LUXURY MARKET Student consumers learn how products are developed

The teams from two New York schools get practical experience in how merchandise goes from an idea to the store shelf.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The future of French luxury products, the granddaddies of the luxury category, lies with today's youth.
So why not ask big-spenders-to-be what they'd like to see on store shelves? Or, better yet, ask them to create models of items they'd want to buy.
These questions are at the heart of an annual collaborative project among Parsons School of Design, Columbia Business School and Comite Colbert, an association made up of 70 French houses that promotes and monitors the luxury market.
Product development
Comite Colbert's not-for-profit educational arm, the Colbert Foundation, hands out assignments to students from the two New York schools to develop lines that would both carry on the traditions the participating brands embrace and appeal to the next generation of consumers.
"The students, who cut a wide demographic swath, are exactly who these companies want to buy their products," explains Parsons' Richard Yelle, who serves as the project's lead faculty member.
The benefit for students is real-life industry experience working with leading companies such as Chanel, Christofle, Hermes, Longchamp and Bernardaud.
"I took this class because I wanted to work on a project like this. You work with different people from different backgrounds and you work as a team. I don't know if it reflects exactly how it happens (in business) but I know I see the process of developing new products," says Ammar Khalifeh, a communications design student at Parsons.
"I'm sure it's much more complex on the outside because more decisions need to be made but this gave me an idea of what to expect."
Khalifeh's team was charged with creating an addition to Bernardaud's porcelain tabletop collection. Others were asked to revamp Chanel's ready-to-wear travel collection; design Chanel watches; develop a line of golf accessories for Christofle; create evening accessories for Hermes; and add men's briefcases to Longchamp's collection.
The inspiration
After researching the brands (and their competitors), the students developed "mood boards" with pictures of the sights, sounds, smells and tastes that would serve as their inspiration for new products while also providing a constant reminder of what each brand stood for.
In Bernardaud's case, the key symbols included water, a swan and a Siamese cat.
From there, Khalifeh explains, the team came up with the Bernardaud Illuminuit, a decorative glass light that aims to build upon the company's strong votive candle business.
All of the product assignments are ideas the companies are very serious about exploring, says Yelle, a product-design professor.
"We get a lot of attention from these companies," he adds.
The CEOs and chief marketing officers meet with students at least twice during the semester and go over progress and offer input.
Chanel's description for its travel line, for instance, was that it was looking to update the wardrobe of female business travelers who don't want to look like they just got off a plane.
Yelle says the company's executives seemed impressed with the students' final presentation, which included a trenchcoat with a removable knit lining that could be worn as a sweater, a stain-resistant coordinated suit and top, and a customized travel kit with an aromatherapy eye mask, silk-covered pillow, and a cashmere blanket and slippers.
Chanel has participated in the program for each of its 10 years, with designer Karl Lagerfeld personally reviewing the students' work, Yelle reports. "Last year, the project was Chanel eyewear and I've seen the shapes, colors and logo placements we used on new products."
But, he adds, while he sees "bits and pieces of what we do all over the place," the companies typically don't put the ideas of the American students straight into production.
"They still want their things to be French."