The University of Hertfordshire’s School of Art and Design is running a conference examining the concept of luxury. The conference, entitled “In Pursuit of Luxury: commercial and academic perspectives on luxury”, intends to expand the parameters of the debate around the concepts of luxury to provide a refreshing context to construe the familiar debates surrounding the subject.

By discussing the history of luxury against contemporary issues, the event seeks to focus on a range of issues. These include: what do we understand by the term luxury and can it or should it be applied to luxury branded goods today? Does contemporary branding allow such goods to remain luxurious, even though they have been mass-produced? What do the terms such as value, consumerism, fashion, taste or connoisseurship really tell us about modern spending habits?

The conference will be held on Friday 19th June 2009 at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in Central London. Keynote speakers are confirmed as Emanuel Ungaro and Professor Chris Berry. Registration is open from Monday 26th January 2009.

A call for papers has opened with a deadline of Monday 15th December; the conference organisers invite submissions under a range of broad headings. Possible strands may include:
• Sociology and luxury
• Luxury and emerging economies
• Ethics, politics and luxury
• Luxury and craft
• Luxury and popular culture
• Luxury, globalisation and branding
• Luxury and design
• Luxury and fashion
• Luxury and jewellery
• Luxury and the history of consumption

For more information please see the following websites:
http://www.inpursuitofluxury.com/
http://www.herts.ac.uk/events/In-Pursuit-of-Luxury-Commercial-and-Academic-Perspectives-of-Luxury.cfm