INTRODUCTION: Written by and aimed at the fashion industry, ‘The New Luxury’ examines what luxury means and how it exists today, taking you through some of the most current and forward-thinking contributions in the industry, as well as solving and deconstructing the question of what truly characterises an object as ‘Luxury’.
High Snobriety have noticed the same shift in luxury fashion as we see from a branding perspective. In the same way the avant-garde movement shifted perspectives in the art world, New Luxury redefines what we perceive to be valuable. The new emphasis is on knowledge, culture, personalisation, participation, artful ideas and identity, it’s a more meaningful experience to engage with than the hierarchical ideals of old luxury, previously centred around price, taste, exclusivity, excess, physical displays of wealth and artisanal manufacturing.
While the craftsmanship and physical materials are still a fundamental part of luxury, the fashion world is exploring ways to utilise new technologies and processes not classically associated with high-end fashion, offset by embracing the creative process – the storytelling and the detailed consideration that transforms the ordinary into a personality.
What stands out from the fashion world is the strength of disrupting a person’s gaze by taking everyday items out of their usual context and re-framing them to fit a new, engaging narrative that encourages audience participation. This, in essence, is how we create captivating brands: acknowledging familiar quality-cues, but also pushing the boundaries of how these are applied. This practice is currently more relevant than ever in the world of sustainable design, something that used to be brown paper bags and hessian sacks is currently undergoing its own revolution and in some cases, already adopted by high-fashion in the guise of New Luxury.
The New Luxury: Defining the Aspirational in the Age of Hype £40, www.highsnobriety.com
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