[fireworks501]

It's important to note that I doubt Ayumi has actually paid for any of the D&G / DSquared / etc. clothing that she's photographed wearing. Aside from it being convention for design houses to dress celebrities for free, the amount of free press that Ayumi garners outweighs the relative cost of what is considered a luxury good.

Consider: $400,000 annual marketing budget to include placement of a Dolce & Gabbana ad in Vogue for six months, or giving her a $4,000 dress that is photographed and printed in any number of periodicals and online image sites that trend-savy consumers read? And think - the images of Ayumi wearing the dress came at no cost to the company, but are, in effect, free publicity.

In addition, most celebrities don't pay full retail for luxury goods. Most receive VIP discounts at major houses (30%), to encourage them buying, wearing, etc. the goods that they don't get for free (again, the free press principle). It creates an image of aspiration to the consumer - if this celebrity is wearing this, it immediately validates the brand and makes it seem cool - and, in turn, inspires a consumer with the assets to pay $4,000 for a dress (trust me, there are plenty around the world) to go out and buy it.

So you know, while there is significant markup in the costs of luxury goods - around 40% or 30% usually - the markup isn't SO high to merit criticism of "it just costs that much because it says Dior!". The consumer who buys these is often paying for rare materials (ostrich, patent leather, embroidery, etc.) that make up high-quality garments (in that they're hand-sewn, or detailing on certain kinds of silk takes a certain amount of man hours, or leather processing, etc.) that are often tailored to fit.

They may seem like concerns that aren't in your every day, but I don't believe that they're a set of concerns that merit such wont criticism as "I think Ayumi is shallow for wearing this" or "It's so expensive because it says XX!".

My 2c, since I work doing public relations for a house on Dolce & Gabbana's level.