“Dancing on the Volcano”, a book that analyzes how luxury and fashion have conquered our imaginations

In a decade, fashion and luxury have evolved profoundly, gradually intruding into all aspects of social life, while their growth accelerated exponentially. Immersed in this environment for ten years, the journalist Sophie Abriat, who writes for M Le Monde and T, the magazine of Time, deciphers this metamorphosis in “Dancing on the volcano”. This book, which appears this January 15 by Grasset, goes beyond the frivolous or purely financial side of the sector, to explain to us the strategies of the houses and the way in which they have increasingly broadened their scope to end up taking over of our imaginations.

“It’s a photograph of an era, this moment when fashion and luxury completely exploded. I wanted to tell the spheres of influence of the sector beyond clothing. In general, fashion is seen mainly in its futile and vain. I wanted to show the other side, an industry with a more constructed and thoughtful strategy, which knows how to surround itself with the best talents in all areas to give substance to its products. elevation strategy, which consists of raising the prestige of products by giving them cultural legitimacy”, explains the author of this essay of more than 200 pages, sold for 20 euros.

In lively writing, well documented and supported by quotes from researchers, sociologists, philosophers and experts, while mixing anecdotes and unpublished stories, “Dancing on the Volcano” invites the reader to delve into a reality that they come into contact with every day. , without almost noting it. Exciting.

Over the years, fashion has “luxified” and, conversely, luxury has largely “modified”. There is no area that escapes them, as the journalist points out. “We can dine ‘Dior’, drink ‘Gucci’, sleep ‘Armani’, see a ‘Saint Laurent’ film, read ‘Chanel’, etc. The ‘total’ lifestyle circle is complete.” Without forgetting the countless patronages and sponsorships of houses in the most varied fields, from the restoration of historical monuments to the Olympic Games.

“Today, selling only designer bags is no longer enough: luxury must now be legitimate and respectable in the artistic, cultural and societal arenas, because its desirability depends more than ever on its social and environmental acceptability,” she writes. “Fashion houses have understood that to free fashion from the cyclical movement which condemns it to ephemerality and to no longer be considered as simple consumerist platforms, they had to create meaning, carry ideas, imagine stories.”

“Fashion brands are no longer content with producing commercial messages or shaping our aesthetic horizon, they now aspire to offer visions of the world, often idealized, ways of thinking about society, thus assuming a new role in public debate “, she continues a little further.

Finding the balance between lightness and gravity

The work is structured around four chapters: the spatial and psychological extension showing how “in thirty years, luxury has left the cozy salons of haute couture, shop windows and magazines to invade unexpected territories”; the extension into culture (literature, museum, cinema, art, etc.), a favorite ground for brands, more and more of which are creating artistic content “going so far as to place themselves at the heart of contemporary creation “; the extension into society and the intellect via university legitimation and the rise of artistic directors dispensing their point of view; finally, the last part describes the soft power luxury through geopolitics and sport.

“There is a lot of fascination and detestation around this universe. I didn’t want to judge, but just try to undo the clichés. Provide reading keys to understand to what extent these actors take an important place in our culture and our life”, concludes Sophie Abriat, who chose this title to illustrate “how fashion and luxury allow us to ‘dance’, creating a space to dream and reinvent ourselves, while remaining aware of current difficulties and crises”. “The challenge is to find the balance between a kind of lightness and a form of seriousness. You have to be aware of the issues,” she says.