THE NEW LANGUAGE OF LUXURY
With ‘artisan’, ‘ boutique’ and ‘ handcrafted’ overused, it’s time to change the language of luxury
The term ‘luxury fatigue’ has been coined to diagnose a very modern problem, and was one of the standout topics at a recent Sydney forum hosted by Martin Raymond and Chris Sanderson of London-based trend consultancy The Future Laboratory. The forecasting duo, along with a panel of industry leaders, believes that as a result of marketing overkill we’re searching for a new kind of luxury based less on the latest musthaves and more on experiences, our wellbeing and the kind of deep emotional connections that can often be triggered by nature. »
Having turned his part-time passion for landscape gardening into a fully fledged business with Ogilvy Landscape Design, the industry expert discovered a newfound appreciation for the natural and the earthbound. “The whirlwind of our digital lives has only increased our need to slow down and appreciate the analog side of life,” says Ogilvy. “Whether we acknowledge it or not, almost all of us have an instinctive connection to the landscape. And landscape is the perfect expression of the anti-digital trend driving both the longing for imperfection and the whole back-to-nature aesthetic.”
Amanda Henderson, founder of leading Australian event design company Gloss Creative, agrees. “The new luxury aesthetic will be more pared back,” she says. “In terms of interiors and design, the Japanese have nailed this aesthetic for years. It’s about nature calming you and the incredible sense of wellbeing you get from that.” As both Ogilvy and Henderson note, Australian skincare brand Aesop has already set the bar high with its innovative international store designs, using local designers and materials in each region to cultivate unique interiors infused with a feeling of sanctuary. Its recently launched outpost in Sapporo, Japan, is designed to reflect the area’s landscape of snow-topped mountains and volcanic rock. With its rammed-earth walls and charred surfaces, Copenhagen’s recent Sydney pop-up restaurant, Noma, entwined this sense of nature-as-luxury with a deep connection to land and Australian identity. Foolscap Studio’s Adèle Winteridge, the creative behind the concept, heralds Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), designed by Australian architect Nonda Katsalidis, as another notable example of emotive experience powered by its surrounding landscape. “It’s literally an immersion into the land,” she says, “and a good example of design playing a huge role in place-making. It focuses on the natural, the eternal and the ephemeral. Here, people experience the landscape, its underbelly, its fruits, and the produce and food of Tasmania. It is sublime.” Luxury can be translated not only through our connection to nature but also in products created with integrity. House of Voltaire works with leading artists and designers — from graphic design icon Peter Saville to French fashion house Chloé and Australian artist David Noonan — to produce quality, limited-edition artworks and products. It’s also a delightfully forward-thinking temporary art and design shop in London, which lands in a heritage townhouse on Melbourne’s Collins Street for a brief residence this July. Visitors to the historic building will be invited to immerse themselves in an intimate, domestic mise-en-scène rather than a typical shop, to encourage a sense of discovery. New items will be introduced daily, adding to the feeling of adventure. The unique theatre of the store, combined with an understanding of the time and skill it takes the artists and makers to create its products, heightens our sense of value, says Joe Scotland, director of Studio Voltaire, the arts charity part-funded by the retail concept. “It’s a luxury,” he says, “that cannot be replicated en masse.” Ultimately, as Henderson notes, there are two main aspects to luxury: beauty and flawless design. “People want beauty in their lives, it gives that emotional response,” she says, “but it’s about fit-forpurpose too, which will become even more important — the way a knot on an Hermès ‘Twilly’ scarf ties perfectly because of the twill it’s made from. A luxury product is one that works very well.”
House of Voltaire lands at QIC Global Real Estate, 74 Collins Street, Melbourne, from 14–24 July. Visit houseofvoltaire.org.
The age of natural luxury James Ogilvy, principal at luxury consultancy Ogilvy & Co, believes that putting heart back into design is the antidote to our luxury y burnout. “So much luxury marketing is superfificial,” superficial,” saysy Ogilvy,y whose clients include Aston Martin and Louis Vuitton. It’s very product- focused and there is often little attempt to make any emotional connection with the potential customer — which seems odd when the one thing you need as a brand is a relationship with your customer.