FishbowlLA interviews Dana Thomas on the eve of her Los Angeles bookstore appearance promoting Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. "I was one of the Middle Market consumers that luxury brands targeted and I bought their items and clothes," Thomas says of the book's origins. "And I noticed a steady and definite decline in the quality of product, like buttons falling off or breaking, hems ripping out, sweaters unraveling, though retail prices were going up and up and luxury executives were getting richer and richer." So she went out and got some answers!