Luxury: Notable Seed stories from 2009

Kuwait, Greece, London – The year has seen bling morphing in various ways.

Anti-bling reaction was seen in new packaging for Greek cosmetic brand Korres. The company’s new products were starkly labelled with simple fonts and white space. There was a similar feel in retail spaces. Lanvin’s new opening in Dover Street Market was deliberately shabby, featuring unglamorous mannequins, dark furniture and a simple clothing rail with a cold backdrop of metallic gloss. There was a similar aesthetic tale in Croatian designer Damir Doma’s new Paris boutique, with austere rails of clothing and rough, antique furniture against stark walls.

These stores exemplified the Rough Luxe Spaces macrotrend, which sees brands tone down bling in favour of a more austere aesthetic.

Elsewhere, we’ve seen bling merge with minimalism to create Blingamalism. This was seen in Kuwait’s Octium jewellery store, where glossy lacquered woods and natural oak sit alongside ceramics and luxurious fabrics.