is fully equipped with air conditioning on both floors, a dishwasher and more. Price: €105,000 (Rs59.64 lakh).
Strollers had their premiumization moment a few years ago when Bugaboos and Stokkes burst onto the scene. Now car manufacturers such as Porsche AG want a piece of the premium pie: their stroller folds up small enough to fit in the luggage compartment of almost all sports cars. It comes with pneumatic tires and Carrera S rims for a high-performance ride, as well as a lockable front wheel, a handbrake and parking brake. Price: $690.
IN HOME: Next up—baby furniture. Combining functionality with style, Ooba designs cribs and high chairs that are touted by everyone from the curator of MoMA to French magazines that cater to parents who want to help their children develop a taste for beautiful objects. And toilet paper? Portuguese paper products company Renova sells Renova Black, lauded as the first fashionable toilet paper. Price per roll is €2.17. Renova Black is also available as Renova Red, Renova Orange, and Renova Green.
The Laundress is a collection of high-end fabric detergents and care products. When Lindsey Wieber, a sales executive for Chanel, and Gwen Whiting, a senior designer for Ralph Lauren, realized that their expensive clothes were suffering from dry cleaning, they took matters into their own hands and created The Laundress. Their line of premium fabric care products provides detergents for superior fabrics, from wool/cashmere shampoo to baby detergent. In their own words: “All fabrics are different—everything needs to be treated differently. All of our products were developed for a specific reason.” Adding to the sense of luxury, detergents and care products come in four signature fragrances: Classic, Cedar, Baby and Lady. The Laundress range also includes laundry bags and ‘wet’ swimsuit pouches.
Candles. Did we mention candles yet? Check out Acqua di Parma’s Design Candle Collection, priced at a cool $130 per candle!
Clearly, the list goes on forever. In 2008, no self-respecting brand, even those who market the most mundane of commodities, will fail to introduce at least one premium version of whatever it is they’re peddling. Is your industry or sector next?
Read Part II in Friday’s Mint.