KEY POINTS:
If we were to offer you $1000 today on the condition you spend it immediately, would you buy:
A) The latest designer It bag. B) A fur coat. C) A string of antique beads, like those on Viva's cover. Or, D) a three-day horsetrek deep into the New Zealand bush.
If you answered A or B, you should probably stop reading now and get down to the shops. But if you answered C or D, you are one of the many partaking in what's being called the new luxury.
The dictionary says luxury is something inessential but conducive to pleasure and comfort. But in a world where just about anyone with a credit card can buy a Louis Vuitton bag at the click of a mouse, the meaning of the word changes.
Another definition says luxury is a "pleasure out of the ordinary". And this is possibly the best meaning for the 21st century. The new luxury is more about meaning than money. Or perhaps, more about experience than commodity.
British fashion writer Sarah Mower says: "Luxury, the much-vaunted, and highly devalued fashion cliche will be up for re-evaluation in the coming years. Knowing how and where things are made will be part of a product's attraction. Perhaps we'll consume less, get pickier, and feel better about doing it."
"Over-consumption is no longer a signal of success," writes Swedish marketer and futurist David Carlson in his quarterly trend report.
"It doesn't feel okay to buy unnecessary things when people are starving and the world is about to overheat. So we see a new kind of responsible luxury that is evolving from the inside. It looks quite different from luxury as we know it today. It will still not be available to all and everyone. [Because] that's the built-in nature of luxury. It makes us feel special."
THE NEW LUXURY IS: IMPERFECT
As in, this object was made by a human hand rather than perfectly mass-produced by machine. "It becomes a lot more meaningful to see the person who made the item. It's special for the customer and the seller," says Kimberlee Munn. She and her friend Lies Vandesande sell things like hand-knitted bracelets, iPod covers and babywear, as well as cards made out of collages of vintage children's books and fashion magazines.
"Our idea was to take traditional skills and revamp them, to turn them into something that's relevant to the modern world. And I think the imperfection in work like that is great because it reminds you it was made by another human being."
Munn and Vandesande sell their wares at Craftwerk fairs and on their website (www.anemonecrafts.blogspot.com). Munn says that even in the process of making the things she does, there's a luxury.
"Because you had the time and the skills and the know-how to do this. Luxury is just having something really personal."
TIMELESS
It's something you might keep for a long time, no matter what it cost. Certain fashion labels have that feeling about them as they sell beautifully made clothing which will transcend any seasonal trend.
For example, your average, classic Louis Vuitton bag is made of canvas coated with plastic. That would take years to degrade in a landfill. But who's going to chuck their Vuitton into the tip?
Locally, Zambesi is a good example. Sure, a piece from this label costs a little more but you'll find yourself adoring it for many years to come. Or selling it on Trade Me for a pleasant price. As one luxury goods forecast predicts: "We will see a boom for luxury second-hand and vintage stores, offline and online. And we may start calculating the price of a product according to its total lifetime."
"With some labels, the clothes are really obviously from one season or another. Zambesi is more subtle," explains the label's creative director, Tulia Wilson. "A timeless piece of clothing makes you feel beautiful."
ALL ABOUT EXPERIENCE
After a holiday, you'll probably come back with some great memories, blurry photos, sunburn and a ton of over-priced souvenirs. Well, a trip in the spirit of the new luxury would see you foregoing the souvenirs and simply spending all your money on the memories, that is, on having the kind of experience that money couldn't previously buy.
It's also about participation, like taking part in a selfless, volunteer-style holiday where you pay to go to somewhere and work for charity, or staying two nights at an expensive, eco-conscious luxury lodge, like Treetops in Rotorua and meeting the locals.
RARE AND EXCLUSIVE
The luxury market is going two ways when it comes to exclusivity. First, there's ultra-luxury, where you get products like Malmaison pans with diamond-trimmed handles. And then there are other less status-driven and wealth-driven ways to get a one-off, exclusive something. For instance, local art.
General manager at Webb's auction house Sophie Coupland says demand for contemporary local art is flourishing.
"For $10,000 you could get a Gordon Walter print. Or you could get an original work by Seraphine Pick," she says.
And it's the latter sort of art that she's noticed increasing in popularity, as a younger generation of art collectors invest in works that are relevant to them. Another example is the increasing popularity of mid-20th-century designer furniture, which fetches consistently higher prices at auction.
"We had The Chair by Hans Wegner at an auction last week. And it was a little bit tatty; it needed a little love.
"But people want it because it is a design classic. It has an authenticity you don't get when you buy a reproduction," says Coupland.
RESPONSIBLE
James Ogilvy, who runs Luxury Briefing, a London-based service which gives marketing tips to companies like Burberry and Hermes, and which recently held its first Responsible Luxury conference, says, "about 50 per cent [of luxury consumers] think [ethical and green trends] are very important. The more sophisticated any market becomes, so the customers develop a more intelligent approach to luxury."
Other research indicates consumers are willing to pay up to 40 per cent more for luxury goods that offer this transparency. Which is why the new organic spa at Matakauri Lodge in Queenstown is heading in the right direction. Guests at the lakeside lodge are treated with natural beauty products, made on the spot out of ingredients like organic avocado, sea salt, cinnamon quills and manuka honey.
"People at this end of the market are definitely very aware of these things," says lodge manager Grant Alley. "We just felt such a beautiful environment should go hand in hand with a natural spa product."
KNOWLEDGEABLE
Rock stars and former heads of state usually have a bit of dosh to spend on a holiday in New Zealand. Increasingly, they want a greater luxury than the next five-star hotel: the right information and advice.
Sam Porter, who runs exclusive travel and 24-hour concierge service Seasonz, reckons his generally well-heeled clients want to go behind the scenes.
"They want to participate [in the local culture] rather than go from one hotel to another, from one nice meal to the next."
Porter's clients may have all the cash in the world but they won't have his information. In Taupo, he knows who the best trout fishing guide is; up north they might watch the stars in the company of a local astronomer; and if they're in Queenstown they'll want to meet the first guys who planted vines in the area.
