What does luxury look like to the person who has everything? What does it mean to those who already sleep on HaÌstens mattresses, have a different house-priced watch for every mood and pleasure themselves with a 24k gold made-to-order vibrator (the Lelo ‘Inez’, RRP $15,000 on Goop’s 2023 Ridiculous but Awesome Gift Guide, if you’re interested)? Ask the 1 per cent and a solid, familiar answer is this: luxury is time.
But as ever, the gulf between what we say we want, and what we really want is vast. Because if time is the great, modern luxury, somewhat paradoxically, too little of it is the great, modern status symbol. To be stressed and frazzled and snowed under says that you are in demand. Congratulations, you are still relevant and yet to be traded in for a harder, better, faster, stronger model. It’s all about ego. This tension poses something of a dilemma when presenting oneself to the world. Fashion, as ever, proposes a solution. Which is? Leaning in to a deliberate, cultivated, lazy look.
