Luxury.

The four Yorkshire men of Monty Python had it right in their luxury sketch about living in a box or living in a hole in the road or living in a septic tank, each less luxurious to prove a point that luxury is relative to where you are in life but also how it is defined by society. To them it was the outwardly ostentatious, the gaudy, the over the top display of wealth that defined luxury to the four pub pals. Studies are finding definitions of luxury are changing with new generations coming into their own consumerism cycle and growing up with their own definitions of luxury.

Extravagance is giving way to uniqueness, ubiquity is giving way to scarcity and in a world where luxury is held privately for a few, the next generation would rather transparency and authenticity. Luxury today is much more personal and individual and consumers are looking at how a product makes them feel, not how it makes them look to the broader spectrum of society. It is less about the show and more about the know.

As the definition of luxury changes with the new mores of Gen Y, we are seeing new examples of what people consider luxury and it's not about the Nieman Marcus, Gucci, Pucci, Fiorucci and LVMH brand mentality that Baby Boomers aspired to. It can be found in the acceptance of Whole Foods as providore to the new generation and how much those premium priced containers of produce bring forth a feeling of authenticity in providing the best organics long lacking in the city. It can be found in the bespoke innovations in Steinway speakers, Endorfin hand made mountain bikes and it can be found in the works of Michael Van Valkenburgh as he transforms rotting docks and waste water facilities into enchanting environments.

With all of the changes in attitude to luxury, awareness plays a big part in the choice of what is considered luxury today. Information is part of the new luxury along with individual data that is processed to provide insight into what will make you feel relevant, enriched, engaged and good about your consumer choices. So where the four Yorkshire men one upped each other in the luxury stakes in reverse, today it's not about being that outwardly focused and more about what makes you feel good privately.

The willingness to pay for niche, scarcity, bespoke and hidden today points to a future where the old luxury will find its way to the emerging rich in China and Russia, wanting a piece of the west they had glimpsed from afar. For the Ys and the ones following, that luxury belonged to their forefathers and as such is resigned to history. The new luxury will include possessions but it will be woven into the fabric of their lifestyle of constant communication, constant movement and constant search the next new experience.

Accumulation of luxury items and products will make way for the most luxurious of all things, time. Time to experience life without the accumulations that weigh you down. Maybe the new generations have something to teach the Boomers after all.