In the 2011 print edition of the Larousse dictionary (yes, it does exist, although owning one may now be a luxury reserved for a privileged few!), the word “luxury” is defined as: “the quality of being expensive, refined and sumptuous.” “Luxury” is also used to describe objects, products or services that cater to sophisticated and costly tastes rather than to the ordinary necessities of life. But Larousse also offers another definition: “Something one allows oneself as an exception.”
This naturally led us to ask: are these definitions still enough? What does luxury really mean today? Could craftsmanship itself be a form of luxury? Aren’t the time, human creativity, durability and inherent rarity of handcrafted objects also expressions of luxury? To explore this question, we first traced the history of the word “luxury”, to understand how its definition has evolved over the centuries and why the concept remains so difficult to define.
We then asked several craftspeople from the Mad’in Europe community to share their perspectives. Here is their vision of what luxury means in today’s world.
“To me, luxury isn’t flashiness, nor the accumulation of precious materials. True luxury is an object made entirely by hand, one that carries a story and a way of seeing.” – Jane Bosshard Quillerat, Atelier Herbarium
Are time and the human touch a new luxury?
Taking the time that a single piece requires, without compressing or accelerating the process, is a choice that few can afford today. In a world where speed has become the norm, devoting time to just one thing has itself become rare, and perhaps that is where true luxury lies. That time can be found in the object itself, not because it is perfect, but because every step has been given the attention it requires.
For the person who owns it, this changes the relationship they have with the object. Knowing that a piece took time, that someone devoted themselves to it, gives it a value that goes beyond its usefulness. You are no longer simply owning an object; you are owning the time that someone invested in it, time that could never be given to another piece.
“I think that being able to take time in everyday life for the things, the people, the animals, and all living beings, to calmly devote oneself to the world and to daily tasks, even the slow ones, like a labor-intensive craft, is true wealth and has become a luxury today. Even though it’s actually a shame. After all, shouldn’t it be a matter of course to take time for life and the things that surround us?” – Cosmomusivo
“For me, true luxury is a feeling. It does not necessarily have to be expensive or extravagant. […] It can be a beautifully crafted object that I appreciate using every day, the perfect cup for my morning coffee, enjoyed slowly rather than simply drunk. […] But perhaps the greatest luxury is time, the time to notice, to savour, to appreciate. […] Sometimes, true luxury is nothing more than looking up and seeing a clear horizon.” – Timmi Kromann Kokolores
– Made With Love Romania
Is durability the quietest luxury?
Shopping today is often an activity of compulsive accumulation. The philosopher Georges Bataille once argued that true luxury isn’t about accumulating, it’s about spending deliberately, giving time or attention beyond what’s strictly necessary. Craftsmanship works the same way: an experience rather than a simple purchase. An object made this way tends to be kept rather than replaced, repaired when it breaks, handed down rather than thrown away.
What makes it last isn’t only the material. It’s the story attached to it, the person who made it, the place it ends up holding in someone’s daily life. Choosing to keep something, to mend it instead of swapping it for something new, has quietly become a luxury few can still afford.
Is luxury about Uniqueness ?
Some artisans deliberately seek never to reproduce a piece exactly, while for others, this variation naturally comes from the gesture, the material, or the tool, which never behaves in exactly the same way twice. In both cases, the result is the same: no piece is ever truly identical to another. This is another kind of luxury: being able to own something that no one else will ever have exactly.
This kind of rarity comes from the very nature of craftsmanship. It is not always a deliberate choice; it can also be a consequence of the artisan’s gesture or decisions. And perhaps that is the simplest form of luxury: knowing that the object you own bears a trace that belongs to it alone.
“I see luxury as a form of attention. It lives in the hours nobody sees, in the details that are chosen on purpose, and in the presence of a human hand in the work. What comes out is never exactly the same twice, and that is part of its value.” – Karina Huberman, Liz Huberman
“Regarding the question of luxury, I believe that nowadays luxury is no longer about ostentation. In our case, luxury is the time devoted to creating a particular piece and the human touch that the maker brings to it. The piece reflects their personality, emotions, and unique way of expressing themselves, which they imprint on the finished handcrafted work. All of this gives the object a special value, making it a unique and distinctive piece.“
–Daniel López-Obrero Carmona, Meryan
Maybe luxury was never about price. Or rarity for its own sake. Across every conversation, one idea kept coming back: luxury is what is given, not what is bought. A craftsperson’s time. Their attention. Their hand. Years of learning, devoted to making something that can last. In a world built around speed, abundance and replication, these things have become rare. And perhaps this is where we should look for the meaning of luxury today. Not in what an object costs, but in what it asks of the person who makes it. This is the definition of luxury we keep coming back to at Mad’in Europe, one lived every day, in hundreds of workshops across Europe.
“In an age of fast fashion, mass production, and artificial intelligence, I believe that true luxury lies in human craftsmanship. Luxury is having the ability to create something with your own hands, but also knowing how to appreciate and invest in the work of others. It is choosing a piece shaped with patience, passion, and mastery rather than an object produced by the thousands. It is accepting the value of paying a fair price for hours of work, years of learning, and a creativity that cannot be replicated identically. True luxury today is owning something that not everyone can have, because not everyone can create it. It is about giving value back to time, to the hand, and to the human being.“- Julie Preillon, MarcelinaWood
