Minimalist Luxury: Less is More| MBAESG

Quality over quantity – defines minimalistic luxury in a nutshell.

Minimalism emotes being minimal, i.e. consuming less and only what one truly needs. When combined with luxury, it embodies a design that is simple, and sophisticated while being aesthetically pleasing. In luxury, minimalism should give you immense satisfaction, and the product should enhance your overall lifestyle. It helps you optimize your investment, offering the highest level of satisfaction in Maslow’s need hierarchy theory. These investments merely reflect what drives you and brings you joy.

Since the dawn of time, through the era of monarchies to today’s young billionaires in tech and entertainment, luxury products have been key in defining a class and differentiating from one class to another. From what they wear, instead of who they wear ( designers), to what they drive, how they fly, where they shop and eat and much more, has been central in who brands place themselves in the luxury market.

Conspicuous Consumption

Sitcoms in the late 1900s have also been seen glamourizing their characters in silk Versace dresses with Louis Vuitton handbags. This visibility of brands with their logos on fashion clothing, accessories, and automobiles gave rise to a culture of Conspicuous consumption. A term that essentially means that people with deep pockets purchase new luxury items more often to consume them in public and hence show their standing in society. In simpler terms, conspicuous consumption can also be referred to as showy consumption. In this act, the rich put their wealth on display via various luxury products to appear as a more desirable class.

Noted researchers have found that people who spend a substantial amount on luxury products need and desire to communicate a particular aspect of themselves to the world. And this human need and notion of reflecting a part of themselves, their wealth essentially, is the core reason for the luxury industry to strive and produce more. When people buy luxury brands, not all care for their quality, craftsmanship or longevity, a large number of luxury buyers are aspiring customers or new to the world of wealth who want to communicate to society that they have arrived. What better way than to buy a brand new LV bag with its logo high and visible? The crux of luxury’s new buyers lies, in fact, in how it helps them to silently communicate their standing in society, their economic wealth, their social status and consumption patterns.

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With the pandemic pushing the retail sector to a halt and luxury brands suffering under pain of global lockdowns, the already existing but barely visible concept of minimalist luxury has become more significant than ever. Over the past few decades, there has been a general shift in luxury consumption, this shift is moving towards the less is more concept. For a small part of the population, luxury is not a new concept; hence, they are accustomed to knowing luxury brands that offer top-of-the-range craftsmanship. For this part of the world population, quality is valued more than quantity and more sophisticated design than bold logo prints on leather bags.

Also Read: Louis Vuitton’s Historical Journey To Become A Luxury Brand

Minimalism in Luxury

In the fashion sector, luxury brands are known for their extensive use of logos, bold colours and designs that help customers directly relate the products to luxury. While this glitz and glamour is widely associated with luxury fashion, several brands believe that less is more when it comes to design. Their focus gets refined over the years in understanding what luxury is, and purchases become less with more quality, limited edition pieces, and simple and aesthetic design.

In their journey of purchasing luxury products, people are known to refine their taste over time by communicating the brand or experiencing the product for themselves and levelling up their lifestyle.

A few examples of brands that have aced this concept over the past few decades are:

Bottega Veneta

Founded in 1966, Bottega Veneta is a global luxury brand known for its handbags, accessories, range of fragrances and clothing. The brand reached new heights of success in the late 60s to 70s with its distinctive weaving texture using leather, which soon became a signature move for the brand. Bottega Veneta is known for its incredibly high quality, discreet elegance and sophistication, and fine craftsmanship. One of their widely known products is the Knot Clutch by Bottega Veneta.

Kelly and Birkin by Hermes

Hermes is a French brand synonymous with luxury. Kelly and Birkin are two popular handbags by Hermes that offer a modern, minimal luxury experience. The birth of both bags in history shows us a brief hint of how both were made from very different perspectives. The Kelly was designed as a statement stylish bag of luxury for a princess ( that helped bring fame to the bag), while the Birkin was intended as an everyday bag with more holding capacity for all essentials.

Both brands showcase a bare minimum logo, barely visible to the naked eye from a distance. Compared to other luxury brands using their logo all across the bags is a striking difference and a measure of how luxury minimalism has been used as the key selling point by Hermes.

Issey Miyake

One of the most iconic designers of all time, Issey Miyake – is known globally for promoting minimalist fashion with unique and refined designs that focus on clean cuts. His compositions have shaped the industry and redefined gender norms, especially with his oversized silhouettes and asymmetrical cuts. He is also known for his pleating technique that offers texture and new flavour to the garment without adding anything. Known for using authentic raw materials, the brand often rejected established dress codes and designed logo-free, more democratic designs that were easily differentiable.

Tiffany and Co.

While jewellery is known to define luxury, Tiffany and Co. has led the market on minimalism in jewellery. They have been well known for their long legacy in diamonds and heritage craftsmanship. Established in 1837, Tiffany and Co have an iconic history of producing innovative designs, globally known to have offered the world a symbol of love in the shape of a diamond ring. The brand is known to focus and keep its eyes on the bigger picture – quality, creativity, sustainability, accessibility, exceptional standard and constant innovation. Not to forget, their Tiffany Blue Box – has become a global symbol of style, unparalleled design and refined sophistication.

Prada

With its recent showcase at fashion week of subtle sensuality to its iconic handbags, Prada works with the concept of northern Italian tradition to keep a sense of discreet elegance in its designs and refine it further with fine craftsmanship. Their products, from clothing to accessories and handbags, are globally defined as classics, easy to carry in any era offering a strong sense of being to the consumer.

Minimalism, if understood in this way, is also a rational or practical response of a human to a period of excess. When a particular person has been born and raised with luxury products, their sensibilities become more refined over time for purchasing luxury products; hence, minimalism comes into play.

MBA ESG is committed to bringing excellence in the employable scenario of luxury and fashion sectors by producing management professionals who can lead these sectors and provide massive growth to the luxury brands in the country and abroad. Join our MBA in Luxury Brand Management.