The Art of Luxury

What is luxury? Is luxury a product or is it a feeling that encompasses you?

The concept of luxury is not new to India, the Raja Maharajas have long been connoisseurs of luxury products from all over the world and in recent years we can see the Indian consumer embrace global luxury brands. While Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Gucci are the top scorers on this front, a lot of people from the upper middle class and top strata are embracing brands such as Bottega Venetta, Burberry, Jimmy Choo, Emporio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Fred Perry, Thomas Pink, etc. But the real question I want to address here is – what is luxury to the Indian consumer?

If you visit any luxury mall in India such as Palladium in Mumbai or DLF Emporio in New Delhi you get to see a breed of young and mobile Indians wearing an Armani or Prada suit, flashing Rolex or Tag Heuer watches, proudly flaunting their latest Jimmy Choo shoes as they hurriedly walk past you, leaving an intoxicating whiff of the latest perfume; still their Gucci or Louis Vuitton bags dangling leisurely over their shoulders may keep you under captivation for a while.

Luxury for me, for the most part lies in the uniqueness of a product. The same Louis Vuitton bag with the same monogrammed print being carried by over 100 people is not luxury. Another recent fad that seems to have taken over the Indian consumer is Michael Kors. The measure of luxury lies simply in the cost of the product and the not the value it provides to the user. Luxury has become a blatant display of wealth.

I don’t deny the fact that carrying premium brands give you the feeling of an aura of exclusivity but luxury lies more in discreteness than it does in, in your face commodities. It’s in the craftmanship of the product. The feeling of holding something eccentric, something unlike anything else.