“While we may, in pursuit of a bargain, suffer the cacophony of Century 21 or allow Ikea to swallow us whole and squeeze us through its labyrinthine intestine, the relationship between the big commercial store and the luxury object is fraught. That ultra-precious handbag tends to hemorrhage aura when set in context of innumerable clones. When luxury goods are offered in a simulated domestic setting, the brutal impersonality of mass production and merchandising is disguised behind the fantasy of exclusivity. Intimacy equals desirability.” — Michael Rock in “Sign of the Times” for T Magazine.
Via The New York Times Style Magazine
