Constructions of Luxury in Digital Visual Culture

Introduction Luxury is a contextual notion that evades a single definition and is generally connected to the socio-historical and socio-cultural discourses in which it develops (Ko et al.). As such, what is considered as luxury can be a very subjective experience, and emerges as a “consumer- and culture-dependent construct” (Turunen, 105). The twentieth century witnessed an incredible revolution, as far as the idea of luxury was concerned. While luxury had historically been the domain of the wealthy, consumer capitalist imperatives created stratified and democratised notions of luxury, with different types of corresponding products created to meet the needs of different consumers; this made luxury ‘accessible’ for all (Chevalier and Mazzalovo). In the twenty-first century, luxury has also been undergoing a process of digital re-definition, in terms not only of how to own it, but also of what it means to own it for identity and display (Tungate). In our contemporary landscape, luxury has evolved into a multi-faceted concept, which moulds and adapts to circumstance and experience: it is built upon intersecting notions of innovation and tradition, accessibility and excess, individuality and collectivity, authenticity and artificiality. As the perception of luxury, especially in a media context, relies on a multisensory experience, the contemporary marketing of luxury goods often employs design elements that “boost perceived luxuriousness” (Turunen, 105). In order to achieve this, simplicity and pleasurable aesthetics are commonly merged with extravagance and over-the-top iconography. As Calefato suggests, “luxury is an aesthetic, economic and cultural model” that seeks to “explain and justify degrees of possession, forms of consumption, and features of taste” (12). Contemporary notions of luxury, whether connected to cars, clothes, accessories, food, or other goods—including holiday experiences—pursue spheres of exceptionality, opulence, and uniqueness, as well as more immaterial socio-cultural ideas of well-being and ‘satisfaction’. The construction of a luxury brand relies first and foremost on the “perception that consumers hold of brands” in general (Romaniuk and Huang, 547). Storytelling is a very important part of constructing luxury brands (Atkinson and Kang). A ‘brand story’ is often an artificial construction of suggested experiences and multiple multisensorial codes—visual and beyond—that are assimilated by consumers as being the foundations of luxury. In the twenty-first century, luxury has become intrinsically more connected to notions of display that are inseparable from online platforms and social media in particular. Therefore, there exists a need to reinvestigate the idea of luxury and its dissemination in today’s digital world. Taking this notion as a point of departure, this article provides a preliminary exploration of the construction of luxury in visual culture—with a focus on social media platforms such as Instagram—as connected to culturally informed projections of desirability and aspirational value. This inevitably raises questions over the artificial nature of curated online personas via practices of visual and digital storytelling, especially as projected ideas of luxuriousness become the focus of attention. Visual Culture and the Realms of Luxury As the term openly suggests, ‘visual culture’ refers to specific examples of our cultural expression that rely on images as a means of communication (Dikovitskaya). Visual culture is a very broad term that encompasses forms of narrative and expression that touch on different aspects of life. The most prominent exponents of the visual culture umbrella have historically been art, fashion, photography, film, television, comics, and advertising. More recently, examples such as video games and social media have also joined the visual culture family, and aided the development of what has become known as ‘digital visual culture’: an area drawing attention to the intersection of digital media, technology, and the visual arts (Bentowska-Kafel and Gardiner; Knochel). Although visual culture emphasises images, it is also important to recognise the interplay between images and words—the latter also known as ‘copy’—as a foundational way to communicate meaning and ideas. This is particularly evident in examples of visual culture such as advertising, where the play between words and image is often essential for rendering the message. Within this, one can see how the representation and communication of luxury is profoundly entangled with the broader aspects of visual culture (Armitage; Sikarskie). The ‘meaning’ of images is not universal; while many may recognise what something is just by looking at it, its ‘meaning’—what it represents, what it stands for, and how it will ‘speak’ to ‘people’—will change according to context and situation (Howells and Negreiros). Decoding the meaning of visual images will be dependent on a number