Creative Industries: Learning to love luxury

THE BRITISH have an uneasy relationship with luxury. In a country that has turned the waxy Barbour jacket into a status symbol, the concept of extravagant beauty for its own sake is, generally speaking, an unusual one. But in an era dominated by the carefully engineered "mass opulence" of the big European and American brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, can the British luxury industry's anachronistic associations - well-born folk with country estates and no-nonsense taste - still cut it in the global marketplace?

Unlike France and Italy, where patronage of artisans for purely aesthetic reasons provided the basis for their luxury industries, British goods were developed with a view to helping people stay warm and dry. "British brands that are now perceived to have luxury were never designed as luxury brands," says Andrew Davies, managing director of Cricket, a company that helps firms develop strategies for global recognition. "These brands have acquired cachet over a long period of time by being taken up by the establishment. The luxury brand per se has never been a part of British culture."

"The Americans, when it comes to luxury, are very good at marketing," says Mark Lee of Watermark, a brand management consultancy. "They're also more fearless: growth is good. In this country, growth is not necessarily good. You don't flaunt luxury here."

But something's got to give if Britain wants to ensure its fair share of the luxury pie. Some estimates put the global market for luxury consumer goods at about pounds 19bn annually, and expectations are for double-digit growth. It is difficult to assess the share of the total that goes to Britain's manufacturers and retailers, but a stroll down foreign-dominated Bond Street should be enough to convince most of the importance of keeping up.

For Andrew Davies, the first step forward would be to take a hard look at the role of tradition. "There must be a constant infusion of the contemporary that updates tradition," he says. "I don't think it's swinging London versus tradition. For each brand individually we've got to find how best to reconcile the benefits of tradition ... whilst making sure that this 'traditional' appeal is not increasingly irrelevant to the market you want to get to."

It's a tall order, but some venerable brands are facing up to the challenge, most notably Burberry, which has drafted in Rose Marie Bravo, former president of Saks Fifth Avenue, to revitalise its image. There are also other signs of hope: when Penhaligon's took a gamble on streamlining the packaging for its Lily of the Valley scent, sales quadrupled. Connolly Leather's foray into personal leather goods, meanwhile, has resulted in a collection that manages to be modern while still reflecting the company's 140-year history as a supplier to the luxury motor industry.

In other cases, the answer has been found abroad, as in the case of Asprey, taken over in 1995 by Prince Jefri Bolkiah, brother of the Sultan of Brunei, and the gunmakers Holland & Holland, bought by Chanel eight years ago.

Angela Dumas, who teaches a course in luxury brands at London Business School, sees the future in the young designers "who may not see themselves as luxury brands yet" but who are turning out superb craftsmanship without nostalgia.

Ozwald Boateng, part of a new wave of Savile Row-trained tailors reinventing the suit, falls into this category, combining traditional tailoring skills with fashion-forward vision to dazzling effect. He isn't shy about expansion - "I think it's great to grow" - and has recently signed a Japanese distribution deal. Fittingly, his insignia is a tailor's dummy with wings.

Mark Lee sees Boateng as part of a change that started with design guru Terence Conran, continued with Paul Smith and is now gaining momentum with younger designers inspired by the successes of John Galliano and Alexander McQueen at Dior and Givenchy respectively. It is only a matter of time, Lee believes, before the British luxury goods industry loosens up enough to take those kinds of risks at home.

"I think we're coming into another phase," he says. "Maybe we will start having luxury-goods makers who will not be shackled to history because they're so young. They might make luxury pocket computers."