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With the rise of a conscious consumption (or conscious consumer), last year quiet luxury has emerged on the fashion and interiors scenes, creating a new buzzword in the industry. The movement (or some call it a trend) is not necessarily minimalist but embraces restraint, sustainability, rarity, and “the kind of subtlety that suggests intimate knowledge of a subject”.
An antidote to fleeting trends and mass-consumerism, quiet luxury is not about flashy logos, branding or opulence, but rather, it’s about understated, long-lasting elegance that speaks volumes. At the centre of it, and how one can achieve quiet luxury, whether it’s what you wear or how your home looks like, is by making smart investments. It’s less about showing off and more about quietly enjoying the finer things in life.
People who are embracing quiet luxury are interested in projecting their personality, sophistication and confidence in their own tastes. They seek out items and products that help them express their style without the influence of the latest “hype”.
So what does quiet luxury mean in the world of art? Can emerging artists benefit from this concept too? And if so, how?
Since this concept prioritises quality, craftsmanship, sustainability, and comfort, this creates a great opportunity for artists to focus on high-quality, innovative materials, expert craftsmanship, and understated elegance.
Furthermore, people are interested, and willing to invest more in art works by emerging artists. The feeling of discovery, uniqueness and the emotional connection with the art piece are far more important to them than buying art for pure investment or (social) statement or status reasons.
So if you are an emerging artist you are well positioned for this type of a collector or customer. But in order to attract these people, your messaging and the way you communicate and speak about your work has to adapt and change. Here are some story angles you could potentially explore. Choose the ones that apply to you:
Embrace communicating and talking about traditional techniques and/or high-quality materials you use.
Focus either on expert craftsmanship (if it applies to you) or understated, lasting elegance of your art pieces. You can potentially explore durability as a mindful consumption.
Prioritise sustainability and ethical practices as an artist. Talk about the way you package or use sustainable, eco-friendly materials in your artworks and business. Whether it is a special eco-friendly method you use or recycled materials that reduce waste, you can create stories for your website and social media that will attract quiet luxury customers.
If you want to experiment more, create work that reflects sophistication and subtlety. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t use bold colours. Stay truly to who you are and stick to your signature style.
Artists examples to get inspired by:
Alexis Ralaivao: An artist finding inspiration in subtle signifiers of wealth, reflecting the principles of this movement in contemporary painting
Mia Middleton: A Sydney-based painter whose work is represented by COMA and reflects the principles of this concept in contemporary painting
Lisa-Marie Price: A London-based painter who makes and uses her own natural pigments, reflecting the principles of quiet luxury in contemporary painting
By aligning your artistic practice with the principles of quiet luxury, you can create work that resonates with the concept’s emphasis on quality, subtlety and sophistication.
Find more Market Insights articles here.
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