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What is True Luxury today?
In a world where everything is marked as luxury, from fashion and travel to our lifestyle and home, What is true Luxury Today? It can be hard to truly spot what is really luxury and what is just marketed as such.
Most of us, when we pause to think about it, do understand what true luxury is. However it is hard not to get swept up in all of the hype of influences dripping is so called luxury.
We are across which luxury brands are hot or not, from the very Gucci Gucci Gucci looks to supper tailored Chanel in its monochrome perfection, but what I ask is, Are luxury brands truly luxury?
When I was at design school learning all of the ins and outs of what design is all about, we learnt from the ground up. We learnt from history, we learn about crafts people and cultures that have developed skills over thousands of years to perfect their expertise.
After such an education I looked at the world with very different eyes; from my clothing to my home. It became more about the quality, craft and history of a piece than its brand or social value.
Without such knowledge, I can understand that what our culture today sees as luxury is guided by mass produced designer goods marked to make us want, rather than pieces that are crafted and bespoke made to last.
At no other time in history have humans consumed or disposed of so much. For generations our ancestors lived in a much slower way. If you wanted a new pair of shoes you would go to a cobbler who would measure you up and craft a pair of bespoke shoes just for you. It might take a few months for your new shoes to be ready, but you would know that when they were ready they would fit like a glove and last you for years.
What is the lesson of this story?
In consuming so much our culture has lost the respect and connection to what true luxury is; craft and time. True luxury is not mass produced (After all there are over one million Birkins in the world!), it takes time, its made by skilled crafts people. Yes it dose cost money, but true luxury is not about having it all, its about have good things that will last and last (And who doesn’t like that)!
Next time you are looking for something new; say a beautiful salad bowl, (Yes you can probably find one for peanuts online or in a discount department store, but why not look a little further) do a little bit more research and invest in something that you will keep for the rest of your life. Perhaps something that is hand crafted or an antique that has already had a good life!
This is how we change; not only our relationship with mass produced luxury (or disposable fashion and home goods), but our relationship with what is truly valuable, pieces that are made by hands not machines and made to last not made to be thrown out!
The temptation of luxury brands and products is huge (And I am not immune!), however all I wish is to share my knowledge, with knowledge there comes power!
When we open our minds to new ideas, we open our lives to a new way of thinking and living.
Good Luck!
Gabriel