Searching for Value

Luxury is rooted in rarity. As "luxury" goods become mass products, people are turning towards unique, non-reproducable experiences to fulfill a desire for the rare. Before the age of industrialization, luxury was defined by the excess expenditure of resources by nobility, religious leaders, or, finally, a merchant class. In the Victorian age, however, luxury was suddenly available (or so it seemed) to all. The 1851 Great Exhibition at London's Crystal Palace showcased machine-made laces, industrially-mined gems, and silk textiles woven on mechanized looms. These goods defined the rich consumer world of the rising bourgeoisie. But the seeming availability of riches did not satisfy a persistent desire for luxury, which was--also--a desire for that which is scarce.

Over a hundred years later, the story of the rise of Louis Vuitton from provincial bag maker to global brand provides a useful case study. Through the careful management of brand identity, the bag maker (whose revenues grossed 9.4 billion in 2013) managed to construct an aura of exclusivity that was paradoxically available to an ever more comfortable and growing class of 'luxury consumers.' Brand identity became the preferred mode by which to construct an aura of scarcity in direct contradiction of the manufacturer's techniques of mass production. 

Today, however, the two-faced story of the luxury brand: of exclusivity and mass production, authenticity and global availability, is wearing thin. The hunger for the rare at the root of the desire for luxury may not be satisfied by stories of brand identity, by the trick of the limited edition, or the cyclical logic of fashion trends and their instant obsolescence. We are seeing a heightened interest in personal experiences that cannot be directly replicated. Instead of buying a fine wine, we see people seeking to become winemakers and viticulturists themselves. Instead of eating at exclusive restaurants, we see people taking up cooking as a serious pursuit. Instead of buying a work of art, we see people joining the cultivated ranks of the art-world. These experiences are tied to the non-reproducable: the uniqueness of the self, the specificity of site, the contingency of a moment in time, an individual investment in time.

In three videos with the theme ‘Searching for value’ - we visited a truffle hunter, a terroir specialist and a curator to talk about value, scarcity and their search for value.

Renato’s Truffles

Luxury is rooted in rarity. As "luxury" goods become mass products, people are turning towards unique, non-reproducable experiences to fulfill a desire for the rare. In this piece, a truffle hunter in Italy describes what it takes—from generations of passed down knowledge to the climate the soil— to produce white truffles, which even now, cannot be intentionally cultivated.

Kevin’s Somewhereness

In a global, interconnected, “I-can-be-everywhere” world, sometimes the most decadent experience is to be somewhere. To be, quite literally, grounded in a specific place. From tourism to wine to fragrance, the qualities of place can enhance the experience and value of the product. Understanding how our things emerge from and remain forever tied to discrete locales is a critical way in which luxury pushes back on the encroaching global experience.

Hanne’s Collection

Sometimes the value of an item is tied to the item itself: the rarity of the gems, the uniqueness of the silk. But sometimes the value of an item comes from the circumstances around its creation and/or acquisition: from the story that surrounds the object or experience. In this short piece, a Danish museum curator at the National Geological Museum of Denmark, details the changing status of a collection: received in the late 1800s from a young, unknown naturalist by the name of Charles Darwin, this collection now has tremendous value derived from his more recent celebrity. Unearthing these stories or creating opportunities for their emergence can be a powerful tool for combating the homogenization of purchasing.

by Jakob Ohrt Nielsen & Nanna Sine Munnecke