If your shower shelves look like they were curated by a Danish designer, if your dish soap smells like the work of a French perfumer, you have Nick Axelrod-Welk in part to thank. As the co-founder of Nécessaire and Homecourt, he helped reimagine the unsightly, uninspiring aspects of daily life, turning them into stylish, almost indulgent experiences. No dilly-dallying, though, because he’s onto the next project. “I’ve been obsessed with what is luxury now,” he says.
All anyone in fashion, beauty, and travel seems to talk about these days is luxury—quiet, ultra, ostentatious, and whatever Bethenny Frankel is doing. Charvet, the Parisian custom shirtmaker, was a sleepy institution for 187 years until, in its 188th, a Chanel collaboration and acquisition caused a line to snake out the door. Jacques Marie Mage seems to top the charts with its $1,000-plus sunglasses, until you consider Maison Bonnet’s custom frames. In beauty, a four-figure facial, moisturizer, or red-light device is born nearly every month. Isn’t it all a bit much?