The Luxury Issue 2014: The new luxe
Contemporary luxury is about experience rather than a monogram
Luxury’s biggest loss in the new century is that it is no longer a daunting idea. Dethroned by “accessibility", which dented its aura for its clientele, luxury’s climbdown, paradoxically enough, also sounded the bugle for its reinterpretation.
Earlier, the world associated luxury with riches, royalty, limited supply, the theatrical fuss of haute couture, finest materials, skilled artisans and perfumers creating high-priced objects in clinically clean ateliers, extraordinary finish and quality that would last a lifetime; the pursuit of leisure as intellectual and emotional enhancement of life. More than anything else it was about the logo of an established brand—often European, if not French.
When haute couture was forced to shed its hauteur owing to the numerous economic downturns and logos shrank in size and meaning, the privileged needed more imaginative ways to lead distinct lives. Quiet holidays in undiscovered forests, ancient recipes with ethnic spices, vintage items dug up from the trunks of grandparents, unpolished wooden decor, dull matte gold instead of glittering diamonds began to fade in.
The lines started blurring. Fine French luxury, created in a certain way with attention to hundreds of details, or a strand of Coco Chanel pearls, didn’t fall out of favour but small hand-crafted things, revived textiles and embroidery techniques, old methods of carpentry practised by unknown artisans in the distant villages of a developing country, also began to be appreciated. Till the most elusive and hard-to-attain value—simplicity—entered the luxury conundrum and challenged everyone.
The world’s attention on India as a luxury destination (beyond peacocks dancing at a royal Rajasthani hotel) is an important milestone, and not just because India has always been the hometown of simple luxury. It underlines why rootedness, authenticity, human involvement, hand-crafted components, the rural origins of textiles, furniture or jewellery traditions, and home-cooked food are becoming as meaningful as logos. All over the world, luxury is increasingly being defined as an “experience"—preferably one that is green and environmentally sensitive. India is full of such possibilities.
What’s particularly indicative is that the world is willing to reimagine, reinterpret and accept Indian luxury even when it is not branded, even when its white is not pristine, its black not industrially polished, even when the artisan creating it doesn’t know how to price, package, mount and exhibit it.
This issue attempts to deconstruct Indian luxury. Why its definition has shifted, why the spoils of royalty sound regressive in such a debate, and why some Indian crafts are fine instances of contemporary luxury.
As long as we remember that luxury is still a Sanskritized idea, synonymous with aspiration, privilege and limited supply, however democratized it may have become. Earlier, it invoked a certain class, now it demands a certain consciousness.
Shefalee Vasudev
Issue editor
Also Read
Nirmala Sitharaman | Luxury must shape and reshape itself
Aakar Patel: The spoils of royalty
Aneeth Arora | Making of the price tag
Radha Chadha: Size and sensibility
Shoba Narayan: Missing the Indian spirit
William Bissell | Live and tell
Sharan Apparao: Escaping the easel
Consumer Behaviour: Who is coming to my store?
Revival Attempts: A purist pursuit?
Royal Legacy: The trial of a textile
Textile Conservation: The centennial weave
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