The Bling Dynasty: Why the Reign of Chinese Luxury Shoppers Has Only Just Begun

Epilogue What Is True Luxury?

‘Why, then, can one desire too much of a good thing?'

—Rosalind in William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Ever wonder how to define luxury, true luxury?

The answer could probably take another, much bigger, book to answer and we can debate for hours and never agree.

Think about the Chinese avatars, Calvin Li, Lewis Wang, Tiffany Ma, Brittany Chen and Hermes Zhou. Are they really accessing luxury or are they living in a material world and missing the point? Forget Madonna; accessing luxury could one day soon mean living in a material world no more.

Whether with age or a great deal of sophistication or both, true luxury could well be an access to quality rather than volume (remember the British television series from the late 1960s called The Prisoner: ‘I'm a not a number, I am a free man'?), services rather than products, holistic experiences rather than accumulation of branded goods. Once you have acquired all the goods that enable you to display social status and fit in, what is left? Simplicity, self-esteem and possibly influence.

Simplicity: The Banana Leaf Parable

Japanese consumers have discovered simplicity in a very sophisticated manner, if that makes sense. After a period of brand obsession and big-box stores, gradually the consumers have looked at products by functionality and usage rather than by brands.

Cynics might argue that luxury products are simply destined to a very young audience that knows little about life's values and needs to prove ...