How Fleeting is Luxury?

The economic crisis has brought luxurious lifestyles to halt. How this “change” in lifestyle is illustrated is very much debatable. It is said that the affluent are more concerned with longevity than extravagance. However, as the year winds down others are wondering: have the affluent actually cut back, or are their shortcomings only marginally less luxurious?

An article in Business Week offers a medium:

“Despite the biggest one day drop in the Dow since 1987, tonight in Manhattan restaurants will still be full, Town Cars will still be waiting by the curb and Champagne bottles will still be uncorked. But maybe there will be fewer orders of truffles and more of chicken, some people might take a cab instead, and the Champagne may be by the glass instead of the bottle.”

Those who find this extremely relative example of “cutting back” to be punitive, might find solace in the Wall Street Journal article entitled “Is L.L. Bean Driving the Runway?”:

“"When the economy fell apart, the Euro look of skinny black men's suits" did, too, said designer Michael Bastian, whose own line of rugged sportswear is heavy on shearling and gray flannel.”

What this article offers is not the previous notion of “champagne by the glass” conservation, but conservatism through fashion perpetuated by a look that is modest and neutral. Furthermore these so-called “heritage brands” are collaborating with high-end designers in order appeal to a demographic that is both savvy and modest. However, another Wall Street Journal argues that wealthy consumers are not interested in feigning modesty, but commanding respect through their self-image:

“Fully 28% agreed that their favorite brands “allow them to stand out from the crowd” and 20% said the brands “command respect from others.”

Contrastingly, an article on Mediapost.com suggests that although luxury market sales are increasing, the wealthy consumers are remaining cautious:

""A recession is not only an economic event," Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and lead researcher, writes in the report, "it is also a cultural one. When affluent consumers believe that a recession is on and might continue for a year or more, they are far more likely to take steps to curtail unnecessary spending."

While affluents account for just 20% of U.S. households, they spend more than 40% of the $4 trillion spent at retail every year."

These conflicting views share one thing in common: the luxury market manifests itself in new forms, because it is a market valued by its consumers. The market, as expressed through establishments such as "The Heritage Brands" is malleable, but appeals more to the idea of conservation, than to conservation itself. Though our economy has been in crisis, I find myself wondering how luxury retail stores still hold their doors wide open, dropping their lavish prices only by the hundreds, or how lines keep forming outside of overpriced restaurants. Perhaps for some, the luxury party is never over.