The Luxury Concept of Time
The definition of haute couture is ‘high dress making’; the creation of exclusive fashion. Garments are carefully hand-sewn and crafted with care and often over hundreds of hours by skilled and qualified artisans. Naturally this takes time. Rumour has it that Hermès instates a single crafts person to hand stitch a Birkin bag from start to finish, which can take up to 25 hours, using traditional techniques like saddle stitching and only after that individual has undergone over five years of training.
Why are you telling me this, you may think?
Something that left me wondering last week, was a phone call I got from a long standing client. She had placed an order for custom fine jewellery coming up to four months prior, with a lead time of approximately 20 weeks. In the diamond world, and for large pieces like these, the diamonds need to be sourced in the raw first, before they can be worked into the beauties we ultimately see on necks, ears and fingers. Global and economical changes always play a role and influence not only lead times but costs heavily - luckily for those clients that lock in a price with a special order, price isn’t something that will fall back on them, but instead on the Maison, whether fashion or jewellery.
I have established a day job where I connect amazing brands and businesses with a loyal, closed book of clients who value inside recommendations, special access and limited, exclusive items. Emphasis here on the word connect. I am not the individual mining stones in Botswana.
The phrase "Patience is a Virtue," originates from the 14th-century poetry by the English poet William Langland, and sometimes I wonder just how rude it would be to quote him over the phone to a client? (This may possibly be pregnancy rage speaking, and of course I would never… but just saying.)
Is it that clients are becoming used to, and thus more demanding of the fast fashion and fast-ordering culture dictated by industry giants like Amazon Prime’s next day delivery options? I find myself placing orders for toothpaste and natural firelighters, and expect them at my doorstep that very same day before 10pm- have the lines blurred from every day essentials and made-in-China mass market goods through to the luxury industry?
As a small business, my turn-around time from receipt of an item to shipment is still under 24 hours- always, because why would it not be? I don’t want to be hanging on to products, and know that clients are expecting pieces as soon as possible. After all, I would be too. Only this morning I emailed a stationary brand to follow up on my custom Christmas card order, which was due to ship end of October. We’re in the same boat- I get the urgency for non-urgent things.
The delay, if there is one, is therefore mostly out of the control of my personal hands- which tap into the creativity, the actual product and the organisational skills required to make shit happen.
From a purely human point of view, working with a closed book of clients I have mostly known for coming up to a decade, or in many cases almost two, the type of phone call that has lead me to express myself here, is one I can not fathom.
I am in the business of pursuing brands and items that are exceptional. I take time to identify which collections are worth sharing, which letterheads are hand painted and can be customised with drawings and in colours that speak to the writer, which garments are hand-sewn based on a vision of creativity and style.
Where larger personal shopping companies have closed down over the last year, because they have exponentially expanded, and catered to the ‘order jeans today, receive tomorrow’ industry as a sub-category to luxury concierge, I try to stay away from quick turn around pieces, and prefer working on special projects that hold a meaningful place in the heart of the client ordering. I try to build a link with the client, that goes beyond the order of custom linen fabrics, or made to order lingerie, and into a deeper understanding of their world, their lifestyle and their needs.
So when a client, whom I have been collaborating with for over a decade decides to have what I can only call a period of personal crisis towards the architect of their luxury fashion and lifestyle orders, it makes me rethink the value and the worth of what I do on a day to day basis.
Has the world moved so far into the comforts of hyper-consumer, industrialised, fast fashion, that waiting for something of worth and merit and morals is no longer an option for most? And if so, when is the moment to retreat as the mediator of all things haute couture, made to order and exclusive?
I would love to hear your thoughts!