Insight
The Future of Luxury
(Lead reply: Martina Kühne)
Luxury brands continue to sell at an ever-increasing rate. More than any other industry they focus on the visual image of the brand and the way it is presented. But what does luxury really mean? Here we will try to understand the world of luxury brands and get a glimpse of their future.
For some luxury is a five-star hotel, for others it's a cup of fancy coffee - for others it's a lazy afternoon in a recliner. It's nothing new that our perception of luxury has changed over time - our definition of what constitutes luxury has always been based on the spirit of the time and the rarity of the item. Peppers, sugar, salmon, and later refrigerators, cars, and cell phones were once rare and expensive. But these once very special things became standard equipment. So what is a “real” luxury in our time? And who are its targets?
Classification attempts
In order to navigate through the dizzying world of luxury, to contrast the different performances of brands, and to more effectively organize changes in luxury consumption, we must utilize a model based on an archetype. The development of the human being at different ages is symbolically applied to the development of the luxury model. When unfolding this model, it is important to realize that a change in the perception of luxury is a maturing process that occurs not only in an individual's life story, but also in society as a whole. In short, the stages of luxury are as follows.
1. Infancy
The first stage of luxury consumption is characterized by hunger consumption, where consumers are satisfied with whatever is offered to them. To make an analogy, a child or teenager will buy anything that feeds them or that looks good on them.
The main principle is the more the merrier.
This type of consumption, characterized by childhood dreams, occurs at a young age in the emerging luxury market. People feel they need to make up for lost time and have the motivation to get ahead. There is also a lack of knowledge about how to spend their newfound wealth and what kind of lifestyle to lead.
2. Adult duration
This stage assumes a certain amount of financial resources, but is dominated by escalating competition (peer pressure). Dreams of higher social status gradually give way to fear of the social hierarchy. Asking for more becomes a necessity. It becomes more important to show private wealth, including how you live, where you live, how big your car is (and whether you have a second car), and what schools your children attend. Worrying about how to stay afloat, especially in comparison to neighbors and social peers (catching up, not falling behind) is a driving force for the middle class in general, and in the U.S. in particular.
3. Maturity period
In the next stage, luxury fatigue kicks in. This is characterized by the erosion of the marginal utility of material goods - in other words, the realization that the more frequent and easy the purchasing process is, the less pleasure is derived from the purchase. Or, to put it simply, more is less.
As a result, the consumption of luxury goods has shifted from the purchase of objects to the purchase of experiences, as experiences can be extended indefinitely - from a visit to a small hotel, to a lavish spa weekend, to the ultimate adventure expedition. Most societies living in affluence and prosperity are currently at this stage of the luxury experience - but a new stage is approaching: someone who has everything and nothing to aspire to, making the question of what's next all the more urgent. This makes the question of what's next all the more urgent.
Wealthy self-denial: people no longer say "I can afford it" but "I can do without it."
If we pay attention to the accompanying phenomenon, the principle in old age (with a little exaggeration) is that simplicity is enrichment.
Simplicity describes, on the one hand, a resistance to old age and hedonistic extravagance, but on the other hand, it describes the ability to maximize the benefits and pleasures of necessity; or more accurately, it is not only the ability to return to the basics of life, down to the essentials - it is also the ability to understand and see the meanings behind these things.
4. Self-denial of being rich and powerful
The "new luxury aesthetic" has been condensed into one word: simplicity. Until recently, this word was quite unknown in the luxury lexicon. This new strategy of simplicity involves a rejection of ostentatious displays of wealth: "People no longer say 'I can afford it', but rather 'I can afford not to buy it'". "Nowhere is this restraint more directly realized than in gastronomy, especially in the Scandinavian diet. This trend has already affected many of the region's award-winning restaurants, such as Noma, Fäviken, Frantzén, and other hotels and restaurants on the popular bandwagon. If Scandinavian design means stripping away the facade of formal language, then Scandinavian cuisine is about striving to get to the heart of the matter: preserving the flavor of natural ingredients as much as possible and heating them over an open fire.
Cooking takes place in full view of the diners - bones are sawed, vegetable roots are added, and lichens are transformed into dishes. This is how natural ingredients are brought to the table. It was unthinkable before, let alone whether they were edible or not. The interior of the restaurant is simple and the menu offers only one option - diners have no choice but to accept it.
At the product level, simplicity means you don't have to show anything. In terms of visual presentation it means the disappearance of logos, such as the understated store in London's venerable Selfridges department store. The store is a collection of understated versions of brands such as Levi's, Heinz, Marmite and Clinique, where the brand name has been removed and there is only the design, not the logo. The idea behind this type of design is that people will recognize these brands no matter what, and this is the principle that will shape brand differentiation in the future.
5. Activation through knowledge
But what do you really need to know to understand the guidelines of the New Simplicity and to talk to the authorities about the new luxury? And to be part of it (which is always the point)? Status symbols are no longer important, but are replaced by new skills: knowledge of how things are produced, prepared and shaped. Today we admire and even envy those who know the techniques and ingredients needed to cook a French chicken stew in red wine or an Italian vegetable stew. But the road to true expertise and appreciation is long and time-consuming.
It's no longer just about squandering, it's also about disappearing.
This has long been the case in the field of gastronomy, and obviously in other fields as well.
The formula "time = luxury" contains an element of derision - it implies time to pursue excellence on the basis of unencumbered material needs. But even then you can get bored - so what expertise is necessary for a full and rich experience of time and the rediscovery of leisure? Alainde Botton, founder of the London School of Life, examines the orientation of what a good life should be: "How does a person spend his time? How does one spend one's time? How does one talk better or how does one make a difference? The quest for meaning is in there."
6. True luxury
The respect for craftsmanship and tradition is not new to luxury, although this new foundation of authenticity is not only found in the product manufacturing process. The real need is not primarily profit-driven (i.e. sales-driven), but rather a different kind of interaction with the luxury consumer.
True luxury is accompanied by new forms of selling and new relationships between buyers and sellers. A mixed model of consumption, based on the notion that the buyer and seller share the same style, is now in vogue: the sellers themselves are often creative and don't have the same budgets, but they are more aware of style and taste, at least as much as the consumer - which puts the two on an equal footing.
7. From life style to death style
Finally, as mentioned earlier, simplicity is abundance - we are moving from a culture of procreation, where everyone is hungry, to a culture of old age, where most people are well-fed and clothed, and where consumption eventually declines. Here, luxury is no longer just about dreams, it is also about memories. It's no longer just about splurging, it's also about disappearing - this life has been viewed in terms of leaving, in what we call the style of death.
It is not just about one's last days contemplating how to get rid of the cares of the world, followed by death, but it is a state of being that is accompanied by a clearer awareness of the impermanence of life, a more thoughtful and meaningful life. Those who begin to value the experience of old age will find it easier to adopt this attitude and, in the best of cases, will have nothing to fear but death-perhaps not even death.
This article is excerpted from the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute GDI study.
(Der nächste Luxus: Was uns in Zukunft lieb und teuer wird)
About Martina Kühne
As a senior researcher at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI) in Zurich, he analyzes social, economic and technological changes, focusing on the topics of consumption, trade and mobility.
In addition to her research at GDI, she is currently teaching in the Master of Fine Arts and Design program at the Zurich University of the Arts.
