The Purge

Overwhelmed and crowded out by mass consumption, women are trading up the quality of their lives by downsizing their wardrobes. JAMIE HUCKBODY explores the big switch from having to being

- Jamie Huckbody

If you could have whatever you wanted when it comes to wearable luxury, what would it be? A walk-in wardrobe full of new-season Gucci or Riccardo Tisci’s very first trench coat for Burberry, yours months before he unveils his vision for the brand to the rest of the world? Or how about one of those complex tourbillon watches, encrusted with diamonds, to measure that most elusive — and therefore most desirable — of all luxuries: time?

Or would a polite “Thanks, but no thanks; I’ve got everything I need” be your answer, as it is for a growing number of style influencers today?

“Twenty-first-century luxury is about being free of that insatiable desire to buy more and more clothes just for the sake of it,” argues Albus Lumen’s Marina Afonina. “Luxury today is about having an authentic life rather than a ‘lifestyle’ that has been created to look good on social media but is really just an empty illusion.”

Afonina knows a thing or two when it comes to contemporary luxe. A BAZAAR alumna, the 38-year-old Sydneysider says distilling everything to the essentials is at the very heart of her brand. “Since starting Albus Lumen [in 2015], I have become less and less excited by seasonal trends and buying into them,” she explains. “Real style is timeless and I have always been attracted to the simplicity of classic pieces such as cigarette pants, cashmere sweaters, et cetera … There’s no longer any room in our busy lives — or our wardrobes — for anything that does not make life easier or bring us joy.”