of evolving factors, including gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, historical and geopolitical context The contextual nature of visual images already creates a clear conceptual affinity with the idea of luxury, which is dependent on perceptions, projection, and cultural construction. The terms ‘visual’ and ‘luxury’ are profoundly entangled, and operate in similar and interconnected ways. The very concept of luxury is dependent on representations of value and experience that change historically, culturally, socially, and economically. Discussing the decoding of luxury images, Armitage suggests that meaning is relative to and dependent upon structures of the visual connected with forms of cultural life, such as making a painting or the indulgence of eyeing a Cartier watch ... . Visual terms and discourses are never unbiased but are bound to cultural systems of understanding, practices and routines. (7) The great majority of luxury brands rely on particular aesthetic representations and significant visual images that communicate the experience, value, and importance of the item in question. The interpretation that is necessary for any visual product is also at the core of our understanding of luxury. As such, both are negotiable, contestable, evaluative, and subject to fellow agreement. “The powerful meanings of luxury”, as Armitage puts it, are based on the significant impact of the visual: not only is visual culture significant for the comprehension and direction of luxury”, but our conceptions of the visual are caught up and inherent in today’s luxury discourses and practices. (8) Therefore, to consider luxury is to interpret its visual narratives. Those narratives are inevitably entangled with culture and lifestyle. The construction of luxury is based on both ‘real’ and ‘imaginary’ attributes and ideas that are promoted to potential consumers in many ways. The interaction between ‘real’ and ‘imaginary’ luxury—and the emergence of the two, as the final ‘product’—is what is known as the three “realms of luxury” (Roberts and Armitage, 1). The ‘first realm’ of luxury refers to the tangible object or place that exists in the world: what the item of luxury is, where it is located, where it is sold, and so forth. The ‘second realm’ of luxury refers to all the imaginary connections and evocations that are rendered in order to conceptualise the experience of luxury—feelings, aspirations, daydreaming, and associations with ideas of worth and value (Roberts and Armitage). Finally, the ‘third realm’ of luxury refers to the interaction of the first two, so that luxury itself—or the conception thereof, in context—is a mixture of both ‘real’ and ‘imaginary’ characteristics; that is, in simple terms, the ‘full package’ of how the luxury item works, both materially and immaterially (Roberts and Armitage). The third realm of luxury is connected to ideas of authenticity, which are often tacitly communicated through specific socio-culturally inscribed codes. Luxury in the third realm exists through the construction of images and narratives that can be sold as both desirable and achievable, and offers brands “the opportunity to leverage consumers’ imaginations to extend the demand for luxury goods and services” (Roberts and Armitage, 2). At the heart of capturing the third realm of luxury, and therefore of harnessing the imagination of the potential consumer, lies visual culture: all the strategies of image and meaning representations that populate our cultural everyday. The third realm of luxury is commodified according to different ‘types’ of luxury consumers, including different socio-economic possibilities and backgrounds (Roberts and Armitage). The third realm of luxury is the realm of narrative, where luxury businesses and brands construct the desire to own and experience for the consumers, by blending real objects with imaginary spaces (Brody). The third realm is, arguably, more than anything else, the realm of advertising and marketing. Every time luxury is represented and rendered, it brings with it artificially-coded constructions of objects and experiences and inevitably creates ‘categories’ of people (Wang et al.). As notions of luxury are intrinsically connected to identity, by representing luxury we are also representing how people see themselves, and how they want to be seen by others. Digital Luxuries and Fashioning the Self The relationship between luxury items and luxury consumers in our contemporary twenty-first century context must be understood as being an interplay not only of product and quality, but also of identity-building and methods of proliferation, including the uses of digital technologies. It is important to bear in mind that, as Kluge contends, the marketing of luxury goods is potentially built on a paradox: “the more desirable the brand becomes, the more it sells, but the more it sells, the less desirable it becomes” (Kluge, 1). The preoccupation between sales growth and exclusiveness is mirrored i