In the lap of White Lotus luxury
Despite rising interest rates and the spiralling cost of living, globetrotters are escaping to five-star opulence — and the hit TV show is behind the trend, writes
For British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, it’s a beachfront workcation in Bali (aka the G20 Summit); for actor Stanley Tucci, it’s living the dolce vita in Italy for his TV series; for England’s football WAGs, it’s packing designer suitcases and checking in to a $2 billion cruise ship for the Qatar World Cup. Everyone who is anyone is getting away on holiday this year. They can’t get away fast enough or far enough; even if it means, in the case of British Conservative MP Matt Hancock, eating kangaroo penises in the Australian jungle on reality TV show I’m a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here!; his glossy girlfriend, Gina Coladangelo, has now boarded a business class flight to join him.
Many of us, holed up at home, facing the worst cost of living crisis since the 1970s, can’t help but live vicariously through them, while inhaling The White Lotus, now showing on Neon in New Zealand, which follows a group of high-worth, high-maintenance and narcissistic individuals as they holiday in Hawaii (season one) and now Sicily (season two). Such wealth and decadence would have once seemed crass — why would we care about rich people jetting off to the sun to strut around in skimpy swimwear at five-star resorts with their spoilt teens? — but now, it seems pleasingly frivolous.
We want a slice (even if its via social media) of the gold-plated luxury that Lucia Loi, footballer Marcus Rashford’s fiancee, Sasha Attwood, footballer Jack Grealish’s girlfriend, and England defender Eric Dier’s partner, Anna Modler, will experience aboard HMS Wag (formerly known as MSC World Europa), a 2633-cabin mega-liner with 33 restaurants, six swimming pools and an 11-deck slide. We want to imagine ourselves part of a lifestyle where our biggest stress would be which cocktail to order from our sun lounger.
This must be why no one derided Sunak for his moneyed Bali wardrobe, which was straight out of The White Lotus. If former British prime ministers David Cameron or Boris Johnson had stepped out in a bright Balinese shirt, slinky white trousers and $870 Tod’s Gommino driving shoes there would have been a public outcry but Sunak got away with it — 2022 is all about shamelessness.
“Everyone wants to wear exoticlooking clothes and book a lush, catered, far away holiday after everything that’s been going on,” sighs one wealthy London mum who is having to cope with just a skiing holiday this Christmas. “It’s all about escapism; the last hurrah before we are taxed to high heaven and never go out again.”
Even the moderately wealthy are embracing the White Lotus spirit. In May, research from Advertising Week Europe indicated that, while consumers were intending to cut back on eating out and new clothes, 46 per cent of those surveyed were not going to reduce their holiday allowance. And so it turned out.
At October half term in the UK, a particularly wet, miserable week of pumpkin carving for the masses, half of southwest London and the home counties herded their children on to long-haul flights to resorts in Kenya, Florida and Dubai. They returned bronzed and happy, and thanks to a mild autumn have been wearing the glitzy, Barbie-style resort wear they took on holiday ever since. It’s the dress code for the first proper Christmas party season since Covid.
Luxury property expert Julia Perowne believes that the travel spending spree will continue well into
2023 as people take a carpe diem approach to life.
“Resorts in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean have never experienced such demand,” she says.
“The issue is getting anywhere. Flights are so full and airlines are not yet back to their full capacity. Unless you have a private jet, you can feel a bit trapped.”
Meanwhile, those stuck in Blighty are adopting a hedonistic, devil-maycare approach to life too.
“First time wearing eyeliner since
2019,” influencer and podcaster Marina Fogle wrote beneath a photograph of her in a velvet party dress on Instagram this week; indeed party wear sales are up 97 per cent year on year, with sequins proving to be a seasonal sellout.
New data suggests that despite the cost of living crisis, we’re heading to the shops to buy makeup and jewellery, yet spending less on boring incidentals online. Men are every bit as excited about dressing up as women, as channelled by Sunak and his pal, Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau, who wore coral shades and matching shirts during the summit in Bali, with Botox, watches and shoes replacing Pelotons and detox retreats as dinner party topics at autumn dinner parties.
While no parent would want their teen to behave like the spoilt youngsters on The White Lotus, with their gaming addictions and drug issues, they won’t mind them ditching hardcore grunge for the designer grunge modelled by Haley Lu Richardson, Jennifer Coolidge’s assistant on The White Lotus, who looks effortlessly cool in her vintage Tommy Hilfiger surfer girl polo, raffia bucket hat and lime green nail polish.
Children’s Christmas lists are also shamelessly White Lotus this year, with Barbie dolls firmly back in the
top 10 Christmas toys — specifically Barbie Cutie Reveal Dolls, which come with two sets of makeup and a number of outfits — along with decadently dressed Rainbow High fashion dolls.
Meanwhile, in our homes the rustic and homely interior decor that became so popular during the pandemic is being replaced by escapist, holiday-feeling interiors schemes: coastal, Mediterranean and jungle.
After being locked down with our possessions, we want our homes to resemble hotel suites, devoid of clutter; in this way we relate to Shane, the spoilt honeymooner in season one of The White Lotus, who almost ruins his marriage over his obsession with the Pineapple Suite, the best
room at the resort, with a plunge pool and loud palm-printed wallpaper. “While the shabby-chic look was all the rage in the early 2010s, maximalist decor with jewel tones and bold prints has made a comeback,” maintains interior designer Anne Haimes.
This winter’s White Lotus vibe might not have quite the same tackiness as that of 1990s Bling, when Paris Hilton invented the handbag dog; in a way it’s more expensive — gold and sparkly yet demure; more dolce vita than LOL doll. But there can be no escaping the whiff of debauchery; the reignited urge for designer logos, exotic locations and for life to feel like anything other than how it feels in the UK right now.