Editorial

Introduction

The Covid-19 crisis calls to mind Virgina Woolf’s thrilling, chilling words in her essay Mr. Bennet and Mrs Brown in 1924, “On or about December 1910, the world changed.” These words have never sounded more prescient as we write this editorial. Seemingly overnight on or about March 2020, the world changed. Lockdowns and a raft of mitigation measures were imposed rapidly all over much of the world and its effects continue to be felt in every sector of the economy. Unlike other virus outbreaks of the past, the Covid-19 crisis affected individuals and organisations globally; its impact was felt by us all and the event continues to influence different sectors. The luxury market is no exception.

In the wake of such a profound crisis, consumption patterns have changed to reflect a new world. The luxury market has had to adapt to the new realities of restricted travel, shrinking economies (particularly in the U.S., the UK and Europe) and the accelerated digitalization of everyday life. Consumer behaviours – altered dramatically by remote working, distancing, and an intensely digital economy – have also pivoted towards patterns such as “revenge consumption” (Nguyen and Chao 2021), staycations (Statista.com) and the Metaverse (Krotoski 2022; Joy et al. 2022).

Against the backdrop of the unprecedented events of 2020–2022, a Special Issue focused upon “Luxury in a Time of Crisis” seemed both necessary and timely. This Special Issue offers a range of thought-provoking theoretical and empirical papers on the ethical, cultural, political and aesthetic dimensions of this seminal event. Running through most of the papers are the implications for business and the wider economy of the Covid crisis.

Two notable events in the luxury sector stand out in this context. Firstly, the Covid crisis threw the morality of the luxury market into stark relief. On November 16, 2022, shocking photos appeared out of Balenciaga’s ad campaign, showing two young girls holding teddy bears in bondage gear which looked like handbags. Both mainstream and alternative fashion media exploded with consumers’ horrified reactions at the brands’ apparent promotion of child pornography, paedophilia and child abuse. Can the moral standing, integrity and transparency of the luxury sector withstand rigorous and sustained scrutiny in a crisis?

Secondly, in that same year, luxury brands experienced an astonishing rebound after global lockdowns and a sharp drop in sales for the China market. Bain and Co (2021) declared “a V-shaped rebound” for global sales at $303 billion and projected 15% increase in sales in 2022. Industry reports revealed that despite the severity of the pandemic there was an increase in sales of high end luxury brands. While luxury brands welcomed the results, changing consumer patterns also meant that luxury brands had to be more creative with their online business models. As a result, luxury online sales reached nearly 23% of total sales in 2020 (trtworld.com), augmented by technological breakthroughs such as the Metaverse. As a result, the immersive consumer experiences were developed, using both apps, social media and online platforms while allowing brands to retain their authenticity and relevance against the backdrop of a global pandemic.

What new frontiers await luxury studies? As luxury researchers, we believe that certain axiomatic truths will continue to define luxury studies and consumption for many years to come. The American fashion designer, Dennis Basso, may irritate some with his airy declaration that ‘There will always be luxury,’ but he is right. It may just be a good time, however, to rethink both the consumption and the business of luxury. The Covid era presents researchers and practitioners with a unique opportunity to map out new lines of enquiry and meaningful interventions in critical luxury studies, both within and beyond the academy.

After what can only be described as an extraordinarily challenging two years, we wanted to offer a platform for luxury researchers to come together (in person!) to share ideas and insights about the future of research and practice. It was in this spirit that the editors organized a special workshop in London on the 6^th of April this year. Specifically, we wanted to push the boundaries of scholarly and business thinking and practice towards the next stage of luxury, exploring diverse expressions across multiple domains so that published contributions advance our field artistically, experientially, technologically, economically and culturally.

The contributors to that workshop presented their unique insights …due to the range of papers presented at the workshop, it was agreed that a collection focused on luxury in a time of crisis would allow a greater range of perspectives to be shared with the community. The final papers are contained in this Special Issue.

