French vs. British vs. American definitions of luxury

Some thoughts

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of The Bell!

I love learning about how different cultures define and achieve luxury.

A few months ago, I was listening to an episode of The Business of Home podcast about a luxury furniture company called The Invisible Collection that’s based in France but also doing business in the British and American markets.

The French interviewee, Lily Froehlicher, astutely observed that it’s a challenge to succeed in all three of those markets, because what people from those three countries (I know Britain is not a country; just roll with it) value in their furniture and home decor is totally different.

“In France, it’s cool to find a bargain, whereas I would say in the U.S., it’s cool to own the best things. English designers describe a culture where interior design isn’t even really thought of as a necessary component of how one might live if one gets to a level of success in one’s life.

I think luxury in the UK is, ‘Can my dog be comfortable on my sofa? Is my garden beautiful?’ And as a result, they have the most beautiful estate homes, but it definitely is not about the techniques or the finishes, or very intricate details. In France, I think luxury is very much embedded in our day to day, and we love chiner, which means curating on our own. The wealthiest and most sophisticated clients who work with the most incredible designers will actually say that they did it all on their own. Whereas, if you did your home with a big-name designer in the U.S., for example, you will immediately tell all your friends you did your home with that designer.

And it got me thinking.

She’s onto something, though I perhaps identify with a combination of the three.

The de Gournay boutique in Saint Germain: handprinted and stitched wallpapers. Americans of means are especially big fans, and it’s clear why. It is perfection—but no one can touch the walls.

Personally, I love shopping brocantes, flea markets, estate sales, Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and Etsy—and if I were living in a larger home right now, trawling the online auctions would be my whole personality.

But sometimes, I just need to buy something new and it needs to be just so. I’m more like this with primarily functional products than primarily decorative ones. For example, I insist on All Clad, Le Creuset, and Staub cookware for my kitchen.

I’ve spent the least time in the UK and with British culture (though my husband brings a hefty dose of that to our combined sensibility after living in London for five years) but I do want my hypothetical dog to be comfortable on the furniture, at the country house at least. I never want anything to be so precious or designer that I can’t let children or pets near it.

And I think it’s unfair of a client to take credit for the designer’s work, bien sûr!

A corner of British journalist Pandora Sykes’s London home. A comfortable, lived-in sensibility.

I wonder how this French/British/American divide falls in other areas of life besides home design?

I’m in London this week and certainly seeing lots of zippy luxury cars, and not many of the dog-toting, garden-center-visiting variety that can take some wear and tear. French people, even Parisians, do love a bargain car. For Americans, size is the luxury, and I include myself in that. I drive a small car but would like a slightly bigger one. I’d argue we’re more of the ‘Is my dog comfortable in it?’ philosophy in America, when it comes to cars. Many Americans also value their car being new, which I don’t care about.

Do you guys think this conversation is interesting? I’m pretty jet lagged as I write this, so it’s possible I’m not making sense.

Personally, I could spend hours comparing and contrasting minute variations in what my friends and I consider luxurious, because I think the discussion reveals what you value in different areas of your life. I like learning where people insist on the best and where they look for a bargain. Or where paying a little more is/isn’t worth it. Or when time becomes more important than anything else.

A whole other conversation is the trend online for people to decorate and redecorate their homes for content, where it seems they never have time to live in them. To me, having the newest/best stuff becomes far less important than the luxury of not having a project going at all times.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Where do you fall on the French/UK/U.S. divide when it comes to home luxury? Maybe you’re from somewhere else and your luxury is entirely different—what does that look like?

xx Jane