Licence to live sumptuously

Quiet luxury, sustainability, nostalgic chic are just some of the buzzwords in luxe living. Read on as Glenda Nevill delves into these and other trends

- Glenda Nevill

There’s something about winter that makes it the season for luxury. The crisp air, piles of lush fabrics, glowing fires, the deep red wine … cold weather gives us licence to live sumptuously. In Cape Town, the first rains herald the emergence of coats, boots, hats and plush scarves. It doesn’t matter that hot days are interspersed among the chilly; summer is packed away with indecent haste.

I’ve already unearthed my wellies (for mushroom foraging in the forest) – not Hunters, sadly, as they are truly a luxury buy with our constrained rand/pound exchange rate – but not my classic wool/cashmere black coat bought in London decades ago for a price that made me wince, but which is still living its best stylish life.

Vogue magazine reckons “quiet luxury” is a pervasive theme in 2023. Elevated classics such as the cinched waist blazer. The classic button-up shirt and white tee. Nineties layering and tailored leather. Plain trousers and wide-legged denim jeans. Think of a well-loved designer bag, and an “investment” coat “thrown over a pair of vintage jeans”. That’s the style.

RESALE ROCKS

Which brings us to another key trend: sustainability. According to Bain & Company’s 2023 Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study, the resale market will boom this year as brands take control of their second-hand markets. It makes sense. Luxury goods are meant to be durable; the absolute antithesis to fast fashion.