Crafting Luxury
Crafting Luxury (Book)
Craftsmanship, Manufacture, Technology and the Retail Environment
A fresh approach to contemporary views of luxury focusing on extensive academic research and industry insights, pushing the boundaries by using luxury as a catalyst for innovative research in a variety of domains spanning design, art, craftsmanship, technology, retail, architecture and cultural and social studies. 12 col. illus.
Edition
The idea of luxury has secured a place in contemporary western culture, and the term is now part of common parlance in both established and emerging economies. This book explores the many issues and debates surrounding the idea of luxury.
This new research addresses contentious issues surrounding perceptions of luxury, its relationship to contemporary branding as created by the marketers, and the impact this has on the consumer and their purchasing habits.
Crafting Luxury considers work within the field of luxury and luxury brands, encompassing established companies with a long heritage: from conglomerates and small independents to 'new' luxury and emerging models with innovative practices. It examines the industry structures with respect to production, as well as the hierarchies that exist, and the impact these have on both internal and external perceptions of luxury, from the makers to the sellers and consumers alike. Attention is also given to the working structures of the ateliers, production facilities, origin of materials, manufacture and the impact of technology on consumption, the retail environment and sales, all providing a true insider’s view of this complex world.
The authors – a designer of product and jewellery, a brand strategist and a fashion designer, an architect, and a sociologist and specialist in business management – are practitioners and academics. Their approach to dissecting the complex world of luxury brings distinct viewpoints to the debate, offering different perspectives, thoughts and interpretations of luxury.
Crafting Luxury will appeal to academics and educators, industry specialists and anyone interested in luxury as a concept. It will appeal to those in a variety of academic and industry disciplines: art history, history, social sciences and humanities with an interest in luxury, fashion studies, design, business, cultural studies and textiles. It will also be valuable to students and researchers in social sciences, humanities, business, design, branding, consumption, retail, architecture, cultural studies, fashion studies and textiles.
May also appeal to industry practitioners in retail, design, technology, marketing, the supply chain and manufacture, as well as design professions including architecture, fashion and interior design.
Mark Bloomfield is a digital craftsman and artist based at London's iconic Oxo Tower. He is visiting professor of design, innovation and technology in the School of Creative Arts at the University of Hertfordshire. Mark has designed for some of the most influential and prominent designers, including Asprey, and Vivienne Westwood. Additionally, he has worked in film and TV making jewellery for Titanic, Judge Dredd, Braveheart and Gentleman Jack. Mark creatively combines traditional craft techniques with advanced digital processes.
Shaun Borstrock is Associate Dean; Business, Innovation and Projects and is Head of the Digital Hack Lab, In Pursuit of Luxury and Creative Ideas in the School of Creative Arts at the University of Hertfordshire. He is interested in design-led innovation where design comes first – not as a service to fulfil a business strategy, but as a visionary path where design is considered to be an intrinsic part of decision making. Shaun’s research evaluates notions of luxury that seem far removed from today's world of excessive consumption.
Silvio Carta is an ARB and RIBA architect, fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Head of Art and Design at the University of Hertfordshire, where he is also Director of the Professional Doctorates in Fine Arts (DFA) and Design (DDES). His research focuses on computational design and spatial aspects of design. Silvio is head of the editorial board of Seoul-based C3 Magazine, editor of AMPS Architecture Media Politics and Society (UCL Press) and the author of Big Data, Code and the Discrete City (Routledge 2019) and Machine Learning and the City Reader (Wiley 2022).
Veronica Manlow is an associate professor at Brooklyn College's Murray Koppelman School of Business in the Business Management Department and the Academic Director of the Blackstone LaunchPad at Brooklyn College, a programme focused on entrepreneurship. She is one of the directors of the In Pursuit of Luxury (IPOL) professional association and co-editor of the IPOL journal Luxury Studies.
Preface: The Hand of the Maker ............................................................ vii
1 The Luxury Journey of Discovery ................................................... 1
2 The Luxury Domain ......................................................................... 13
3 Contemporary Notions of Luxury .................................................27
4 Craft and Design ............................................................ ........43
5 Cultural Capital, Work and Production ........................................67
6 Social Responsibility, Eco-Design and the Circular Economy ..........95
7 Decoding Luxury .......................................................... ....... 113
8 Luxury and the Retail Environment ..........................................143
9 Industry Perspectives and the Future of Luxury .........................167
10 Final Thoughts ...................................................... .............183
Notes .....................................................................................189
References ............................................................................. 191
Index .................................................................................... 209
