The Power Of Luxury

Faced with the global pandemic, will luxury brands be able to weather the storm and capitalise on the maelstrom of change?

- Gordon NG

UNPRECEDENTED. CALAMITOUS. THE worst crisis since World War II. The COVID-19 situation has been described in numerous ways that emphasise its uniqueness. Its most immediate effects were the social lockdowns and closures of shops and businesses. In the face of a little-understood and highly contagious disease, the logical response is to stay at home. Now that shops are closed, what’s going to happen to the entire business of consumption? It’s a particularly pointed question for luxury brands. The nature of luxury is indulgence – an elevated form of living for a happy few. When survival in the face of a literal pandemic is the priority of the times, where does the comfort of luxury sit?

Do we need luxury now? The short, essentialist answer is no. Miuccia Prada was once quoted as saying, when considering the nature of her work: “Fashion is for people with no problems; it’s for moments of pleasure. When you’re in pain, aesthetics doesn’t exist. If you’re sick, you don’t care about clothes. During war, art stops.” That is the pragmatic response to a need for things. But the more complex answer to the question of need can be found in the circumstances and positions of these luxury brands and what their resources mean for the wider world.

Redirecting Resources