What is organic luxury?
Organic luxury, less formally known as organic-luxe or luxe-organic, is a type of brand design style that prioritizes sustainable, eco-friendly practices.
Not to be confused with accessible luxury, which is a movement (origins mysterious to me) of taking regular white T-shirts or ripped jeans and putting a Balenciaga price tag on it. Accessible luxury can also be defined as mid-market retailers who give middle class consumers “a taste” of luxury.
Organic luxury, however, is a little harder to define since it’s up and coming. So let’s break down the two words that make up this fairly new concept. Luxury items are known for their high quality and tremendous value. Organic items are sourced or manufactured conscientiously.
By definition, to be organic is to be alive.
So… what happens when we breathe life into our definition of luxury?
In a more human-centered, sustainable future, what does luxury mean?
We are facing the result of what happens when we combine responsible conscious practices with ergonomic, sophisticated craftsmanship: the transformation of luxury.
For the person reading this now: How do you define luxury?
Is it being able to afford not to care about consequences?
Because for Millennials, going the extra mile to avoid damage to the environment is priceless.
For them, having core values, a purpose, and authenticity — are priceless.
That’s real luxury.
Sustainable luxury.
This new design style combines modern design with mindful practices.
Too often we are bombarded by “green” eco-friendly design & branding that is cringe-worthy, and full of leaf imagery. My opinion? Way. Too. Much. Green.
Since when did being friendly to the Earth look so, for lack of a better word, ugly?
When people think of eco-friendly design, that’s really what they’re thinking. Ugly, cheap clipart of the planet slapped onto recycled paper. No one wants their business reflected that way, even if their branding is organic.
As a young professional in the advertising industry, and as a Millennial, I want to ask: Why does the depth of consideration when it comes to our planet, suddenly come to a full stop when it comes to branding?
But that question implies that depth of consideration to our planet is a goal respected by everyone — it’s not.
And the reason why might be rooted in how our culture is shaped.
“It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture when urgency hits,” reported Jessica Militare of Forbes.com, “Grider says she takes a 10,000-foot view and asks herself: ‘What path allows us to be a supportive partner to our clients, especially those who are struggling to reimagine the future of their events?”
The biggest impact on small businesses, and people, has been the virus. Both those who are affected by the illness, and by the shutdown itself. Many businesses did not recover, and could not reopen after the shutdown lifted. Concerns of sustainability don’t seem to take on any priority by comparison, and when people are dying why would it?
As for the small businesses who don’t have the resources or big budgets to integrate sustainability into their brands in impactful ways, they end up doing what is called “greenwashing,” which is slapping the color green everywhere, both literally and through messaging, possibly by even making false “green” claims. The attempt alone can paint the brand’s integrity in an unfavorable light for their consumers.
There’s not only the lack of creativity, but the negative connotations surrounding Earth-conscious practices that include associations with amateur aesthetic, subpar quality, and it’s even seen as a sign of femininity.
“Some men associate sustainability with femininity, leading them to avoid sustainable options. But if a brand is already strongly associated with masculinity, this effect can be mitigated,” according to the Harvard Business Review, The Elusive Green Consumer.
But new analysis investigated how gender stereotypes have evolved over seven decades, as reported by Hilary Anyaso. The shared, unconscious perception of women back then was that women were generally incompetent until proven otherwise. “Women are no longer regarded as less competent than men,” writes Anyaso about the present day, “but still seen as less ambitious and decisive.”
When we consider our cultural stereotypes revolving around feminine inferiority, it’s no surprise why certain consumers view sustainability as automatically being less effective or having lower performance quality.
Fast Company interviewed Bryan Ursey, professor at the University of East Anglia’s Norwich Business School, after he’d recently published a study in The Journal of Advertising. “He found that when a brand highlights the sustainable attributes of a product, consumers think the implicit message is that the product will perform worse than its less sustainable counterpart.”
Practices that are better for the environment are somehow linked to the unconscious prejudice culture has about women.
“The results were clear. Consumers largely saw sustainability as a sign that the product was less effective.”
It is because Mother Nature is female? More and more Millennials believe “the future is female." Is that is why they are leading the movement toward global sustainability?
But does that future involve a community of less ambitious, less decisive people? Or is our idea of ambition rooted in toxicity?
It might be why the ambitions of luxurious companies in the past sought out to satisfy their consumers’ whims at absolutely everyone’s expense.
The economic equilibrium is in the favor of Millennials now, since they passed Baby Boomers a few years back as the world’s largest adult population alive.
It is up to the demand of the consumer what products and practices will survive, and inauthentic expressions of environmentalism is not going to win over the hearts of Millennials.
Only the devotion to a higher standard for people, and for our planet, will connect us all. The richness of luxury, with the efficiency of sustainability.
