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I was also frustrated, but having the line exclusive means one thing. I will not likely ever meet someone wearing the same fragrance. It's also special that I had to search it out. Which fragrances do I like, where will I buy them (I have a personal shopper), etc?
I live between Seattle and Los Angeles. When attending events in LA, there's always the possibility someone will be wearing L'Artisan or Frederic Malle (both are available in Barney's) or one of the many niche scents available at the Scent Bar and other shops.

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Serge Lutens, just like every other luxury company in the world, has a range of products that are not exported. The U.S. does the same thing. Do you honestly believe that every model of Cadillac is for sale in Europe? Anyhow, it's a good excuse to visit Paris!

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Originally Posted by Rebelwithoutaclue It's simple. Anti-American snobery. No more and no less.

Their refusal to ship perfumes to the West is classic French behavior

<snip>

I know the truth hurts. You raise some interesting points, many of which I disagree with, especially your unfounded assertion that this is the truth. However, fo me the two most startling are your assumptions that:
a) The French are somehow a homogeneous mass of surrender monkey intellectual snobs who refuse to back 'the West... AT WAR with barbarian cultures'
b) the invasion of Iraq can be seen as a war on terror (and don't conflate this with a defence of Saddam Hussein's invidious regime).
I sometimes wonder who are the barbarians and whether an angry response is the best way in which to express one's ideas...
As for the non-export question in hand: it's pretentious, rarefied and so on, but the scents are fantastic.

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Originally Posted by Rebelwithoutaclue It's simple. Anti-American snobery. No more and no less.

Their refusal to ship perfumes to the West is classic French behavior

<snip>

I know the truth hurts. This quoted post is GROSSLY offensive and RACIST.

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Originally Posted by Rebelwithoutaclue It's simple. Anti-American snobery. No more and no less.

Their refusal to ship perfumes to the West is classic French behavior

<snip>

I know the truth hurts.. Those damn French! Poor continents of the world! By your rationale they also hate South-American countrys, Australia, Africa, all Asia (maybe not Japan, but thats probably because Shiseido is a japanese company), they also hate Finland and Sweden, and surely they hate the Eskimos. And that is the reason why SL doesn't export his exclusive line to these places (it wouldn't be that exclusive if it did), because they virtually hate the whole world. Luckily we can all be relieved because they just love the British and the Germans, history is our witness.

Oh, the injustice, the cruel French! BTW, does anybody know if SL in person decides to which line goes a perfume imagined by him? Maybe the decision belongs to the evil Shiseido management...

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Luxury is all about limited availabilty. I think it makes perfect sense. Why is no one complaining about the flagship store fragrances from Dior, Hermès and Chanel and Guerlain? Some of the fragrances those companies carries are only available in ONE store. Those are not available to most people either, BUT available to those who care to seek them out, high price or long travels put aside. Like other luxury items... I just can't see how you can complain about this like it would be some kind of right you have to have these near by.
Elitism is a huge part of this snotty business, and I love it. I don't want the fragrances to be approachable in both terms of smell and availabilty. Part of their appeal is lost when both of those sides meet.

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Originally Posted by Rebelwithoutaclue It's simple. Anti-American snobery. No more and no less.
[etc, etc]
I know the truth hurts. An appalling post - shame on you.

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I guess he really is without a clue...
Anyway, you Americans have far lower prices on fragrances, so you really don't have that much to complain about

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Originally Posted by Rebelwithoutaclue It's simple. Anti-American snobery. No more and no less.
Their refusal to ship perfumes to the West is classic French behavior
<snip>
I know the truth hurts. Is there supposed to be some intrinsic Irony here I'm not getting?, maybe between your nickname and the body of the post?, otherwise i found it very rude.
I don't really think the truth hurts, Ignorance does.
I agree with Shifts, in part though, because i don't necessarily love the elitism shocased by some houses, only because some people in certain houses truly think of it as a way of being better than others or have a perception of being superior, instead of thinking about it as a marketing tool that used correctly can attract customers.
I'd like to think that we're all the same, but that thought i have is also childish and it's really more wishful thinking than reality.
I don't hate elitism as a marketing tool, but it can get annoying sometimes.
In the end, if you have enough money and/or power, exclusivity doesn't really exist. Luxury sort of blends with everyday life, as one is supposed to think one thing (or fragrance for example) is luxurious -or exclusive- , somebody else will have to point it out to you or it might be lost on you.
I hope i made myself clear, sometimes i like to contradict myself .
As for the original post, i do not know the real reason of the non-existence of the rest of the line everywhere else (not only in the USA), and i do not know if it's because they don't have a market in the USA for those fragrances.
Something tells me that if they did some sort of "customer focus study" before, it wouldn't help them to say that basically either people don't like them or that it's an "acquired taste", as we know some of the lutens might be like for some people.

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Originally Posted by castorpollux I don't hate elitism as a marketing tool, but it can get annoying sometimes. I certainly don't love elitism, really. But in some cases it works wonders, like you pointed out. Elitism creates a distance I like, but being snotty for no sake at all is plain stupid. Kind of vague I know...