I couldn’t help but keep my eye out on the conversations for you this week that’s popping up all over social media. I’m seeing that many women are fed up of the lack of luxury alternatives in a world where the conglomerates rule.

In this article, I will do a deep dive on what I found high net worth women are saying and doing to take back control —

Of their wardrobe

Of their shopping habits

For their peace of mind…

Because who else can appreciate art and luxury

But the woman who experiences life to the fullest?

I hope you enjoy this week’s article— 💋LK

High Luxury Women Are Leaving Big Brands for Designers and Artists

Before fashion became an industry, it worked differently. Women didn’t shop brands. They worked directly with the local tailors, the artisans, the designers.

Designers crafted pieces specifically for them. Relationships formed that lasted years. It was a system built on artistry and trust. The word for it was patronage.

And quietly, it is returning again in the 21st century- after the fast-fashion boom of the early 80s.

There is a quiet, jagged rebellion happening in the upper echelons of the luxury world, and it isn’t starting on a Parisian runway.

Here are the 5 reasons… starting in the comment sections led by the wealthy.

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In the upper echelons of luxury, the conversation is changing. It is moving away from the “games” of the department store floor and toward the intimacy of the personal artist. This shift is driven by a simple but profound epiphany regarding what we are actually paying for. Because of this, we now have the…

The Return of the High Luxury Woman

If you look closely at the social media watercoolers where the “heavy hitters” hang out, the tone has shifted from admiration of a heritage brand to a sharp, worthy cynicism.

One woman, a long-time devotee of the most storied orange-boxed house in France, recently admitted she hasn’t stepped foot in their boutiques for over eighteen months—not because she can’t afford it, but because she’s tired of “the games.”

Another was even more blunt: “These bags cost more than ever, yet the materials and craftsmanship feel cheaper.” To these women, what used to feel like a sacred piece to collect now feels fundamentally common.

The luxury bubble hasn’t just burst; it’s dissipating. Even Anna Wintour grew tired of the word ‘luxury’, as every market catapulted on creating luxury through the increased access to fast fashion via directly via manufacturers at the tip of a mouse button.

The art of luxury has been lost and the idea, oversold.

This is why the truly discerning are pivoting.

They aren’t looking for the next “It-bag” like in the early 2000s—they’re looking for something new at which they almost can’t put their finger on it, until they see it.

The high luxury woman used to do the same.

New drop.

New collection.

New “must-have.”

And so, the high luxury woman has begun moving differently.

You’ve seen her before. She walks into a room and something subtle happens. Other women begin studying what she’s carrying, what she’s wearing, how everything fits together so effortlessly.

You notice it immediately because something about her feels calm. Nothing about her looks frantic, trend-chasing, or overly styled.

Her bag doesn’t resemble the ones glowing behind glass on Madison Avenue.

It feels rarer than that.

Here’s Why: When heritage houses hop on the fast fashion trend in the mid 2010s

She noticed.

Now after a decade of trying to love what she used to love. She now sees that everything is the same. And the logos keep getting larger. Now she’s tired of it.

Luckily she has contacts to build her own Rolodex of renowned designers and artists to dress her and curate her lifestyle:

A handbag artist who bags graced the windows of Bergdorf Goodman

makes her next handbag.

A discreet shoe artist who has a patent on the most comfortable stiletto

creates her next heels.

A perfume artist who is from Harlem who has occasional pop ups with Nordstrom

orders her next perfume from.

(link to my contact for this perfume artist at bottom of article)

These artisans know her life well enough to design for it. They dress her the way painters immortalized their muse.

And once you see this, you begin to understand something important. The difference between her world and the one most women are still navigating.

Subscribe to read the following chapters:

1. The Price Secret No One Talks About

2. Personalization Is the New Luxury

3. The Quiet Fatigue with Conglomerates

4. What the High Luxury Woman Is Really Collecting

5. Why You Rarely See Her Custom Pieces on Resale Sites

and… The Return to Patronage

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Here’s what happened years ago, before I wrote this.

