In certain circles, certain people have the luxury of...discussing the meaning of luxury. Italian Vogue's Franca Sozzani had a go. Jean-Noël Kapferer, co-author of The Luxury Strategy, gave it his best shot. And the Victoria and Albert Museum even has an upcoming exhibition about it.
For me, defining luxury has always been pretty straightforward: doing, having, buying or indulging in whatever I want without any concern whatsoever as to the resources involved - whether time or money. Thus, luxury could take the form of a spendy, all-inclusive African safari extravaganza from Abercrombie & Kent, lasting two weeks and costing $15,000. Or it could just be the option of sleeping until noon in the middle of the week and spending the rest of the day reading books at cool coffee hangout - with nary a worry nor a thought to mundane things like lost pay or other threats to my livelihood.
So yes, luxury can include opulence and extravagance, sure, but it's not a requirement. Because brands are just that: brands. Not luxury. "Of course not,"agrees management consultant and author Peter York. "If you are a luxury brand, the thing that you make is the brand. Luxury," he adds, "is a business model." Which doesn't necessarily equate with a bigass price tag. "Real luxury is if you wake in the middle of the night and think, 'Oh I fancy some cheese on toast' and someone would do it for you - and not as a favor - and bring it to you on a nice tray."
- Lesley Scott
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This post was about the Supremium fashion tribe - spendy, style-conscious fashionistas that enjoy jetsetting, globetrotting and shopping their way across the globe. For more of my posts about the Supremiums, CLICK HERE. To learn more about each of fashion's four mega-tribes that I track, START HERE.
