Inspired by the book The Luxury Strategy by Jean-Noël Kapferer and Vincent Bastien

Written by: Miloš Stevanović

Luxury is one of those words that everyone understands, yet very few truly define. For some, luxury is an expensive car, watch, hotel, airplane, piece of clothing, or bottle of wine. For others, luxury is time, silence, space, health, freedom of choice, or the absence of pressure. In the business world, luxury is often misunderstood as simply a higher level of a premium product — something better, more expensive, higher in quality, and rarer. However, The Luxury Strategy demonstrates that luxury is not merely a higher price. Luxury is a unique civilizational category. It belongs not only to the market, but also to culture, symbols, identity, and the way society understands value.

Kapferer and Bastien begin with a simple yet powerful idea: luxury does not operate according to the rules of mass marketing. Traditional marketing aims to be accessible, adapt to the customer, expand the market, increase sales volume, and respond to every consumer desire. Luxury, by contrast, often does the opposite. It does not chase customers. It does not beg for attention. It does not overexplain itself. It creates distance, cultivates rarity, preserves myth, and builds authority. In that sense, luxury is far more than a product. Luxury is a system of meaning.

That is why the question, “Is luxury necessary?” is not superficial. It leads us much deeper: does a human being need something that transcends pure function? Is utility alone enough? Is life made only of practical needs, or do we also require beauty, symbolism, uniqueness, heritage, ritual, and the feeling that some things possess a value greater than their practical purpose?

If we see luxury only as a display of money, then it is not necessary. In that case, it becomes vulgar, aggressive, and empty. Such luxury is not luxury in the true sense, but merely expensive noise. It speaks not of taste, but of insecurity. It creates imitation instead of culture. It produces temporary attention rather than authority. True luxury is never merely a matter of price. It is a matter of measure.

Real luxury begins where an object, a space, or a service ceases to be merely functional and becomes the expression of an idea. A watch is not luxurious simply because it tells time, since a phone can do the same. A car is not luxurious merely because it transports people, because any ordinary car can do that. A hotel is not luxurious simply because it offers a bed, since beds exist everywhere. Luxury emerges when function is elevated into experience, when craftsmanship becomes art, when material merges with history, and when form aligns with spirit.

In that sense, luxury is necessary to society because it preserves standards of excellence. It reminds us that not everything is the same, that not every object is replaceable, that speed is not always a virtue, that mass production is not always quality, and that things built to last are often created slowly. In a world increasingly driven by instant solutions, algorithmic attention, and rapid consumption, luxury carries an almost educational role. It teaches patience, discipline, detail, and respect for work whose value is not immediately visible.

However, luxury also carries danger. If separated from meaning, it easily becomes caricature. If it loses culture, it becomes only a label. If it loses craftsmanship, it becomes mere marketing. If it loses measure, it turns into kitsch. That is why authentic luxury must possess inner legitimacy. There must be a reason why something is valuable. That reason may lie in the history of a brand, the skill of a craftsman, the rarity of materials, architectural integrity, artistic vision, family heritage, exceptional service, or the sense that something was created not to satisfy a trend, but to endure.

Kapferer and Bastien particularly insist that luxury is not the same as premium. A premium product says: “I am better than others.” Luxury says: “I am different.” Premium competes. Luxury does not compete in the same way. Premium explains its features. Luxury builds an entire world around itself. Premium seeks to justify its price. Luxury seeks to create value that cannot be fully expressed through price alone. That is the key difference. Luxury is not merely a rational decision. It is an emotional, cultural, and symbolic one.

This is why luxury also plays a special role in business. Companies that understand luxury do not merely sell services or products. They build trust, style, atmosphere, and a sense of belonging to a particular world. A luxury law firm is not luxurious because it has expensive desks. It is luxurious if it gives the client a feeling of security, discretion, intellectual superiority, precision, and complete dedication. A luxury hotel is not luxurious because it contains marble, but because the guest feels that time itself has been arranged around them. A luxury building is not luxurious merely because it is expensive, but because it possesses proportion, architecture, calmness, dignity, and a clear idea.

In the modern world, luxury is increasingly returning to its more serious meanings. It is no longer merely about possession, but about experience. It is not only about display, but about the inner quality of life. For the contemporary individual, luxury may mean the ability to work in an inspiring environment, to listen to good music, to have time for family, to stay in a hotel that respects privacy, to wear a suit that is understated yet perfectly tailored, or to drink coffee in a place defined by order, balance, and style.

Perhaps the best definition of luxury is this: luxury is that which transcends necessity, yet is not without purpose. It is not essential for survival, but it is important for the culture of living. A person can survive without luxury, but a society that completely loses its sense of luxury often loses its sense of beauty, quality, ceremony, and excellence as well.

Luxury is necessary when it elevates us. It is unnecessary when it distances us from reality. It is necessary when it creates standards. It is unnecessary when it feeds vanity. It is necessary when it preserves craftsmanship, aesthetics, and dignity. It is unnecessary when it serves only as proof of status. It is necessary when it teaches us that value does not always lie in quantity, but in depth.

In that sense, luxury is not the enemy of modesty. On the contrary, true luxury is often quiet. It does not shout. It does not seek applause. It is recognized through proportion, through detail, through the sense that nothing is accidental. The greatest luxury is not what is most visible, but what remains after everything unnecessary has been removed.

Therefore, the question “Is luxury necessary?” ultimately receives a clear answer: yes — but only if it is authentic. It is necessary if it is supported by work, culture, measure, tradition, ideas, and respect for human beings. Such luxury is not mere consumption. It is a form of civilization.