By Daphne Bennett
Cotswold chic- how the British countryside has become a new capital of luxury, who is flocking to it and whether its forged image of rustic refinement was inevitable within the its neighboroughing industries. The question is, will this new hub last and be as sustainable as its AONB surroundings?
The Allure of the Quiet Life
Since the ending of COVID-19, there was a scramble to get out of the city and head towards the countryside, but where did this parlez-vous posh postcode race come from? The answer, the ‘weekend escape’ is not a new concept, in fact it is one that has a long engrainedlong-engrained history within the British class system that has ultimately been adopted by the upwardly mobile London set. The Cotwold’sCotswold’s still remain to cater for the Grade 1 listed country estates owners dotted around Britain, yet this honeystone area of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire has opened up the masses, attracting a new target audience with one similar connection, the ability to spend.
The Hamptons: Where Wall Street Meets Hollywood
A similar tradition also associated across the Atlantic with New Yorkers flocking to The Hamptons during the early summer period, once reserved soley for the generational upper East siders like the Kennedy’s or Jacqueline Lee Bouvier’s Lasata summer home have now welcomed the infamous White Party held by Michael Rubens in his $50M beachfront Bridgehampton mansion with the amalgamation of guests including; Kim Kardashian, Robert Kraft, Lil Wayne, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alex Earle and Drake to name a few with other wannabes offering up to $5m just to attend.
A Quiet Revolution: The Cotswolds' Rise to Luxury
Going back to Britain, if we review the past years luxury forecasts, the fashion trends of stealth wealth and ‘quiet luxury’ seem vivid, with The Row’s Margeaux overtaking the Birkin, the equestrian chic over logomania. Not to mention the boom luxury hospitality witnessed, with the key openings of Estelle Manor Country Club- daughter to Mayfair’s Maison Estelle, Soho Farmhouse as well as Daylesford at its social vertices. Moreover, the gain in the Cotswolds has also been projected onto our screens with Netflix’s hit-series The Gentlemen, BBC’s Industry’s Sir Henry Muck as well as the more recent Disney’s Rivals, all highlighting the original ethos of the Cotswold set; no matter how much you make you just don’t show it.
A New Guard of Countryside Dwellers
However, this so called “sloaney” ethos has slowly faded into the background, with the luxury stomping ground being snapped up by Simon Cowell, the Beckham’s, DJ Calvin Harris and most recently Ellen DeGeneres, with the new six-figure Range Rover SV’s whizzing around country lanes filled to the brim with brand new gun boots and overpriced bone broth to curtail a night of spicy marg’s and Lady A at the Farmhouse.
Ultimately, despite this new wave of Cotswold customers, it mirrors the same domino effect of any luxury hotspot, that of following the leader. Once popularity is projected by the capital’s one percenters, there is nearly always a cult following of second homers or visitors trying to emulate and keep up to be seen. Significantly, this mindset does mark a new phase of the luxury market, one filled with mass opportunity due to the rise of social mobility enabling a new client base willing to spend spend spend all for the look of originality.
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