East Asia is obsessed with luxury (and gen z pays the price)

What is with East Asia's obsession with luxury, and why is flex culture such a big thing?

0:00 Intro
1:26 Cultural influences in East Asia (interdependence & face)
4:26 ty notion!
6:41 Cultural values continued
15:00 "A need, not a want": Gen Z and Millennial attitudes to luxury
23:02 Society in encouraging and dissuading luxury obsession
26:46 Conclusion

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Detailed references

Academic references
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Reddy, S.K. and Han, J.K. (2017) The essence of luxury: An Asian perspective. Singapore: Centre for Marketing Excellence, Singapore Management University.

Wong, N.Y. and Ahuvia, A.C. (1998). Personal taste and family face: Luxury consumption in Confucian and western societies. Psychology and Marketing, 15(5), pp.423–441.

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Other references (once again i am running out of space, sorry for any incomplete formatting):
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Tags:
‌video essay, cultural commentary, social commentary, internet analysis, analysis video, luxury obsession, luxury items, flex culture, success, materialism, east asia, china, korea, japan, cultural deep dive, chinese culture, korean culture, japanese culture, wealth, prestige, face culture, asian success, east asian culture, consumerism, societal pressures, status symbols, quiet luxury, conspicuous consumption, asian luxury market, veblen goods, asian expectations, gucci, louis vuitton, chanel, prada, hermes, dior, spine breaker, gen z, milennials, singles inferno, song jia, influencer, kpop, brand ambassadors, newjeans, edvasian, salem tovar, not even emily, jordan theresa

[aini_]

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[MartinCantu]

Never understood the concept of being a free walking billboard just to show off money you dont have to impress people who don't care about you.

[jadebe]

At Dior in Seoul. I was denied entry bc it was “fully booked”. Ok, no worries. I came back another day wearing my Lady Dior and they opened the doors without a word. It was empty inside. NO ONE WAS INSIDE.

[georgiana]

Im so glad you mentioned Jia, it always seemed so weird to me that she was caught wearing fake designer, like who the hell actually pays that much attention to some clothes.

[Hellomelody]

"you obsess over your identity in relation to others while your soul rots inside of you". Don't know who said it but i find it to be very fitting.

[kagekun]

I have read so many Chinese web-novels which are nothing but pure power fantasies for the reader. If I had a dime for every time the main character got snobbed at a luxury clothing store and he took his revenge by buying out the entire stock with his bank card and getting the assistant fired in revenge, I'd be able to buy a Louis Vutton bag myself!

[RedFlyingFox]

It's so interesting, because in the UK, luxury bag influencers will talk about how they don't carry certain bags on public transport or bring certain bags to work because they don't want to attract evil-eye or to be assumed that they are wealthy than they really are by their bosses and colleges.

[gee]

I was born and raised in Canada and my parents are Chinese immigrants. Growing up, there would always be this weird cultural tension between home and outside of the home. They never spent money on designer brands and luxurious goods but they projected their success on how well my sister and I do in school, jobs, achievements, promotions etc. I remember our family being invited to numerous wedding banquets and it would just be a pissing contest between my mom and aunties about their children's lives.

[internationalsunshine]

A rich taitai once told me if you're an office employee with a meager salary that barely pays for rents, there is no point in carrying a luxury bag. Because the people around you will just think that it's fake even if it is a real LV bag.

But if you come from a wealthy background and you're are of high status, even if the bag you carry a fake bag, the people around you will assume that it's real.

She never buys the real thing. All her bags are just good counterfeits at the fraction of the cost of a real hermes bag and no one around her even doubts her.

So i guess it's really not the brand that lift your status but your status that lift up the brand.

[ArsonTheShroom]

It's strange because in a way, this is self-sabotage: taking away what you need to get what you want, yet it makes people feel like it has a high value.

[Ppppi]

I’m a Brit living in Korea and a few things I’ve noticed are
- there is a demand for foreign/ luxury goods, even non designer things like Tim hortons cost 3 x as much here and there is a demand for them because they are “western”, likewise Koreans brands will make “French” inspired brand name where the actual French words makes no sense, but the locals will assume it is a genuine French brand and buy it. Likewise this is why moncler is more popular then Canada goose
- designer products cost around £200+ extra in korea
- it’s very common for kids even in kindergarten and daycare to be dressed in designer clothing (brands like moncler, Burberry etc) and I’ve noticed young couples feeling stressed that they can’t provide this for their kids and their kids will be bullied or outcasted.
- when something is done by a lot of people it becomes a social norm, one social norm I’ve noticed is a Chanel bag being gifted by men to women as an engagement gift. I’ve literally seen posts online where women feel embaressed because their husband hadn’t bought them a Chanel bag or their bag is not the latest one etc
- there is a lot of debt here and whilst your might see someone dressed head to toe in designer on the streets, they will be living in a one room and surviving off ramen

[weronikawypler]

From Poland here: I once thrifted a Dior vintage bag for around 30$ (120 zł) which is pretty cheap even for a normal bag in Zara or H&M and felt really good having it at home and just appreaciating a vintage piece by one of my fav designers (John Galliano) that I could normally never afford but the real problem came when I went out with the first few times, on the one hand I was scared something will happen to the bag, on the other it felt good to have it and I was proud of my purchase. But ultimately I was kind of embarrassed cause I kept thinking people think it's a fake or that they think it's real and think I got it in some fishy way or that I'm very materialistic and a new-money kind of person trying to be flashy. I still have it and wear it quite often but in certain situations I wear it underneath my coat or try not to show the logo cause it makes me feel embarrassed, also whenever someone compliements or comments on it the first thing I say is that I was very lucky and it was cheap

[rumalsnewchannel]

"The things you own end up owning you."
"We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don't like."
Best quotes in the movie fight club

[philipdavis]

I remember years ago on my first visit to Japan I had a date - in general small talk I asked her what she did - she said worked in marketing for LV. Not quite knowing what to say, I mumbled something about 'oh, sounds like a high pressure job'. She looked at me as if I was an idiot. 'You must be joking', she said. 'Selling Louis Vuitton to Japanese girls is the easiest job in the world. They'll buy anything with that LV logo on it'.

[ngvhefe]

"When my cousin buys land, I get a stomach ache" cracked me up as a fellow Asian I feel ya bro.

[laurenheard]

I was in a relationship with a Chinese man for a while. It was a culture shock for me because I didn't grow up wealthy and living below your means was valued in my family and being flashy was looked down on. I bought a Gucci bag when I graduated college as a reward for myself. His mother, a week later, begged him to get her the same exact bag. That was her checkmate. She was putting me back in my place. Needless to say, we are no longer together.

[moonslave]

European here: a few months ago I saw a young couple next to their Tesla, and the girl was carrying an obvious LV bag, my very first thought was: "oh clearly she isn't used to money if she buys that bag".

I swear if she weren't carrying the visible LV around, that Tesla'd been a bigger flex.

[ssylveon]

this finally explains why almost every chinese exchange student on my campus had canada goose puffers... i really thought they were all filthy rich 😳

[anarecinos]

I appreciate you mentioning the issue with New Jeans being ambassadors of luxury brands. A LOT of kpop fans/fans of the group tend to sweep the issue under the rug. I have noted this issue with young asian teens being pressured to buy luxury brands. It is so pervasive, and it is damaging to them in the long run (in my opinion).

[jesuslover]

I am in a graduate program for counseling and social work... this could absolutely be a graduate level presentation. Well done! I also learned a lot about East Asian cultural norms and ideals.