Outta SiiTE - Once Wary of the Web, Luxury Brands Embrace It

Where Style Meets Technology

Once Wary of the Web, Luxury Brands Embrace It

THE luxury goods industry, struggling through a recession that has threatened some well-known names with extinction, is trying to use technology to its advantage.

Many in the fashion business remain wary of the Internet, partly because of continuing legal battles over online sales of counterfeit goods and concerns about diluting carefully honed brand images. Many companies also have failed to execute online storefronts successfully. But executives say that attitudes are softening as brands realize that the Web provides one of the last untapped sources of potential growth.