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C. L. Moreno Biec
buy them, but without much conscious thought. Mass production developed as a way
of spreading this beyond the richest elites, but the lack of consideration among buyers
remained. Craftsmanship goes against this, while at the same creating products that
are often considered more valuable, albeit now in a lasting and more sustainable sense.
Craftsmanship also offers its value to anyone; anybody can become a craftsperson
and make their own luxury or learn about it to appreciate and experience it in the
right way. There is a recognition in craftsmanship of the importance of educating
people, and this motivates them to add to their knowledge, take their skills to another
level, and go beyond the predictable, by emphasising that these creators are human,
with individual minds behind every piece. That is one of the best reactions to a world
where everything looks like it has already been made, and where everything looks like
a copy of something else. This leads us to the second concept about self-exploration
and the consciousness that underpins luxury.
This self-exploration goes mostly to the new luxury user. Knowledge is not about
what to buy anymore, it is about what is beautiful to me, where do I want to go, what
do I want to do, and who am I? That is something that money cannot buy, which is
why now knowledge has become the new currency, a very personal one that leads to
many different paths. This makes us understand that luxury has to be personalised.
This personalisation is derived from educating the consumer, showing them what
is good for them, for their lives and for their surroundings, how they can leave a
beneficial footprint on the world, and how they can create their own identity through
the items they use and the experiences they have. Currently, we have the advantage of
having a new generation with strong self-confidence, open to understanding how the
world is changing towards preserving what we have and doing the most with it. We
no longer need new things, we need to re-signify and update what we already have.
This evolution is also a form of devolution; devolution not only means to “return”,
but it is also a form of administrative decentralisation, granting a level of autonomy,
autonomy to learn, to develop, to encourage minorities and small but significant
means of production.
When we look for trends nowadays, we can find many different ways to be on
trend and to express ourselves, which means that even though we can always find
a very strong leading trend, we can always build up our own conception of it. We
can make choices based on our own values, and this is where self-exploration starts.
This self-exploration is not always related to just our desires and our own pursuit,
sometimes we are driven to develop it by being forced to react to certain things that
are occurring around us and drawing our attention.
For example, one of these things that we can no longer ignore is that the world
is going sustainable; why? Because it is a need that has a direct impact on us, but
goes beyond humans and has an impact on the world around us. Resources are
being wasted, the climate emergency is finally being described as such, and anxiety
is spreading, all signs that that the consumer-driven way of living is obsolete. As
makers, we have the power to offer good quality and sustainable products but we
also have the challenge to educate consumers to select what is going to be good in the
long term for them, their community and the environment. Craftsmanship, helped
by natural material and human engagement, is helping to set up the mentality we
C. L. Moreno Biec
buy them, but without much conscious thought. Mass production developed as a way
of spreading this beyond the richest elites, but the lack of consideration among buyers
remained. Craftsmanship goes against this, while at the same creating products that
are often considered more valuable, albeit now in a lasting and more sustainable sense.
Craftsmanship also offers its value to anyone; anybody can become a craftsperson
and make their own luxury or learn about it to appreciate and experience it in the
right way. There is a recognition in craftsmanship of the importance of educating
people, and this motivates them to add to their knowledge, take their skills to another
level, and go beyond the predictable, by emphasising that these creators are human,
with individual minds behind every piece. That is one of the best reactions to a world
where everything looks like it has already been made, and where everything looks like
a copy of something else. This leads us to the second concept about self-exploration
and the consciousness that underpins luxury.
This self-exploration goes mostly to the new luxury user. Knowledge is not about
what to buy anymore, it is about what is beautiful to me, where do I want to go, what
do I want to do, and who am I? That is something that money cannot buy, which is
why now knowledge has become the new currency, a very personal one that leads to
many different paths. This makes us understand that luxury has to be personalised.
This personalisation is derived from educating the consumer, showing them what
is good for them, for their lives and for their surroundings, how they can leave a
beneficial footprint on the world, and how they can create their own identity through
the items they use and the experiences they have. Currently, we have the advantage of
having a new generation with strong self-confidence, open to understanding how the
world is changing towards preserving what we have and doing the most with it. We
no longer need new things, we need to re-signify and update what we already have.
This evolution is also a form of devolution; devolution not only means to “return”,
but it is also a form of administrative decentralisation, granting a level of autonomy,
autonomy to learn, to develop, to encourage minorities and small but significant
means of production.
When we look for trends nowadays, we can find many different ways to be on
trend and to express ourselves, which means that even though we can always find
a very strong leading trend, we can always build up our own conception of it. We
can make choices based on our own values, and this is where self-exploration starts.
This self-exploration is not always related to just our desires and our own pursuit,
sometimes we are driven to develop it by being forced to react to certain things that
are occurring around us and drawing our attention.
For example, one of these things that we can no longer ignore is that the world
is going sustainable; why? Because it is a need that has a direct impact on us, but
goes beyond humans and has an impact on the world around us. Resources are
being wasted, the climate emergency is finally being described as such, and anxiety
is spreading, all signs that that the consumer-driven way of living is obsolete. As
makers, we have the power to offer good quality and sustainable products but we
also have the challenge to educate consumers to select what is going to be good in the
long term for them, their community and the environment. Craftsmanship, helped
by natural material and human engagement, is helping to set up the mentality we