The business of luxury

September 18 2007: 11:03 AM EDT

(Fortune Magazine) -- Over the past decade, luxury has gone from occasional indulgence to daily ritual. Think about how your morning cup of instant coffee has evolved into a $4 custom-made cappuccino. Or that Oscar de la Renta's perfume now sells at Wal-Mart (Charts, Fortune 500).

Those are two small examples in a global trend of bringing class to the masses. Goods and services once available only to the elite - think cashmere and stock advice - are on the way to becoming commodities. Luxury goods and the companies that sell them have become big business - $220 billion a year, estimate the consultants at Bain & Co.

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• The many faces of Ralph Lauren
• Luxury goes mass market
• Managing Marc Jacobs
• The hipster in the gray flannel suit
• Does bling beat the market?
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12 Sultans of style
From iconic designers to luxury group titans, power has never looked so good.
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• The dawn of the McLuxury age
• The rebirth of Brooks Brothers
• 5 Luxe limited editions
• Deluxe on a dime

In the stories that follow, Fortune takes a look at the figures, the figureheads, and the companies - from Polo Ralph Lauren (Charts) to Brooks Brothers to Cartier to Gucci - behind the boom. Top of page

Ralph Lauren: Inside the $4 billion Polo empire
Does bling beat the market?
Mass vs. class
Brooks Brothers: The new man in the gray flannel suit
Managing Marc Jacobs
The style council: Icons in the business of style
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Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2012 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2012 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2012. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.
© 2012 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy. Ad choices .