In Pursuit of Luxury: Commercial and Academic Perspectives of Luxury
A CONFERENCE AND DEBATE.
SPENDING MONEY WELL: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LUXURY GOODS FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE CONTEMPORARY MARKET PLACE.
The debate surrounding luxury is far from new. The traditional definition of luxury as ‘anything unneeded’ is neither helpful nor relevant in today’s markets. Much of the theorising and controversy over luxury from the time of the ancient Greeks through to the 19th century, focused not simply on attempts to prevent the accumulation of material, wealth and goods but also to regulate them. Today the term exists in a far more diluted and less politically charged form. It is no longer a debate between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. Luxury has become both a commendable and widely obtainable need and necessity.
The above quote referring to "spending money well" comes from the private memoirs of a wealthy Renaissance merchant who proudly recorded his motives for undertaking large scale expenditure during his lifetime. In today’s modern market it has become essential for many luxury brands to understand modern consumers’ needs and to constantly create and stimulate new desires for ‘unnecessary goods’. The 18th century Luxury debate has come to define the Renaissance as a true precursor for the temporary luxury market. It is essential to illustrate, through debate, how contemporary industry is reliant on historical references in order to maintain the value associated with the true notion of luxury. Here as elsewhere the Renaissance has a relevance to modern producers and the consumers alike.
What did we do to understand by the term luxury and can it or should it be applied to luxury branded goods today? Does contemporary branding allow such goods to remain ‘luxurious’ even though they have been mass-produced? What do the terms such as ‘value’, ‘consumerism’, ‘fashion’, ‘taste’, or ‘connoisseurship’; really tell us about modern spending habits?
By discussing the Renaissance and contemporary issues, a familiar debate is extended into unfamiliar contexts. In this new and dynamic juxtaposition of two seemingly unrelated market cultures, significant inter-relationships are proposed and explored. The stimulating insights proposed by this conference, allows important new conclusions to be drawn about modern consumption habits and the relevance if the Renaissance for today’s luxury markets.
This conference intends to expand the parameters of the debate around the concepts of luxury to provide a refreshing context to construe the familiar debates surrounding the subject.
It is essential to illustrate, through debate, how contemporary industry is reliant on historical references in order to maintain the value associated with the true notion of luxury.