Luxury Brands’ Exclusivity Has Created a Monster: Posh Overkill.
You walk through the luxurious glass doors as the security guard gives you “the nod”. Floral perfume and the hint of real leather (no polyurethane here) fills the air. Your shoes hit the luminescent, tiled floor. Click, clack. A beautiful woman approaches you in a sleek, black blazer asking if you need any assistance. Your eyes fall onto an array of designer handbags on high shelves, silk scarves draping down behind the checkout counter, golden buckles in glass casings, crisp cotton shirts hanging on golden rods, gabardine suits fitted perfectly on mannequins, leather shoes on hard-to-reach shelves, and wool coats swinging on golden hanging bars. Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Fendi, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, and Versace (to name a few) are the stores that epitomize luxury, high-end fashion.
Exclusivity can be defined by Merriam Webster as “the quality of being limited to people of wealth or high social class” [1]. Designer fashion goods are exclusive as majority of the population cannot afford the high prices attached to them. Psychologically, humans tend to value what others strongly desire but cannot have. This is called dominance seeking; people feel dominant if they can get these items that others cannot afford [2]. Many studies have found that it is woven in human DNA to desire dominance. Many people who do not know what they want will, oftentimes, look to others’ desires and mirror them. They will want something just because it is highly demanded by others [2]. This leads into the phenomenon of in-group versus out-group. Our world places exclusivity on a higher pedestal than inclusivity [3]. From private sleepovers to fraternity houses to gated communities, our society promotes exclusivity [3]. Marketing tactics utilize this strategy to draw in customers with exclusive offers, private sales, and invite-only events. The mere idea of in-group, out-group is a part of our everyday lives. Friends vs. acquaintances, left brains vs right brains, STEM vs the arts, “cool kids” vs “nerds,” lawyers vs doctors, business A vs business B, religion A vs religion B, race A vs race B, and so much more. Our society craves being a part of the in-group since it is an exclusive group. Luxury brands offer higher prices that are highly demanded, but exclusively purchased. Only a select group can afford these designer pieces, even though the masses would love to own an authentic Louis Vuitton handbag or a Burberry trench coat.
The current climate we live in only continues to ingrain this idea into young minds. Vloggers, YouTubers, ‘grammers (the Insta-famous), and other social media ambassadors make luxury goods appear to be affordable since all of them have these pieces. Social media has caused so many problems in our youth today, like mental health issues, perpetuating division in society. Young people, specifically, feel left out if they do not own a designer good. They are constantly watching videos and posts online, with some having even said YouTubers feel like their actual friends; they “hang out with them” aka watch their daily life vlogs almost every day and feel like they truly know these “famous” people. Parasocial Relationships (PSR) consist of interactions involving the “emotions, thoughts, and actions that a viewer experiences during media exposure that are geared toward a specific performer or character” [4]. A PSR forms when these interactions are frequent and repetitive, creating a friendship in the viewers mind that is one-sided [4]. This has caused many tweens and generation Z youth to believe these people are their friends and look up to them to fit in. This relates back to the in-group, out-group concept; viewers want to fit in with their peers, aka vloggers, etc., who have designer goods. If their “friends” have designer pieces, why can’t they? This can lead to depression, aggression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
In the past year and a half, the retail industry has seen an uptick in robbery, theft, violence, and so much more. This has led to 57% of companies seeing an increase in retail crime [5]. The take-what’s-yours era is epitomizing the current ‘20s. The 1920s had flappers promoting beauty, partying, gender equality, freedom, and jazz music [6]. The 2020s has rappers, who continue to go against the norm, calling out injustices; however, the focus, inevitably, lands on drugs, partying, violence, profanity, vulgarity, sexual innuendos, and music [7]. This culture has led to the youth today, and even older generations, becoming agitated and aggressive. Violence is the norm, and they seek it out. Unfortunately, the retail industry is the victim of this violence. California has seen a recent trend in retail raids where a huge mob of people storm a high-end retail store and take everything they can carry, beating employees and customers on their way out. This has happened to Nordstrom stores in Los Angeles and the Bay Area [8]. Employees were even assaulted and attacked during these raids [9]. On November 19, 2021, multiple stores in and around Union Square in the Bay Area were robbed and vandalized; these included Louis Vuitton in Union Square, Burberry in Westfield Mall, Bloomingdales in Westfield Mall, Jins Eyeglass store near Union Square, Maxferd’s Jewelry on Kerny Street, Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) in Union Square, Walgreens on Market Street, Fendi on Maiden Lane, Hermès on Maiden Lane, Armani on Maiden Lane, and cannabis stores throughout the city [10]. Thankfully, arrests have been made and the police are increasing security as well as locating other participants to bring to justice. This rise in theft could be due to the holiday season (Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas) or the pandemic, or is it something more? Is this a deeply rooted issue in the generations of the now? Our world is divided by race, social class, religion, social groups, and genders. The in-group is prospering, and the out-group, which is increasing in size, continues to feel like the outcast. Social media has only made this more prevalent. They literally rub it in the faces of the out-groups. Now, the out-groups have had enough and are beginning to take a stand, by taking what is “rightfully theirs,” but is this the solution? What did retail store employees do to deserve this violence? Some are making minimum wage, working full time. Do they deserve to be beaten over the head by a 14-year-old who wants a designer bag that their favorite YouTuber flaunts in their faces every chance they get? How do we solve this issue, hitting two birds with one stone? Can we prevent out-groups from existing while also saving the retail industry? Must luxury change? Luxury exists based on the very principle of exclusivity that creates the monster known as the out-group, so do designer goods have to become more inclusive to prevent this? Will they even be considered designer if they are affordable? How will luxury brands agree to this? Is this the solution? Defeating the very purpose of a luxury, designer store will eliminate that brand. Are brands like Moschino, Versace, and Ralph Lauren onto something? By allowing promo codes, participating in Black Friday sales, and hosting private sales (keeping intact with the exclusivity principle yet making it affordable), do brands offer a partial solution to this problem? Designer brands can still be luxurious and exclusive by offering deals. These deals can be on last season items or pieces they want customers to focus on.
In addition to this, should society create more opportunity to prevent these issues from breaking through the surface? The disenfranchised, the youth who are too young for jobs, and the hard-working people should be given a fair shot in our world. The question is how exactly can this be done? What can the current generation do to push for a better tomorrow, a better future? Instead of robbing stores, creating violence, and making a bad name for the youth today, our society should focus on making actual change. The current generations may not see it happen as quickly as we’d like, but change must happen. This generation is “planting seeds in a garden you never get to see” [11].
How will you get your next designer piece?
REFERENCES
[2] https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/what-drives-our-desire-exclusivity
[4] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02781/full
[6] https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/flappers
[7] https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a9e3b09ff7174e2d8aef59794fdfe0f1
[10] https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/video-louis-vuitton-store-in-san-franciscos-union-square-robbed/
[11] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7882391-legacy-what-is-a-legacy-it-s-planting-seeds-in-a