Designing Emotion: The Psychology Behind Truly Memorable Gifts

I’ll be honest with you, I’ve spent years watching people agonise over gifts. The panic, the frantic browsing, the last-minute compromise that everyone pretends is thoughtful. And every time I see it happen, I think the same thing: we’re all focusing on the wrong thing.

People assume great gifting is about extravagance, but if I’ve learned anything from this world of luxury, it’s that the most memorable gifts aren’t big. They’re emotional. They’re personal. They’re rooted in meaning, not money.

And that’s where the psychology gets interesting.

Why do some gifts stay with us and others disappear?

Here’s the thing most people miss: the brain doesn’t store every gift equally. It remembers the ones that trigger feeling. Not necessarily joy, by the way. Sometimes it’s nostalgia, pride, connection, or that quiet moment of “this person actually gets me.”

I still remember a small ceramic bowl someone brought me from a roadside stall in Portugal. It cost maybe ten euros. But it felt like a piece of someone’s journey. I’d take that over an anonymous luxury candle any day.

That’s why I always end up gravitating back to pieces with soul, like the handcrafted jewellery in our Women’s Collection. Not because they’re ornate or precious, but because they remind me of the people behind them. And that feeling is what people actually hold onto.

Can we talk about how gifting has lost its emotional edge?

Look, I’m not here to be dramatic, but gifting has become… transactional. Too many people treat it like ticking a box rather than creating a moment. Maybe that’s why so many luxury gifts feel flat. They’re impressive, sure, but they don’t say anything.

A truly meaningful luxury gift doesn’t whisper “expensive.” It tells you something about the giver, and something about the receiver. It’s basically emotional intelligence in object form.

The funny thing is, people think they’re bad at gifting, but they’re really just disconnected from the emotion behind it. Most people can spot a thoughtful present instantly – it’s the one that makes them pause for a second before opening it.

What makes a gift emotionally intelligent?

Let me share something I’ve noticed over the years: emotionally intelligent gifts do at least one of three things really well.

1. They reflect who the person is

Not who you want them to be, not who they pretend to be at dinner parties. Who they actually are when no one’s watching.

That’s why I love wandering through our Men’s Collection. Every time I do, I stumble across pieces that feel like they were designed for personalities, not for demographics. A wallet made with obsessive craftsmanship for the man who appreciates detail. A bold accessory for someone with confidence but zero desire to shout about it.

2. They acknowledge a private moment or story

The psychology behind this is simple: people bond through shared narratives. A gift that nods to “that trip we took” or “that thing you told me over coffee once” hits a different part of the brain.

When our buyers bring back something from a tiny atelier in a place most people couldn’t point to on a map, that’s what they’re looking for. A story waiting to be attached to someone else’s story.

3. They make the receiver feel seen

There is no greater compliment. Honestly, that’s the emotional jackpot. And handmade, slow-made pieces tend to do this beautifully because they already come with intention baked in.

Our Health & Beauty Collection has a few pieces I keep buying for friends not because they’re luxurious (they are, don’t get me wrong) but because they feel like quiet little acts of care.

Why luxury feels different when emotion is involved

Can we talk about this for a second? Because here’s what most luxury brands will never admit: high-end gifting without emotional depth is just fancy clutter.

But when luxury carries meaning, it becomes something else entirely. A talisman. A memory anchor. A small piece of someone’s identity.

I once gifted someone a handmade bracelet from an artisan we met in Morocco. The craftsmanship was incredible, obviously, but that’s not why she loved it. She loved it because I told her the story: the little workshop on a sun-baked street, the maker who talked about how his father taught him the technique, the way the piece sat half-finished on his bench when we first saw it.

She wears it constantly. Not because it’s beautiful (it is), but because it means something.

That’s emotional design in action.

So how do you choose a gift that lands emotionally?

Here’s the simple version I give people when they ask:

Choose something that feels like a connection, not a performance.

Forget the pressure to impress. Ask yourself:
What part of our relationship does this gift reflect?
If the answer is “none,” it’s the wrong gift.

If the answer is “this reminds me of you because…”, you’ve cracked the code.

That’s why I love the more unusual, globally sourced pieces we bring in. Every item has its own emotional scaffolding built in. You just match the right person to the right story.

The real secret: meaning lasts longer than money

Look, you don’t need me to tell you that the world is drowning in stuff. People don’t want more things. They want more feeling. Something that tells them:
I see you. I know you. I thought of you long before I clicked buy.

Emotional gifting isn’t soft or sentimental. It’s actually one of the most powerful forms of luxury because it turns an object into a memory. And memories last far longer than anything wrapped in tissue paper.

I suppose that’s why I love working with places like Mbundu. There’s something honest about pieces that travel through real hands, real craftspeople, real stories. They’re already emotionally charged before they ever reach the person who unwraps them.

And honestly? Isn’t that the whole point of gift-giving anyway?

If we’re not giving emotion, what are we giving at all?