If luxury isn’t the luxury what it used to be, what is its current state and definition then? In the past decades streetwear has emerged as a dominant factor in the fashion industry, and along with this trend, icons once known for their street cred have firmly anchored themselves in fashion’s upper echelon. Needless to say, the luxury game has changed in a big, big way. Released this week by Berlin-based publishing house Gestalten is The New Luxury, a monograph on the aforementioned topic, seen from a streetwear angle by in-the-know Highsnobiety editors. The 320-page hardcopy publication aims to provide foundational knowledge for brands and consumers alike, elaborating on the changing face of the luxury market and its parameters today. This is the story of how culture and commodity intertwined to redefine consumer values in the 21st century. The New Luxury features a series of new interviews with industry leaders, including Dior menswear designer Kim Jones, Japanese style guru Hiroshi Fujiwara, and Tokyo-based jewellery designer Yoon Ahn, in addition to various case studies of the most important brands of the new luxury era, and last but not least, a preface by Alexandre Arnault, CEO of RIMOWA. The New Luxury is available at select stockists across the planet, including Hennessy + Ingalls (Los Angeles), Kinokuniya (NYC), Scheltema (Amsterdam), Exclusive Books (Cape Town), Asia Books (Bangkok) and Post (Tokyo), but can also simply be ordered online.
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.