In our fast-paced world, slow is the new luxury.

Slow luxury means celebrating unhurried moments of richer, deeper connection with ourselves, our loved ones and the natural world around us. Slow luxury means to savour the everyday and experience life more deeply, rather than simply skimming the surface. It’s about championing a pause in our decision making and celebrating true craftsmanship and creativity in place of overconsumption.

The rare luxury of switching off

The development of the smartphone created a seismic shift in how we live. From checking the weather forecast to taking a photograph and making a card payment, these devices have slowly streamlined countless other tools and services. We wouldn’t choose to be without their convenience.

Yet, in today’s attention economy, where eyeballs and engagement equal profit, many apps which exist on our devices are designed to hold our attention and keep us hooked by releasing small hits of dopamine. Social media is one of the biggest culprits. In 2024, the average person spent 143 minutes per day on such platforms. We’re connecting more, but we’re not connecting deeply.

Case in point? From 2023 to 2024, the term ‘brain rot’ saw a 230% increase in usage and was named Oxford’s word of the year. It describes the negative impact of overconsumption of low quality social media content on an individual’s mental or intellectual state.

A ‘luxury’ can often be understood as a rare pleasure. In this sense, intentionally switching off from technology has become aspirational, and an antidote to the burnout of hyper connectivity. Answering this need is the increasing number of digital detox cabins, where guests are encouraged to go off-grid and unplug from their devices. These digital blackout locations tend to be remote, offering an opportunity to not only be truly present with one’s own thoughts, but also to soak up the enriching effects of spending time in nature. Mindfulness and self-reflection are what happens when our minds, and feet, are left to wander, uninhibited.

Reassigning value to creativity and craftmanship

The fallout of our penchant for instant gratification extends beyond our digital consumption habits to what we buy, and how often, although the two are, of course, intrinsically linked. Our convenience culture comes at a great cost, with 1.3 million tonnes of waste produced by the average person annually in the UK.

Slow luxury reassigns value to creativity and craftsmanship, encouraging an understanding of what it truly takes to produce a product. In an era of excess, it celebrates mindful consumption, natural materials and considered design. The notion that ‘good things take time’ has never been more pertinent.

Life’s slow luxuries

Slow luxury offers parallels with the concept of ‘quiet luxury’, which celebrates buying high-quality wear-for-life wardrobe staples. Quiet luxury is an understated, new-age minimalist aesthetic which rejects wearing certain pieces simply to display labels and logos which directly convey a notion of wealth. Slow luxury supports the idea of taking a considered approach to consumption and celebrating quality, but it expands the definition of ‘luxury’.

Unlike quiet luxury, life’s slow luxuries are not always synonymous with high cost. They can be physical goods like vintage finds or artisan-made items, but they also incorporate how we slow down and spend our time. Getting lost in a good book, quiet Sunday mornings, cooking from scratch, listening to birdsong and lighting a candle are all slow luxuries.

• Read more about slow living

Mindfulness and Self-Care