Heritage Is an Asset, Not a Boundary

Ask what makes a product luxurious and most answers still begin in familiar territory: skilled making, fine materials, a house with a past. Respondents in this project’s survey consistently rated craftsmanship and heritage as meaningful, and focus-group participants used them to explain why an established name carries weight.

The complication arrives when those same respondents are asked whether these qualities are essential. A majority said a product could still feel luxurious with little craftsmanship or historical heritage. Read carefully, that is not a rejection of tradition. It points to a distinction between value and eligibility: craft and history can strengthen a product’s claim to luxury without being the only ticket in.

The focus groups suggest where the other routes lie. Some participants spoke about identity and recognition, others about design, scarcity or the experience surrounding a purchase. Kapferer and Bastien (2012) describe luxury as a system of meaning as much as a category of goods, and the material here supports that reading.

The result is an expanded value system rather than a replacement of the old one. For brands, heritage remains an asset to be activated, not a boundary that decides who may compete.

59% of survey respondents believed a product could still be perceived as luxurious despite having little craftsmanship or historical heritage. Valued, in other words, but not always required.