Luxury Travel & Lifestyle Trends

Here’s a new product that came to my attention in Luxury Briefing that hits all the right hot buttons for today’s luxury consumer. It’s called The North Circular, a new knitwear brand. It promotes British heritage and craftsmanship (which ticks the ‘authentic’ and ‘artisanal’ boxes), uses wool from a rare-breed of rescued British sheep (ticks the ‘sustainable’ and ‘ecological’ boxes), is knitted by older workers (ticks the ‘socially responsible’ box) and last but not least, is sustaining a dying art.

If it offers value as well, then you really can’t get better than that.

By: Karen Weiner Escalera

Exclusionary and elusive experiences still appeal to consumers and remains at the top of what is appealing and sexy in the minds of consumers, despite the recession. They want to feel as if they are a part of a select elite group, even if it’s only a temporary illusion. The more privileged a consumer feels for having access to a product or service, the more the added level of mystique will sell. Here are some nifty examples of selling the mystique factor….

Until not so long ago, we lived in a throwaway society. But then a thrifty culture was born out of the global economic downturn, which saw frugalistas come into their own (persons who lived an economical lifestyle but stayed fashionable and healthy by swapping clothes, buying secondhand, growing own produce, etc.) Non-disposable fashion is a current trend, and stemming from this are a new wave of services for those wishing to repair or revamp classics and couture items, which have been buried in the deep dark depths of closets.

Like Slow Food, Slow Fashion is concerned with origin, source, and process. And not all earth-friendly clothes are beige. Designers and the stylishly-inclined are changing the way we consume our clothes.

Goth has been around for decades, having evolved out of the punk movement in the 70’s and reaching a high in the 90’s. But the macabre vibe is gaining traction once again. A symbol of dark economic times? Perhaps.

Not only have sales of fine jewelry plummeted recently, it seems that those that have the bling don’t feel much like wearing it these days. The notable absence of pricey baubles and beads at some of the top recent events, of the ‘who’s who” in Miami, a city not noted for understatement.