For better or for worse, fashions sells.

Fabric is everywhere in today’s world, be it the textiles in furniture, bedding, clothing, cars or carpets. The UK’s clothing and shoe market alone had an estimated value of approximately £46.05bn in 2009. ‘Luxury’ fabric is something that most people would more than likely expect to have a particular level of quality, exclusivity and durability. As well as meeting the public’s biased opinions on what a luxury product must entail it is important for the fabric maker to take responsibility and incorporate all fire safety regulations and a care label which is nowadays essential and requested by law. Textiles within design schemes prove easy options to combine colour and texture, as well as providing sculptural qualities.

Today there is an abundance of features in fabrics which are available for us to purchase and utilise. It is important to choose the right materials, particularly if creating an interior with a luxurious element attached. With an unlimited budget it would be obtuse to use a dull, second rate fabric such as muslin. By getting material choice right it will contribute to controlling an impressive finished interior.

Wedding dresses are a particular and obvious item of clothing/fashion/fabric a woman would equate to a luxury product. A ‘luxury’ wedding dress nowadays will cost considerable amounts of money and will generally be the priciest garment a woman will wear in her lifetime. There is a Designer Wedding Show held once a year at Battersea Park in London that claims they will ‘share your passion for design, style and luxury’. A luxurious wedding dress is usually an important component for any bride-to-be, and needs to attain individuality as well as being fit for purpose and beautiful to make the bride herself feel ‘luxurious’ for her big day. By carefully grouping embellishments to the fabric and adding little delightful details to a lower priced wedding dress an exceptional romantic boutique style dress can be created. Brides are continuously looking out for ‘the perfect dresses’, and handmade bespoke luxury wedding creations.

However particular individuals would consider ‘vintage’ to be a luxury. It is believed to be eco-friendly and luxurious in some people’s view to reclaim old material and rediscover old vintage fabric and clothing. They bring to life, dated and old fashioned designs to create customized frivolous pieces. The website, ‘Luxury Vintage’ proves just this, and classes their products as ‘previously owned treasures’. Purchasing products like vintage fabric would mean the end user will be wearing unique garments no one else is likely to own. This links back to how luxury is related to rarity in recent time. Therefore the stimulation of recovering old possessions and making new use out of them can become a luxury – making old clothes or fabric breathe a new breath of life provides a fusion of style between a miss-match of modern fashion trends and vintage flea market finds. Similarly in modern interiors, if you add an antique item within a modern set environment it will become an inconspicuous yet a complementary sensitive detail.

‘Fabrics [today] are produced by the piece, which usually ranges from 30 to 80 yards of fabric depending on the weight and difficulty in production of the goods. It is most common to purchase fabric by the metre. If you purchase handmade luxury fabric which isn’t mass produced, you are more likely to be able to find suitable sizes to predominantly fit your particular needs especially if the fabric is handmade or hand printed. It would be important for designers to source perfect, fit for purpose materials from further afield if working with a client’s high luxury budget, or even unlimited funds.

Fashion arguably is the most important factor and component considered within textiles design and production. Fashion sells and selling equals money, it’s that simple. There is reasonable evidence to suggest that designer’s will do whatever it takes to up their companies’ (and therefore themselves) reputation. In society these days it’s important for any kind of designer to work relentlessly to retain high standards just as closely within the production of their products as it is to please the end users.

There is also a vital balance which can help ethical production within the industry regarding the country of fabrics’ origins. People and craftsmen of the world would not have jobs abroad in third world countries. It’s important that they are employed by large European retailers for their fabric production process. However designer’s can be seen to be unethical by not using fabric production locally, this is an obvious way to save air miles, carbon footprints and generally support local green production.

The price and production of fabrics in some cases can be ethically justified, but in certain cases cannot. By focusing on individual designer’s there are considerable differences between the way each company is focusing on being responsible, both ethically and otherwise. What does seem definite however is that fashion is the way forward within the textiles industry because, for better or for worse, fashions sells.

'Luxury' Within Design.

In a world that is becoming increasingly obsessed with celebrities, money and image itself, ‘luxury’ is no doubt a topic worthy of investigation. The word ‘luxury’ can be considered in a variety of ways. It is not always materialistic, or acquisitive; it can also be considered to be mere comfort, time, security and contentment. Comfort is luxurious to many as it can imply well-being and peace. Time can be thought of as a luxury from the perspectives of an array of people as our time is numbered and continuously shortening; therefore it is something that, although we do not necessarily realise it, is worth more than money or material possessions. The language of ‘luxury’ is endlessly evolving, and our thoughts are being developed to redefine ‘gluttony’ to ‘addition’ and ‘egotism’ to ‘elegance’. There is an irregular divide between ‘need’ and ‘want’, and ‘necessity’ and ‘luxury’ within our culture. Now, in the twentieth century lower priced items have put ‘luxury’ products and services temptingly within our reach, and luxury ‘flexes easily with the times’ while we as individuals are in pursuit of the ‘ideal’ and owning more possessions and iconic brands than ever.

