BackWilliam Bissell | Live and tell
Luxury is currently going through a change, almost a return to its roots, with the emphasis on intrinsic value
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The concept of luxury is currently going through a revolution, with its very definition changing as we speak. In the coming decades, we will begin to see luxury as what we experience and how we live our lives, as opposed to what we possess.
Until 30-40 years ago, this is how luxury existed in India. Elite women would wear saris woven in a particular way with superior craftsmanship. To the uninitiated, these saris looked much the same as everyone else’s. But the elite were able to recognize the technique and appreciate the workmanship, and immediately know that this person was a member of the elite too.
During the 20th century, the notion of society’s elite changed, and became much more democratic. Suddenly, there was a new class of elite, which had rapidly acquired extreme wealth; the global elite were defined more by money than birth and upbringing. These people had neither the time nor the inclination to learn the behaviour or taste of the aristocratic elite. A new signifier of wealth and status had to be created and, as a result of this, we saw the commodification of luxury for the first time.
Luxury is currently going through another change, almost a return to its roots, with the emphasis on intrinsic value. Let’s look at travel, for example. Staying at a seven-star chain hotel is no longer the cutting edge of luxury. Rather, small boutique hotels that offer unique, exciting experiences are back in vogue. Going to the Galápagos Islands on a small sailboat and camping out while studying the species is the new ultimate luxury, while a tour of Western Europe might be seen as passé. The new language of luxury is experience. The new marker of the elite is the story that one is able to tell.
Though this is still the fringe of luxury—in India, we’re still very much in the “second generation" of luxury—this is the trend that we’ll see growing in the years to come. We’re seeing a return to people caring about the deeper intrinsic value of an item—its material, technique, the quality of life for the craftsman, and so on. We won’t see an end to luxury goods but, rather, a shift, which will also see a return to quality craftsmanship. We will also see people questioning both the value of possessions and how much one person really needs—and perhaps deciding to take the family on an exciting vacation instead of buying a new car. We are moving beyond seeing wealth and luxury simply as how much we own (and what it’s all worth)—and towards what we experience and how we live our lives.
The writer is the managing director of Fabindia.
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