Redefining luxury: A review essay

This study first addresses some of the key definitional, conceptual and moral issues arising in the analysis of luxury. It points to the challenges of even defining luxury, and instead adopts and extends a flexible scheme for conceptualizing luxury. This provides a framework for investigation the consumption and management of luxury today. We then examine contemporary luxury through different perspectives on “new luxury” and the related issue of the rise of Asia as the world’s primary market for luxury. While the paper does aim to give a sense of the characteristics of the present-day luxury scene, the central focus of the study is on discourses on luxury. We consider to what extent and in which ways luxury is being redefined – by “new luxury” and Asia’s ascent. Finally the paper suggest themes and pointers for further research