Consider it the bling-blinging of America.
The name may be pure new millennium, but the over-the-top excess we are seeing appears amazingly like the mind-set of the look-at-me 1980s.
Roll out the red carpet. Luxury is back–in everything from fashion to home design. And it’s spelled with a capital “L.” Go no further than Donald Trump showing off his “gilt”-ridden condo on “The Apprentice” for proof.
Despite the fact that this trend started at the designer level, it is starting to trickle down to the masses. The average homeowners or renters may not be able to afford the ultimate in quality–a $1,000 French tieback from Houles–but they can afford a $15 version from Pier 1.
Even designers who cater to wealthy clients are noticing a demand for luxury design from the middle class.
“Today’s buyer is more sophisticated,” says Theresa Bartolo of Theresa Russell Interiors in Boca Raton, Fla. “They are not afraid to copy the rich. They expect you to give them as close as possible to what they want and stay within a respectable budget.”
Trend trackers say they are seeing a definite return to a “more is more” philosophy.
“I think it’s pretty peculiar,” says Michelle Lamb, publisher of The Trend Curve. “As bad as the economy has been, it also spawned a return of tradition and formality. We have been involved with minimalism for so long that there’s nothing more to strip out. When you take something as far as it can go, how can you freshen it?”
You freshen it with detailing. You freshen it with color. You go from silver back to gold. You add furniture with carved details. You dress windows like they were going out for a night on the town.
One of the luxury triggers people are responding to is customization. New York designer Jamie Drake says clients want embroidery, handmade lampshades with braided silk trim, hand-blocked wallpaper and embossed fabrics.
“I think the trend toward luxury tends to last longer than a trend toward plainness,” Drake says. “I think that everyone looks for a comfort zone, a safe haven. What could be more luxurious than a feathered, tasseled and silk nest?”
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)
