If you believe recent accounts in the media, then luxury is back. Happy days are back again, one could think. However, is that really the continuance of the luxury from days gone by or is this misleading and there is actually sprouting something new?

We say, what used to be is over. People are changing their conduct. Consumption is entering into a new dimension. The disposable income has by and large not really dwindled, assets are growing once again, salaries are actually increasing and the fear of tomorrow is giving way for a new optimism. And yet, it can be felt everywhere, the people are detaching from the happy-go-lucky nature. They are looking for something solid, traditional and for values and the behavior has become a bit more withdrawn. In fashion, the really big French names such as Balmain, Lavi or Céline have come back into great demand. When purchasing a car the size has become less important and now the furnishings and the technical perfection under the hood have moved into the center of attention of the prospective buyer. It’s more about the responsibility of driving a preferably eco-friendly vehicle. When choosing champagne, now the names of the traditional companies are once again in demand, after they had been playing second fiddle to the brands of the major retail conglomerates for quite some time. The demand for jewelry made to specification is also increasing again. Art collectors paying attention to the painting, the artist and his works are back in the foreground and not those who use art as a means to self-expression.
 
In the past, luxury was very closely tied to lifestyle. Consistently adapted luxury was shown and less a more individualized life-culture, which was considered old-fashioned. Quickly acquired wealth had to be put on display just as quickly. This took place very simply through expensive status symbols, which everyone immediately could recognize as such.

Luxury from yesterday in our opinion can also not be compared to what we have observed outside of Europe, in Asia, or more specifically in China. China is, as described by the Chinese business enterprise Li & Fung, the luxury market no. 1. And if you look closely you can make an interesting discovery. The Chinese already love the new luxury quality, which we have to find our way back to in Europe.

What do we mean when we speak of a new quality of luxury? Instead of consuming luxury we see that the people are more and more nurturing the value of life-culture, that is more in accordance with one’s own consciousness and understanding of one’s own personality and less with that what others do. The immaterial is gaining in significance. One’s own ego determines one’s life and it is less focused on external influences. Consequentially we have eliminated the word Luxury in our model of the market, the Waisted Rectangle, in the uppermost of the four market segments, above the Premium, PremiumEconomy and Economy segments, and have replaced it through Excellence. And if we look at the development of those companies, whose brands don’t stand for Luxury but for Excellence, then we see our perception confirmed: Hermes, Chanel, BMW, Ruinart, Taittinger, Patek Philip, Louis Vuitton and other internationally less known brands and companies, locally and regionally, radiate with their values above all those, who have wangled their way into the true “excellentia” for a short time via the popularity of luxury, without true classic brand values such as history and origin, a slowly grown profile and the protection offered through uniqueness. The quality of luxury is, with the utmost probability that which it used to be, before the word luxury came into fashion.

During the development and implementation of strategies it is imperative to emphasize the importance of the values rooted in the culture of the people and to take back everything which has been exaggerated through plain marketing models and many pseudo-scientific constructs.