I'm not sure I would even say it is less prestigious - I think the nature of "prestige" has changed - it's far more multi-faceted now - most luxury brands today are quite pluralistic rather than market-specific. Take a Brand like Louis Vuitton, once only bought by relatively wealthy people as a very Conservative symbol of pedigree and taste. Today however, Vuitton is a fashion brand and some of the designs on offer would hardly appeal to most of their traditional clientèle (see below) - the quality hasn't changed and they still offer their superb traditional traveling luggage but they have expanded the brand to appeal to a much wider clientèle. The tastes of the people in the luxury market are more diverse than ever, this is probably due to the huge increase in the numbers of newly-wealthy individuals who often have quite different tastes to those of people who have had a more "cultivated" upbringing. In other words, people who were born into a life of privilege often have a different appreciation of luxury because they have a better understanding of the subtle social codes of the elite. The thing is, as I have learned in life, rich people aren't just people with a lot of money - they are not some generic group that all have the same tastes and lifestyles - like everybody else, some wealthy people have exceptionally fine taste and spend their fortunes on high-culture and wonderful things, while others have absolutely no concept of greatness and squander their money on tasteless garbage.

On the LV handbag below: Paris Hilton might be able to get away with it, but Princess Diana wouldn't have been seen dead with it (sorry that was a bad pun.)