The value of many things has plummeted lately, but value itself comes in many forms. There are those who want a bargain, but there are also those who are willing to pay for something else: feeling special. Businesses are betting big on this type of spender.

Perhaps it’s something as simple as the difference between an ordinary sofa and one with vintage cigar leather that has undergone an intensive handfinishing process. You can now make that choice at Restoration Hardware, the American furniture chain that recently created an exclusive and more expensive line featuring handmade reproductions based on Western European and American antiques .

“With the unsettled economy, a lot of retailers are going down-market,” Gary Friedman, the company’s chief executive officer, told The Times. “We decided to go in the opposite direction.”

Saks Fifth Avenue also went in that direction when it invested tens of millions of dollars in projects like opening a boutique in the middle of the recession that sells Kiton, an Italian luxury men’s wear line with $7,000 handmade suits and $1,195 trousers.

“I do think the man who wants to present himself in a certain way, he’s still out there,” Ronald L. Frasch, president and chief merchandising officer for Saks, told The Times.

And he may be right, judging from the new wave of “customania” at all income levels. People want “something special made by someone who knows his craft,” wrote The Times’s David Colman.

The trend is widespread. There are now blended-toorder fragrances, designyour- own dress shirts and pick-your-own-complication watches, said The Times. Or choose your fetish: custom surfboards, sneakers or bicycles .

And stores these days are no longer just selling a collection of merchandise. They “curate” their merchandise, said The Times. The word “curate” has “become a fashionable code word among the aesthetically minded, who seem to paste it onto any activity that involves culling and selecting,” wrote The Times’s Alex Williams.

Department stores have pop-up shops “curated” by special guests. Everything from music at a nightclub to wine at a wine club is now curated or hand picked with purpose, signifying its uniqueness.

“It’s an innocent form of self-inflation,” John H. McWhorter, a linguist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told The Times.

And self-inflation is what the airline industry is counting on. Extra perks and more pampering help make fliers feel special and persuade them to fly more. Korean Airlines is spending $200 million to put in high-end seats, upgrade its entertainment and serve organic food, while Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong Carrier, plans to have new cabins on its jets and a business-class lounge at the airport in Kauala Lumpur, said The Times.

Whether it’s a roomier airplane seat or a custom jacket, it’s to each his own for that inexplicable sense of worth.

“At the end of the day the customer is searching for value,” Tom Ott, senior vice president and general merchandise manager for men’s wear and home furnishings at Saks told The Times. “And value isn’t just in the price.”


ANITA PATIL


Custom items from skateboards to clothing, like these Kiton suits at Saks Fifth Avenue, still seem to be popular, despite the recession. / J.B. REED FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES