Luxury: A Rich History

Luxury: A Rich History

We live in a world obsessed by luxury. Long-distance airlines compete to offer first-class sleeping experiences and hotels recommend exclusive suites where you are never disturbed. Luxury is a rapidly changing global industry that makes the headlines daily in our newspapers and on the internet. More than ever, luxury is a pervasive presence in the cultural and economic life of the West - and increasingly too in the emerging super-economies of Asia and Latin America. Yet luxury is hardly a new phenomenon. Today's obsession with luxury brands and services is just one of the many manifestations that luxury has assumed. In the middle ages and the Renaissance, for example, luxury was linked to notions of magnificence and courtly splendour. In the eighteenth century luxury was at the center of philosophical debates over its role in shaping people's desires and oiling the wheels of commerce. And it continues to morph today, with the growth of the global super-rich and increasing wealth polarization. From palaces to penthouses, from couture fashion to lavish jewellery, from handbags to red wine, from fast cars to easy money, Peter McNeil and Giorgio Riello present the first ever global history of luxury, from the Romans to the twenty-first century: a sparkling and ever-changing story of extravagance, excess, novelty, and indulgence. "Peering into the past through this informed, engaging kaleidoscope has been a great time travel. Exploring the definitions of luxury both conceptual and material as they manifest the zeitgeist of their time. The inherent contradictions of opulence versus understatement, its elusiveness, its pleasure seeking nature, objects of desire to be coveted; and how power, privacy and comfort always find their place in the dialogue on luxury."--Charlotte Moss, author and interior designer "Luxury is a hot topic, not least because there is a lot of money to be made from the new global luxury consumer. Selling luxury brands rests in part on how we define the concept of luxury--is it a function of rarity, cost, authenticity, distinction, excess, pleasure? McNeil and Riello take a completely new, materialistic approach to luxury, beginning with the objects themselves--and what extraordinary objects they are!. This is an absolutely fascinating book, rich in insights and pleasures."--Valerie Steele, Director of the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York "In this truly 'rich history' Peter McNeil and Giorgio Riello show us why luxury matters, why--in other words--it is not just a concern of the super-rich of past and present. Their acute and timely book explains the economics and politics of luxury and explores what it has meant in terms of privilege, display and experience from ancient times to today. No previous work has tackled this complex and ever-changing phenomenon with such range and erudition or illustrated it with such a dazzling array of stories and examples. The book will be indispensible reading for anyone wishing to understand why the wealthy have always wanted to live differently and what this has signified for the rest of us."--Stephen Gundle, author of Glamour: A History The first global history of luxury, from Roman villas to Russian oligarchs: a sparkling story of novelty, excess, extravagance, and indulgence through the centuries Peter McNeil is Professor of Design History at the University of Technology Sydney and Professor of Fashion Studies at Stockholm University. Trained as an art and design historian, he works mainly on eighteenth-century western Europe and on twentieth century Anglo-American topics ranging from fashion to the politics of the domestic interior. Giorgio Riello is the author and editor of several books on the history of fashion, dress, and textiles including the best-selling edited collection Shoes: A History from Sandals to Sneakers (in collaboration with Peter McNeil) and Cotton: The Fabric that Made the Modern World (2013). He is currently Professor of Global History and Culture at the University of Warwick.