A Renewed Lust for Luxe--Within Reason : By Economizing Here, We’re Splurging There
The signs are everywhere.
They’re at new upscale restaurants like Spago Beverly Hills, where partner and designer Barbara Lazaroff has noticed “a new era of dining, of fine dining restaurants. There’s a sense of elegance.”
They’re at Realtors’ offices, where brokers like Bruce Nelson see clients wanting great big homes in prime locations--Beverly Hills, Malibu, Bel-Air. “The confidence level of the buyer,” he says, “is stronger now than it has been.”
And they’re in magazines like House & Garden and its “It’s All About Luxury” September issue, which Editor Dominique Browning says was inspired by the fact that “I just started feeling that luxury was in the air.”
Buying a cashmere throw, investing in a pricey antique, drinking $15-a-pound coffee--it’s not a sin to indulge anymore, now that the economy keeps on humming. But people in the middle and upper classes are tailoring their splurges, picking and choosing their purchases. The new indulgence is not about consuming for the world to see, a la the ‘80s.
What is the style of this boom?
“It’s about the quality of life, the quality of time, things that improve your life,” says Scotty Dupree, executive editor of Luxe magazine, a new trade publication devoted solely to the luxury market and debuting at an auspicious time. “We went without for a long time, but luxury never went away.”
While the luxury consumer has traditionally been thought of as someone in the $200,000-and-over salary bracket, Dupree says that no longer applies. “If you’re a young person living at home, making $30,000 a year, you can afford a Gucci bag. People are willing to pick their luxuries, and go to Wal-Mart for everything else.”
There is continuing evidence that, despite temporary stock market reversals and other worries, the economy continues to expand robustly. New-home sales rose in January, manufacturing continues to grow, and unemployment rates are down. People are also eating out more: 4.1 times per week in 1996 versus 3.8 times in 1990, reports the National Restaurant Assn.
Empty retail space in Beverly Hills is being filled by Nike and Lladro and Tommy Hilfiger. There’s a resurgence in sophisticated supper club-nightclub hybrids.
Minimalism has been banished from fashion, replaced by a return to sparkly, body-glazing dresses and opulent suits.
“Women really want to dress up,” says designer Richard Tyler, whose sexy, feminine clothes are favored by celebrities. “Even having a dinner party at home, she wants to dress up, wants to feel great. And I think definitely the couture houses are doing well, people like John Galliano are putting a lot of flash back into it; it’s a lot of fun. There’s a lot more excitement in clothing now. . . . I think there are really a lot of different elements involved that make a person feel good, but definitely the economy is strong, and everybody feels optimistic.”
But this isn’t a rerun of the outrageous ‘80s, an era of excess exemplified by a white-tie presidential inaugural, monster mansion homes and extravagant nightclubs ruled by fascistic doormen. Living well may be in again, but wretched excess is definitely out. Few people these days flash their Rolex, boast about their Rolls-Royce or throw mega-extravaganza parties. Forget politically correct--it just looks foolish.
The watchwords may be “cautious exuberance.” House & Garden’s “It’s All About Luxury” issue lists pages and pages of present-day indulgences, from a custom-made harpsichord to wallpapered closets to a brand-new box of crayons.
“It’s less about display than about personal enjoyment,” Browning says of the current lust for luxe. “I think everybody remembers the bad times, and people are careful. If you look at what it takes to make the kind of money now that it did 20 years ago, there’s no way you can not feel exhausted and nervous and frazzled. So I think there’s more security, and prosperity is in the air, but people aren’t going overboard. They don’t have a short memory.
“And I think people are looking to kind of comfort themselves,” she adds, “console themselves, with brief spurts of luxury. There’s no shame about it anymore. We’re past the guilt.”
But she also sees a vast difference between indulging in things like handmade mattresses and the kind of excesses that colored the ‘80s. “I think there’s a sense, stylistically, of more discretion. If the ‘80s was chintz, the ‘90s is choice. If the ‘80s was gold, the ‘90s is silver leaf. It’s less about screaming to other people that you’ve succeeded and more about feeling it yourself.”
Patrons dining at the new Spago Beverly Hills don’t blink at those $100-plus dinner bills as they indulge in crayfish-tail salads, cote de boeuf and foie gras. After chef-restaurateur Wolfgang Puck opened the original Spago in 1982, then fed the masses with his chain of Wolfgang Puck Cafes and frozen-food line, he and his wife decided the time was right to take things up a notch.
Timing was key in opening Spago Beverly Hills in July, where the wait for a weekend reservation is three to five weeks. The “dream property” of the former Bistro Garden, Lazaroff says, came available at the same time that there was “a resurgence of interest in sitting down like a grown-up and dining. I think in L.A. there’s been that swing back.”
Even Lazaroff’s design sense has changed with the times. Her trademark more-is-more style has given way to warm wood furnishings, subdued colors and an elegant garden patio. “The ‘80s,” she says, “was about some very unusual cuisine, some very unusual combinations of elements in design and food, in fashion and in lifestyles. It was very much about pushing the envelope.”
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If Angelenos are feeling the need once again to paint the town, they’ll be able to do it at nightclubs like the Garden of Eden. The recently opened supper club-night spot-entertainment venue is on Hollywood Boulevard, another of the city’s in-the-midst-of-a-make-over locations.
