I just want to add my 2 cents, I don't think I can see myself paying for shoes from brands like Gucci, Prada, etc. at full price. I have no problem paying for fine shoemaker brands like C&J, Alden, etc. at full price though. The quality is very noticeable.
This is why the older folks really stray from the popular luxury brands. The train of thought is that if you have $10 million in the firm to spend, brands like Gucci, LV, etc. will spend a good portion on their brand awareness AKA marketing. So if you spend 40% on marketing, that leaves 60% for everything else so quality will suffer. Brands like C&J, Alden, Lobb, etc. rarely spend much on advertising thus allowing more money to focus on quality. Not trying to say one approach is better than the other, just want to throw it up here.