In “Globalized Luxury Fashion is the Crisis: Kanye West, A Structure of Feeling, and the Case of Louis Vuitton,” John Armitage presents a case study of the consequences of the globalization of luxury fashion and its expression through the work of the American rapper, singer, songwriter, producer and fashion designer Kanye West (now known as “Ye”). Armitage argues that recent developments in globalized luxury fashion are constitutive of the sense of “imminent disaster” of our time. Employing the work of the Marxist thinker Raymond Williams’ concept of “a structure of feeling,” the article discusses Ye’s controversial luxury fashion style as the prickly blending of Ye’s highly visible political statements and actions and his equally visible (emotional) lived experiences on a personal and professional level. The result of this reading is a highly innovative reframing of “ideology” as a way of framing globalized luxury fashion.

Next, Ming Lim’s paper, “Net Zero Luxury: Guy Debord and the Spectacle of Hypocrisis” analyses what is billed as the greatest crisis of our time, the “climate crisis” in terms of the “Net Zero” narrative. Employing the work of Guy Debord and his arguments in the Theory of the Spectacle, her paper critiques the hegemonic status of “Net Zero” and analyzes how a luxury brand, Burberry, and the industry’s leading advisory body for Net Zero, the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi) appear to be addressing its challenging metrics. The paper argues that Debord’s framework of the spectacular society – quantification, commodification-as-image, endless technological renewal, secrecy and unanswerable lies – explains the phenomenon of “Net Zero” and why all attempts to succeed at it end in a hypo-crisis of an unreachable goal fetishized by its own abstractness and pseudo-urgency.

In a similar vein, the article by Annamma Joy, Joanne Roberts, Bianca Grohmann and Camila Peña-Moreno analyses LVMH’s sustainability reports through the innovative lens of the fairy tale, a structure which frames such reports as a kind of morality play, complete with helpers, donors and a hero’s journey. Inspired by Vladimir Propp’s work on the structure of fairy tales, LVMH corporate storytelling is scrutinised through the lens of the fairy tale narrative, thus disturbing and questioning the dominant corporate narratives about the company’s record on sustainability and environmental standards reporting.

Yasmin Sekhon Dhillon’s article focuses on the role of consumption in a crisis and how the pandemic impacted consumption patterns of participants, as the media and government messages bombarded the public, they still felt helpless and ill informed. Sekhon’s empirical research provides key insights into how the media influenced consumption, how anxiety was managed through consumption and how participants viewed luxury and luxury consumption through the crisis lens. Luxury consumption was used to cope and escape the realities of the Covid crisis.

Debbie Pinder’s research provides valuable empirical insight into the visual aesthetics, branding and merchandising of luxury retail at airports during the Covid crisis. Through the airport space, Debbie considers how this unique environment for luxury is central to traveller’s experience of luxury. The demand for luxury in the airport post pandemic is explored, considering how luxury brands present themselves in this space, as well as how post pandemic luxury brand identities are communicated and how the experience of luxury is perpetuated within the airport transitory environment.

Taken together, this Special Issue offers novel insights into the (story)telling of national and international responses to world events, both during and after Covid. Rich possibilities for luxury research and business present themselves. For example, what is next for luxury studies post-Covid? How will consumers and businesses deal with transformations of, and threats to, the self and luxury in the post-Covid era? What kinds of luxury goods and services will emerge in the Age of AI and Space travel? What new forms of online and offline communities and tribes will redefine luxury in the years ahead? As new crises emerge, how resilient will luxury consumption be? These and many other questions will almost certainly be addressed by original, thoughtful research published in this journal as the cultural, strategic, political and spiritual power of luxury expands across the globe.

We very much hope you find this Special Issue energizing and enjoyable. We are grateful to the Winchester School of Art, University of Southamption for their generous sponsorship of the workshop and to Professor Thomaï Serdari for her enthusiastic and unstinting support of our project from start to finish.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.