(an installation by Pablo Reinoso at L'Hotel du Marc - via source)
- rapid home delivery of stuff
- car service
- a butler on demand
Only yesterday, these were spendy luxuries reserved for the wealthy. Today, they're commonplace for common folk. So in a world where technology keeps making everything fast and cheap, what will luxury start to look like?
Probably more tailored, increasingly customized and couture-bespoked to the nth degree.
And rare.
A current example is L’Hôtel du Marc (above). Owned by champagne company Veuve Cliquot, the exclusive Reims establishment is appointed with neoclassical architecture and a rotating collection of contemporary artwork. But only a very select few will ever be able to tell you about having spent the night in one of their six rooms because a stay there is by invitation only.
Similarly, few will ever be given the chance to wear the $20 million blue diamond necklace from Harry Winston like Gloria Stewart did at the 1998 Oscars (below) for her role in the blockbuster Titanic.
But rather than just pricetag, what makes both the hotel-stay and the fancy necklace "desirable luxuries" is how rare they are. Of course pricey purchases will never entirely go out of style, at least not in the foreseeable future, but it's no longer about the sheer number of things you own. Rather, what those with a big bankroll want isn't more of something - but for whatever they're purchasing to be the most select example possible. (image)
Or, as the brand experts at Pearlfisher characterize it: the way the uber-wealthy are increasingly self-expressing via shopping is by going from "excess to asset."
- Lesley Scott
(image)
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.
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