Eden’s lush Moroccan theme is carried out in custom-made appointments such as hefty wooden tables, hand-painted tiles and jewel-tone fabrics, all evoking a desert palace. It’s drawing an eclectic crowd that includes die-hard clubbies, celebrities and show biz types, and it joins a new generation of Sunset Strip night-life venues--House of Blues, Billboard Live, Sky Bar.
“I looked at where the economy had been and where I thought it was going,” says David Judaken, the club’s creator. “I was tapping into the perfect location at the perfect time, where slowly the economy is coming back. The first place people start to begin to spend again is on entertainment.”
Judaken, a veteran of the L.A. club scene, had in mind “a space that had sophistication but also freeing. I’m hoping people will dress up for the club, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they have to wear a jacket if they find it stifling. At the end of the day, I just want to create one almighty party.”
Lots of almighty parties are being planned at Someone’s in the Kitchen, caterers and party planners. Companies and individuals are feeling optimistic enough to celebrate holidays and special occasions with gourmet food and designer decor. But conspicuously gone is over-the-top excess.
“People spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, asking for things like white swans, that kind of stuff isn’t around anymore,” says Jason Perel, vice president of the Tarzana-based company. “That was something unique, and I don’t think we’ll see that again.”
But clients are paying big bucks for certain luxuries, such as shrimp and filet mignon, fine china and brocade and tapestry linens. They’ll order hundreds of dollars of takeout food for at-home parties, yet want it to have a homey touch, asking, “Is it going to look like I made it?”
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“Definitely things are changing,” Perel adds. “Before, corporations were laying off people, so how could they throw a Christmas party? Now they’re having bigger celebrations for the holidays and spending more money on food, entertainment and decor. Corporate America closed down as far as entertaining, but in the last year or two, we’ve seen a whole turnaround. We’re doing a party for a law firm in the office, and they’re having things like a sushi bar and floral arrangements and a lighting package.”
Years ago, Perel says, “outdoing everybody else was a big thing. For a bar mitzvah, they’d have a laser show, and one family brought in acrobatic horses. It’s just not that way anymore. People don’t feel the need to be showy. Their friends know they’re well-off, so they’ll just tone it down and have a nice time. It’s the nature of what the ‘90s have become--you can make a nice living, but don’t be extravagant.”
Perhaps that’s why today’s must-have automobile is the sport utility vehicle--rugged, great for hauling the kids and the dog. Almost every car maker has a version. But don’t be fooled by the utilitarian exterior. An SUV can be as much of a splurge as a Mercedes sedan. And manufacturers report that buyers are asking for all the accouterments, from leather seats to top-of-the-line sound systems. It’s the newest form of reverse snobbery--understated flash.
“It’s a reward,” says James Groth, director of marketing and public affairs for Hornburg Jaguar Land Rover in West Hollywood, where demand for Range Rovers ($55,000 to $66,000) and more basic Land Rovers ($34,000 to $40,000) remains high. “It’s beyond the transportation mode. People reach a certain point and say, ‘I’ve earned this.’ ”
And where better to park that new Range Rover than in front of a new house? The real estate market is looking healthy again, even in the $5-million-and-up range. “The stock market has had a great deal to do with the top end of the real estate market, with the enormous amount of money made in the last three or four years,” says Nelson, the Realtor.
What kinds of homes are his clients asking for? Big ones in prime areas--Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, Malibu. And although some may still be tearing down old structures to build new ones--a popular ‘80s phenomenon--they’re not putting up those huge mega-monster mansions a la Aaron Spelling’s 56,500-square-foot . . . whatever.
“I think that that period of the huge, ostentatious homes that were built around 1987 to 1990 is over. People are going back to traditional homes. They’re not thinking about 20,000 square feet but something more manageable,” Nelson says. “You have to maintain those properties, and I think people are looking for a certain simplicity in life, even at the top end.”
That’s carrying over to what’s in the homes. “People are becoming more family-oriented,” Nelson believes. “They’re thinking about the livability of the family. The huge family room-kitchen is the most important thing. A lot of the major homes have upstairs family rooms as well as downstairs--that’s where the family is in the evening.”
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For the well-heeled, much has changed in a decade. Jim Wayne sees it firsthand; as owner of the Jim Wayne Salon in Beverly Hills, he gets the lowdown on how his clients are living their lives.
They’re treating themselves to the better things in life, like a 6-ounce tube of conditioner for $18. Younger couples and singles in their 20s and 30s, Wayne says, are buying pricey cars and homes.
But money isn’t being spent only on the material. His clients are enriching their minds as well with classes, learning vacations and degree programs.
Wayne himself is going through some life changes. He recently expanded his salon and wants to formulate a line of his own products and work on educating his clients about hair and skin care. Beyond that, he’s become more active in charities and is spending more time with his sons, ages 13 and 6.
“Why now? I have more time, more finances, and I’m probably coming more into my own with my comfort zone of being a single dad.”
Says designer Tyler, “When [my wife] and I go out to buy something, we don’t just buy anything; we take our time. We want something to have in our house that we’re very proud of. When we’re in Los Angeles, we like to have time together with our son, Edward, who’s 4. I’m seeing a lot of that as well. I don’t think it’s as selfish as it once was. Baby boomers are 50 now, and they’re starting to think, ‘I’ve worked hard all my life, maybe I should enjoy it, splurge a little bit. I’m worth it.’ ”