Luxury is extremely varied, based on not only social standing but also race, religion or even gender. For example, we as fairly well off Westerners take for granted elements such as the security and safety which we feel within our communities and everyday lives; is to someone of a poorer background an unobtainable luxury. A feeling of contentment is something which to many is an invaluable feeling and after a stressful day, one that not many would like to go without. Everyone in our society has their own individual luxuries which are exclusive to themselves, as well as their own perspectives on the meaning and significance of the word ‘luxury’. Luxury in general might seem to imply ‘exclusiveness’ and in some cases, refinement and sophistication. The phrase luxury is used extensively in everyday life and advertising; you have the chance to purchase a ‘luxury yacht’, ‘luxury car’ or ‘luxury bedding’ etc. The universal definition and characterization of the phrase ‘luxury’ typically gives the impression of money and wealth. In my blog the label ‘luxury’ will be used in the loosest of terms, owing to the difficulty of defining the word as a whole to suit everyone’s personal opinion of ‘luxury’. Overall there is an elusive, as well as somewhat ambiguous meaning, to the word.

The dictionary defines ‘luxury’ as an ‘Abundance, [and] sumptuous enjoyment. [...] A choice of costly surroundings, possessions, food, etc. A means or source of luxurious enjoyment, something desirable for comfort or engagement but not dispensable.’ All definitions equate ‘luxury’ to lavishness and extravagance. This, however, is not necessarily true based upon the previous opinions as well as those which resulted from my questionnaires (a detailed and thorough analysis of which will be featured later in this blog). In order to provide a definition in layman’s terms, I have also provided a definition from the online ‘Urban Dictionary’. Written by any one, the ‘Urban Dictionary’ provides a more realistic break down of the opinions of the public (or at least the internet using public) of the ways in which they personally define words as opposed to the actual official definition. I am sure you are aware the public have the opportunity to vote on the words definition with either a ‘thumbs-up’ or ‘thumbs-down’ in order to best determine the most appropriate contemporary definition. Another reason for my doing this is that often a word will be used by one social or ethnic group to mean something completely different to that of its original or technical definition. For ‘luxury’ there were three answers in total, confirming luxury nowadays means; [ii]‘To be on top of the world, an indulgence, something rare and difficult to obtain, easy-living’ or ‘something that is very expensive and brings great ease and comfort.’ All three of these meanings seem much more realistic given the modern world, compared with the official dictionary definition.

One aim of my blog is to determine whether designer’s ‘luxury’ products and services are linked in to essentially make you feel good, or ‘luxurious’. Can designers impose luxury into our everyday lives? Which designer’s represent luxury? Coco Chanel famously said, “Luxury is a necessity that begins where necessity ends”. Does where, and how you have been bought up intensify the meaning of the word luxury? Every individual’s background may signify a personal development of what they believe luxury to be. Yet some individuals do rarely have synonymous personal definitions of luxury.

Mandeville (1670-1733) a Dutch philosopher who wrote the famous and controversial poem ‘The Rumbling Hive’ , believed all men and women to be by nature self-interested, satisfaction seeking and vain, and believed that they search for luxury to fill in these psychological attributes.

It is important for us as designers to be aware of people’s preconceptions of ‘luxury’ as it has such a wide ranging meaning, people already have presumptions of what to expect of a luxurious product or service. Furthermore, it is important for us as designer’s to deliver and exceed people’s and client’s expectations. Many designers claim their designs, creations and adornments are luxurious, but their products surely do not equate to luxury in everyone’s eyes. More commonly and recently luxury has been tied in with the word ‘designer’. A product designer either wants to create a genuine luxury product that pleases the end user, or wants to class their product as ‘luxurious’ within advertising whether it is or isn’t in order to make more money and therefore capital gain and personal success.

Fabric throughout history has always comprised a certain reputation, for example delicate silks, satin, angora and crushed velvet usually represent indulgence and ‘luxury’ yet cotton, muslin and Hessian appear to represent standard and plain. By using silk curtains it could produce a tailored luxurious impression within an interior, as well as having the effect to soften the ambience of a hard-edged space. Each material in existence can have a principle purpose within a design scheme, hence if chosen rightly a textile can undoubtedly contribute to the enjoyment of any interior. As Tricia Guild founder of Designers Guild states, ‘the layering of pattern adds to the air of romantic luxury’.

Later in future posts I intend to take a deeper look into certain Designers themselves and their companies, and take a more detailed look of people’s personal reflections and opinions of the phrase ‘luxury’.