Luxury: Redefined From a Gen-Y

Millennial Rebellion

It strikes me that we are on the verge of a rebellion. Slowly drawing up on us over the years is the decline of luxury as it was previously known. Numerous 'millennial' brands now compete viciously with each other for a promised generation who find it hard to commit. A generation with a huge amount of disposable cash, a delayed desire to procreate and who are collectively on a mission to see it all. This generation are redefining how we view luxury and turning traditional concepts on their heads...

Firstly let me break this idea down on a personal level and explain what luxury means to my family, generation by generation.

For my Grandad, luxury is tradition, it is history, it is ceremony. It is the things that they had to forego for many years and the sacrifices that were made Post-War. In actual terms it manifests itself in institutions such as the Long Room at Lords cricket ground, The American Bar at the Stafford and a dozen oysters at J Sheekeys. All three are emblems of a bygone era of St James's chivalry. For this generation, the relationship with the ma?tre d is vital, the service is attentive and the drinks come fast. It's formulaic and slick with a stiff GnT to wash it all down.

Moving away from the polished cutlery and starched shirts we hit my Dad's generation aka the Baby Boomers.  Modern, well-travelled and cultured. This generation I argue look to the east for their understanding of luxury. It is no longer Claridges that he aspires to but the understated lux of the Shangri-La. The cool lines, uncomplicated interiors and the modern builds.  For dinner, the elegance of Alan Yau is just the ticket. Fabulous dining in consistently beautiful venues with a worldly otherness. Hakkasan is king here. With Gymkanna and Ottolenghi scoring high too. 

Next the most talked about generation- Gen-Y pop along. First thing to note, we eat everything, we've been bought up experimenting with different cuisines in a way that our parents have not- I mean we have Kimchi and Harissa in our fridges for God's sake! For us, it's less about the type of cuisine but the concept. Interestingly, there has been a swing back to the nostalgia of generations gone by. 'Farm to table', 'locally sourced', 'sharing plates' are our favourite buzzwords. But what are the other key trends that define the way that we experience luxury compared to other generations - well here are some of my ideas condensed:

 1.Little and often vs Saving to splurge.

The idea of saving for a massive blow out doesn't appeal. Why sit in for four nights and then go to Maze or Le Gavroche when for the price of one meal there you could have had four elsewhere. We like to spend little but we spend often. Hence budget dining continuing to thrive- you only need to look at the STILL GOING (?!?) burger trend or walk down Kingsland Road and see the BYOB Vietnamese's over-spilling. We eat out a lot- that's a luxury. 

 2. Deferential service vs your new best mates

The service shouldn't be stuffy- I want to interact with people who could be my mates not deferential robots laying napkins on my lap and pushing my eyes down a wine list I can't afford. I want loud, fun service who will be seen and heard, preferably non-uniformed and definitely unscripted.

 3. Queuing is King

Ok, ok not every night and it does get annoying on a Thursday night in Soho when you still can't get a table at 10pm. But overall, I love it. You have some drinks, you hustle and bustle for your table. You're not sure quite what's going on and then like a mirage someone appears and escorts you through and you have to fight the urge to resolutely stick two fingers up to the crowd behind you. BOOM - I'm in. Luxury is having been to that #impossible to get into restaurant. 

 4. Small Hotel Rooms- not bothered.

It's only a bed after all. Luxury doesn't mean square footage. Lux is carefully curated by novel in-room goodies! A unique cool factor goes a long way: record players at the Dylan in Dublin, TVs that interact with the Lobby space at Mama Shelter in Paris or even an art gallery at Brody House in Budapest. Room Features and something NEW scores mega kudos.

 5. Choice

Choice is boring - reading menus sucks. We want what the chef recommends, what's fresh that day, a new dish that they're trailing - something interesting that we can tell our friends about.

 6. Trip advisor means sweet FA.

People who have time to complain about the dust over a picture frame are not our people and therefore their opinions are irrelevant.

Sum Up: 

So to finish up here, what does it all mean... Well overall my point is that Gen-Y won't trade up. I wouldn't walk into my Grandads fave bar and order a drink, nor would I rock up at Yauatcha and drop a load of cash on a casual Wednesday. I probably wouldn't trade up to older versions on luxury but older generations will trade down. I took my Grandad to NOLA on Redchurch street, a New Orleans inspired drinking den, we sunk a couple of old fashioned and he loved it. Next I anxiously sprung Dishoom on my dad, as he's impatient by nature I was sure that the queue would be too much for him. Initially, he was appalled but then gradually as people began to join the behind us and beer reached his hands he was placated and got into it.

Therefore, it's easy to imagine that brands that have hearts and souls of Gen-Y will continue to thrive in the next few years at least. Namely because we love to share our new finds, actively promote our fave spots and try to take everyone we know, even our Grandad!