In her September 2015 Maison & Objet installation, Elizabeth Leriche looks into the notion of preciousness “a word that proclaims rarity and precision, something unexpected, a bit of mystery and strangeness, and a type of ultimate quest…”
This ties in with the current exhibition at the V&A in London “What is Luxury ?” which questions common ideas of luxury. Indeed luxury has been long been associated with notions of excess, extravagance and expense… The V&A highlights traditional notions of craftsmanship and design, before going on to look at the idea of luxury as an experience, suggesting that the ultimate luxury is not related to budget but to personal choice, freedom to dream, freedom to take decisions.
Both exhibitions point towards the emergence of a new kind of luxury, a luxury less related to traditional notions of excess, more related to providing a meaningful, lasting experience. Luxury today is the use of the best materials, the use of the best craft or industrial techniques. Luxury today is responsible : products must be made in a sustainable way that minimises harm to the environmental and contributes to social development. Products are long-lasting, purchases carefully thought-out, items frequently hand-made, materials of the highest quality.
As Maria Eugenia Giron puts it in her book “Inside Luxury”, the new form of luxury embodies “what is personally, socially and environmentally the best of human creativity”.
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