1. The slow realization

I knew my corporate fashion marriage was over when I started designing for a season I hadn’t even lived through yet. Summer bags in January. Fall colors in April. I was sketching for a woman who didn’t exist yet, in a moment that hadn’t arrived, for a trend report that clashed with my creativity. That’s when I realized — this wasn’t a creative partnership. It was an arranged marriage.

2. The dinner table moment

Have you ever sat at a dinner table pretending everything is fine while internally drafting your exit plan? That was me with the fashion calendar. Smiling at “Resort drops.” Nodding at “Pre-Fall capsules.” Meanwhile, I was exhausted. Not from designing — from keeping up with "what’s in.”

I could care less, as I saw myself as a human being

who so happen to wear what she wants at any time.

3. The corporate wake-up call

The moment I knew I wanted out was when someone asked me, “What’s your Q3 launch strategy?” I’m an artist. Not a quarterly earnings report. That question told me everything. I wasn’t building legacy pieces. I was feeding a fashion giant.

4. The closet test

I opened my own closet one day and saw last season’s “trends” sitting there like a ghost of a corporate stylist’s past. That’s when I knew — the calendar wasn’t serving anyone. It was consuming me and those who I was creating it for.

AND NOW— LET’S GET TO TODAY’S ARTICLE- LK💋

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Why I’m Divorcing the Fashion Calendar

Americans spent $12B on luxury handbags. 90% went overseas to conglomerates.

There’s a certain kind of silence that falls over a room when you hear someone say they lost $8 Billion dollars. Even if it’s not your money, it still hits.

Then comes that quiet tickle, the one that makes you want to start asking questions.

I get tickled as an American Designer when I’m compared to Hermès and Chanel — and writing this now — because I’m done being compared as an artist to conglomerates.

Here are three reasons why I’m burning the furniture of my arranged marriage to the fashion calendar — even after I already walked down the aisle as an American Designer.

1) We were fooled.

Last year, Americans retained their ‘status’ as the world’s #1 consumption of luxury handbags over $1000. No surprise. When I found this out at first- I was extremely proud. We were taking home the American Gold Medal.

We have the appetite, the capital, and the “eye” even if everyone besides us is shouting in our ear about how bad the economy is. It doesn’t matter.

We will spend because we work hard and deserve it— that’s why.

But here is the truth no one will tell you:

90% that same $8 Billion spent on luxury handbags over $1000 by Americans, was wired overseas to “heritage” luxury conglomerates.

Ok… so we like heritage that much— right?

90% is quite significant to give to someone’s heritage.

What got me here, when I found out this statistic is that— this heritage didn’t go to European artists, shops, small businesses.

It was instead a sacrificial offering to show our ‘status’ to the Conglomerates.

So therefore, Americans, are effectively paying a $8,000,000,000, 90% annual alimony to mass market luxury chains that have penetrated the American market in the same fashion that Mcdonald’s has around every corner.

Surprisingly, 90% of faithful logo wearers, and most others who do not care about logos, like me, didn’t realize that the American luxury market never gave itself a chance to not be the world’s luxury ATM.

So… how did we get here?

Well. Here’s what happened. They sell us the “trendy” pieces in new colors every fashion week. We send them the GDP of a small nation.

Even if it’s labeled as luxury, it’s still fast fashion the moment pieces are made in a factory before a client even asks for them. Production comes first. Demand comes with $100 million mass advertising campaigns to re-convince the masses of the status and beauty that they are lacking. The cycle repeats itself every three months when “New Arrivals” hit the shiny floors of the local mall, right next to the same McDonald’s. The lights are bright. The displays feel fresh. Everything looks exclusive.

But nothing is truly new.

