Consumers’ practices of everyday luxury

Many prior studies into luxury have tended to take managerial or product-focused perspectives at the expense of understanding how consumers themselves shape luxury meanings. This study proposes a focus on ‘everyday luxury’ wherein individuals work creatively with what are often mundane objects and routine activities, engaging in caretaking and escaping practices which can provide routes towards status and self-transformation. Drawing on in-depth interviews and observations with 32 young adults we develop an illustrative framework: Practices of Everyday Luxury. We contribute to an emerging literature stream which moves beyond object-focused understandings of luxury, to highlight the potential for more subjective, personal and contestable understandings shaped by practice. Ultimately this development allows for a more inclusive approach, where luxury takes on meaning through practice, an understanding which is experiential, rather than solely product or brand-focused.