Bridge For Design Summer 2014 Bridge For Design Summer 2014 Issue | Page 52
DESIGN TRENDS | view point
LUXURY IS FASHIONABLE
There are unmistakable signs that confidence is returning says John Crowell
A
But real luxury is not about excess; it describes the
apogee of comfort and style. Uncompromising quality and
fashion; as it does from time to time. The
last time it happened was in the 1990
extravagance.
In fact, despite this commendable national restraint, many
British names epitomise luxury and style.
Luxury and adornment are not anathema to British taste.
What is really important in any design, whether minimalist
or extravagantly opulent, is how well it is done.
You only have to look at the great historic country houses
of England and Ireland. The great land-owners wanted
luxury, beauty and of course, status, and were prepared to
pay for it. The rich baroque gilt-wood carving, the imported
this global gloom, and purchasers
are again enjoying indulging themselves
by embellishing their houses and their
lives, and even being seen to spend on
extravagances.
It has happened again starting in 2008, and it has really
fashionable to be frugal.
classes who were not spending. Even oligarchs and oil
sheikhs, whose wealth could put Croesus to shame, battened
down the hatches, curtailing all but essential personal
expenditure and considering it quite inappropriate to be seen
to spend extravagantly.
An air of pious Puritanism pervaded the world, even
entering the realms of the super-rich. But, in the last
few months, everywhere around the world, there are
are eager to celebrate their success.
‘Bespoke’ is a word we are hearing with increasing
frequency. Nothing epitomises luxury more than having
goods, services and design tailored to the individual’s
own tastes and needs. This is true in Haute Couture and
automobiles, in jewellery and in travel. And it is especially so
in the world of Interior Design.
Vanbrugh, demanded the highest standards of craftsmanship
and perfect proportion, and raised their gloriously
embellished interiors to sublime levels.
opportunity for renewed creativity, where demanding clients
will expect bespoke products and services that are unique
and their’s alone.
Designers and decorators are responding to that challenge,
sourcing exciting and original products and designs that
are created uniquely and exclusively for the individual
clients’ tastes and requirements. And their demanding and
increasingly knowledgeable customers have come to expect
this bespoke approach, and appreciate this heightened level
of luxury. B
■
they stand when it comes to “luxury”. A little understatement
is, to English taste, always paramount, and showy vulgarity is
to be abhorred and avoided above all.
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Bridge for Design Summer 2014
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