Because just as quickly, the “Old Arrivals” disappear. No announcement. The inventory that collects dust on the shelves or in the drawers are boxed up, lost in the back rooms where the conglomerates board meeting inventory projections go to die.

What was once presented as rare and refined becomes excess overnight. The price tag may say luxury, but the system behind it is pure fast fashion — just dressed in better branding.

Fast-food. Fast-fashion. Is it for American convenience or status?

I’m done with it.

I’m officially granting myself a divorce from the traditional fashion calendar.

2) The Tyranny of the Season

The fashion calendar is a vestige of a world that no longer exists. It was designed for a time when editors needed lead times for print magazines and department stores needed “Spring/Summer” to tell people when to buy linen. Today, it serves only one purpose: planned obsolescence.

When a conglomerate tells you a bag is “this season,” what they are actually saying is that it will be “out” in six months. They are selling you a fashion time bomb, not a treasure.

As a Parsons-graduated designer, I was taught the architecture of the stitch and the soul of the leather. Nowhere in that education did it say that art has an expiration date. That is why I have pivoted the House of Liselle Kiss toward Seasonless Functional Handbag Art.

If a piece is truly a masterpiece, why does it matter if it was finished in April or October? By dismissing seasons, I am reclaiming the right to slow down.

3) Reclaiming the Patron

Here’s the next problem. The industry calls you a “consumer.” I find that word offensive. A consumer is someone who uses something up until it’s gone.

Is this all we are?

You don’t “use up” a $10,000 crocodile bag. You own it. You pass it down.

At my House, we have replaced the “Consumer” with celebrating the future impact of the American Luxury Patron.

A Patron is not a passive recipient of a marketing campaign. They are an active participant in the reclamation of American luxury.

When we look at that $8 billion leaving our economy, we’re not just seeing lost revenue — we’re watching our own craft, art, and cultural momentum slowly erode.

We fall back again simply for the love of the art of the handbag, not the franchised campaigns of the conglomerates.

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Here’s how I fixed this…

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A) Brands that reduce quality, yet increase price?

B) ‘Quiet Luxury’ bags that are quietly boring?

C) Bags that are not authentically handmade?

Well love,

you no longer need to suffer.

Trust me, boring, expensive, inauthentic bags will make anyone want to avoid being a victim.

Here are the top 5 Handbag Luxury Rules

to consider before making

your next designer handbag purchase.

1. BUY DIRECT TO AVOID COUNTERFEITS

Buy directly from the designer can save you and someone’s life.

If you don’t personally know and trust the person reselling a handbag, buying directly from the brand is the safest way to keep a real collection. Many bags sold by resellers are counterfeit—often passed along without the buyer even knowing. Some resale sites try to authenticate bags. However, many do not catch everything. Counterfeit goods are illegal in the U.S.

According to U.S. Customs, “counterfeit goods are often manufactured to fund criminal enterprises…. Purchasing authentic goods through reputable sellers supports U.S. growth....”

That fake dupe trend everyone loves on Tik Tok? Or that one fake bag you almost were tempted to buy while traveling abroad? High chances those bags are illegal fundraisers for gangs and criminal organizations. Yes, the mob. The profits from counterfeit goods help fund most of their illegally operated factories that often use forced labor and unsafe working conditions. A lower price does not change where these bags come from.

I even heard recently that France is starting to imprison and fine people with counterfeits! Extreme? Definitely. How to avoid? Tell that friend to stop buying counterfeits or atleast get them authenticated if they look remotely similar to the real thing.

When you buy directly from the designer, you avoid all of this. You know your bag is real. You protect your mind and future investments by supporting the original designer and work behind the piece.

2. COLOR MATCHING

From a designer’s point of view, color is the foundation of a handbag’s longevity. A well-chosen color should move effortlessly from day to night and support the way you actually live, not just the trend of the season. Neutrals with depth—such as blush, black, or emerald—work because they pair naturally with both professional and evening wardrobes while aging beautifully over time.

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