Luxury Goes Casual

Recently, I saw a cartoon in a popular fashion magazine that featured a business executive trying on a suit in a haberdashery. He comments to the clerk, "I want to look good, but not ill-gotten-gains good." This about sums up the current conflict in the minds of those who can afford status and luxury products, but nonetheless feel that they can't actively desire them. Consumers no longer seek out places and products that they consider artificially formal, because these items just don't fit with the current casual lifestyle.

Today's consumers still acknowledge the importance of status. They clearly enjoy indulgence and pampering, and still have an eye toward how others perceive them. However, they tend to prefer merchandise that concentrates on style while avoiding the ostentatious trappings of luxury. They don't want to shop in places where the veins in the marble are too brash, the gilt moldings too bright, or the chandeliers too precious to be touched. In short, consumers are proclaiming pretension passé.

Of course, this isn't to say that the focus on consumption in our society has lessened. America is still a consumer culture. It does, however, appear that the population's focus on consumption has been diminished somewhat by the economic reality of the times. Yesterday's lifestyle of conspicuous consumption is increasingly viewed as being in bad taste, or even insensitive to those less fortunate. The result of this new economic environment is consumers gravitating toward a standard of casualization, where the price tag may not change, but the style of products becomes more low-key, with smaller logos and more subdued colors used in branding.

And this trend toward casualization is particularly appropriate in our society, where with a great idea, hard work, and entrepreneurial drive, an individual has the opportunity to go from hand-to-mouth subsistence to the Fortune 500 list within their lifetime. After all, we've all heard stories like that of the billionaire who visited an out-of-town bank in a pair of overalls and a T-shirt, and was not only ignored but rebuffed by the bank manager who failed to see past the casual appearance to his visitor's net worth. Unfortunately most of us never have or will ever be mistaken for being a billionaire. But, for a retailer, overlooking the trend toward casualization could represent an equally legendary missed opportunity as that of the bank manager.

Not only is luxury itself becoming more casual, mass market merchandise is also becoming more luxurious. Consumers are seeking — and finding — indulgence in everyday categories where mass and prestige were once seen as unlikely, if not irreconcilable, partners. Masstige (mass + prestige) describes the phenomenon of style/design combining with affordability to create additional perceived value of merchandise. This luxury is often represented in the most mundane of products (such as Phillipe Stark's toilet plungers at Target), raising customers' expectation that better things are available and even deserved as aspects of their daily lives.

The integration of casual luxury has opened the way for growth in retail areas that can be characterized as "primary" in their basic consumer draw. For instance, products such as candles, sofa throws (in luxurious cashmere or fake fur), furniture focusing on comfort and lounging, and the eclectic mix of culturally inspired designs have given the furnishings industry a wide range of design options across the full spectrum of price points.

In addition, as part of the trend toward casualization, gardening has emerged as a category that connects everyday living with the elements of nature. And significant spending goes toward guaranteeing that the result will look natural: moss-adorned pots, finishes showing the effects of time and the elements, the weathered look of rusted iron. Many of these items suggest a kind of redemption from a formal, class-driven attitude. A statue that might have once graced a garden now appears inside a home, proudly displaying apparent neglect and weathering as a sign of authenticity.

Americans account for only 15 percent of the traditional high-end global market, so obviously the huge American market represents a significant, untapped outlet for high-end retail business. For instance, approximately half of all U.S. households purchased jewelry in the past year, with close to 40 percent purchasing fine jewelry. As a discretionary category, jewelry is clearly more about wants than needs, and the breadth of purchase options say much about the buying public's willingness to buy according to their diverse needs.

How all of this impacts individual gift stores depends on a variety of factors, from merchandise carried and store environment to the way a retailer interfaces with her customers. Although this doesn't appear to be breakthrough news, what is newsworthy is that it is retailers who will determine which patterns, formulas, vendors, and brands at the heart of the industry will remain relevant in today's relaxed society.

Yesterday, luxuries were expensive items that were rarely utilized. Today's view of luxury means everything from a four-dollar cup of coffee to an expensive keepsake ornament or a beautifully scented candle. But what each of your customers has in common is a unique definition of what constitutes the good life, the best way to furnish or embellish or enhance that life, and the desire to do it in a way that is less structured and more stimulating than ever before.