Blooming Luxury

Around this time every year, I enter a temporary frame of mind where I question and try to justify what is luxury. At first thought I’m sure we would all say it is about quality – the most supple leather, the most delicate silk and the softest cashmere. But sadly with brands like Kanye West’s which produce luxury clothing that looks like Fruit Of The Loom extracted from landfill somewhere in the third world but sold at the price of Prada, the very notion of luxury seems to be more about price rather than quality these days. For me personally, luxury is about two things, availability (who doesn’t love something exclusive or limited edition?) and craftsmanship (the edging on a Prada leather cannot be compared).

But aside from fashion where luxury can just simply be the crafty work of good press and marketing, I think the real luxury in the 21st century is in nature which has become such a rarity. Just take one look at a forest floor covered in bluebells. When a single stem might just be seen as a humble little flower, an endless mass just has an allure that would inspire Raf Simons and drive Christian Dior to spend millions on their SS16 runway show by building a manmade mountain covered in bluebells. It’s that superb craftsmanship and rare availability in nature that makes something so humble look so luxurious. So what’s luxury for you?