Columbia Students Design Products for Luxury Brands

For the twelfth year in a row, MBA students from the Columbia Business School have teamed with students from the Parsons School of Design to propose new products for designer labels including Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lalique, and Hermes.

Students submitted their projects through the Product Design and Design Management course, a collaborative program supported by the Luxury Education Foundation and taught by Columbia Business School and Parsons faculty.

The student teams are asked to design a product and marketing plan in response to a challenge posed by a participating firm. Their experience helps them understand the relationship between creating and marketing luxury goods.

This year, student creations include an updated version of the classic Vara women's shoe from Ferragomo; Louis Vuitton travel cases for DJ equipment; and new variations on Hermes bags and belts, meant to make those products more appealling to younger buyers.

Source: "Parsons Partners with Columbia Business School to Design Innovative Product and Marketing Concepts for Leading Luxury Goods Companies" - press release, Parsons The New School of Design (New York, NY), December 11, 2006