Why South Koreans are obsessed with Luxury Goods

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[caitthecat]

The quality of luxury items has decreased dramatically in the last two decades. These days, you only pay for the name, not its durability. Planned obsolescence is a real thing.

[nancy]

I'll never forget my Korean friend studying abroad in my country, and sometimes not having enough to eat except a pack of ramyeon but spending $3, 000 on a dior scarf when we went to the poshest department store in my country. She was in her overdraft but her motto was classic designer things don't go out of style. Made me realize that everyone has different priorities in life...

[aaawwweeee]

Korean obsession with materialistic, superficial, luxury items is out of control, even as a Korean myself i always have a hard time wrapping my head around and understanding them.

[mydogisbailey]

Korean culture is among the most superficial in the world. That’s not a judgement, it’s just an observational fact. Appearance is what society there values.

[sopzena]

I watched a documentary a while ago about how Koreans max out their credit cards and have a lot of debt just to own luxury items. It’s really sad to see how pressured these people feel by the society to willingly go into debt for wearing a luxury brand item.

[Mellow_Blue]

My friend is currently working in Korea as a postdoctoral. She even got contempt from her Korean colleagues sometimes that she look like a waitress since my friend always like to wear jeans and a T-shirt. When I heard that I really feel mad for her, I really hate this type of culture, trend, or lifestyle. Such a toxic environment to have this kind of society around you. I never want to go to study or even work in Korea. What an obsessive society. lol

[kobebryant]

The crazy thing is the real rich folks don’t really buy these things. Most “luxury” items are targeting middle class citizens. These companies just use celebrities to market their items. Their main customers are from East Asia… especially China and South Korea where they have a huge wealth gap

[NHJDT]

I moved to the united states when I was 7 so although I'm korean, I didn't grown up with new cultural norms. I do not own any luxury brands, I buy normal non-luxury products for my family of 5 so I have enough money to give my dad $3000 allowance per month. I wonder how many of the korean 20s-50 year olds are following the older culture of financially taking care of their parents. We are currently wearing our $10-$50 clothes right now but I was able to bring my family plus my dad to korea for a 2 month trip. We look around and there are alot of well dressed koreans which is great for them. But what will happen to them if they lose their jobs? Instead of fake dressing rich, I am more interested in fake dressing poor. If a person stood next to me, nobody would ever guess that my husband and I are the millionaires next door by looking at our $7 flip flops or our $10 tshirts

[TexanRibs]

I was once talking to a korean girl and she was flabbergasted when I told her that most Europeans don't buy those brands. I say this because most of the brands mentioned here are from Europe. The likes of LV, Gucci, etc are pure garbage. They are the fast food of "luxury fashion". Most of these mainstream brands are garbage and their products are made exactly the same way as the brands from China. You are paying 1000x more solely because of the name. There are only 3 brands that I would consider buying and those are Loro Piana, Brunnelo Cucinneli and Cartier. Also, just because something is expensive it definitely does not mean that it's good, like the first lady said. This, naturally, is a personal opinion, but people should definitely be aware that the mainstream "luxury" brands aren't luxury at all.

[moonbalancedd]

paying 1.5k for a scarf.... I can literally build my entire wardrobe from ZERO with all new clothes with that.

[belenlisoni]

To say that 9 out of 10 people own a luxury item is to be very disconnected with the country's reality.

[coolpandaz]

Hyper-consumerism and hyper-capitalism

[melanihan]

After giving tons of money to luxury brands, it is ridiculous to advertise the brand by wearing their products with huge emblems. I prefer to buy a products not because of the brand, but because I like the design and because they are of good quality. It's pointless to buy something just because it has a name

[snowflakeismelting]

SK is getting scarier and scarier. If I lived there, I might work my butt off just to afford these useless stuff to please people.

[wsupwitit]

Its sad when they’re always looking to flex but a lot of them have crazy debt. They don’t even know why they like the brand or what to look for, they simply like it because people recognize the brands.

They live off of other people’s opinions and there’s rarely any individualism when it comes to expression.

[Lrak]

Surprised there wasn't any questions asking if this luxury brand culture and looking at others is a bad thing in Korea. As we know they value monetary things a lot in Korea and need to show it to others.

[riychu]

I think the lady in pink is very realistic in her luxury purchases. As she said she keeps her items for years and in that sense it is better than buying multiples over the same time period that dont get as much use. Also certain luxe goods appreciate in value over time & can be handed down so there's isn't a total loss. There are Chanel bags selling for almost the same price used as was paid when they were brand new. Its not a lifestyle for everyone but if you can afford to, invest in quality luxury items that will stand the test of time. Unfortunately many brands no longer provide quality & encourage consumerism so you have to do your homework.

[ybgy]

As a Korean Canadian who was born in Korea and lived there for 10 years before coming here, I feel quite sad that so many Koreans are like this. 7-8 out of 10 people seem to spend a great deal of money to buy very few things. I can understand if the majority of citizens are rich enough to buy luxury brand - note the word LUXURY - but we know this isn't the case. So how are they coming up with all this money? Debt, or forego buying more necessary things in life.

Korea is dying slowly one superficiality at a time.

[aphroditesoul]

I loved Korea since childhood but the route its taking right now its kinda scary, everything is becoming so superficial where people aren't separating K-pop and drama standards from reality it's INSANE, i wish the best for the few real people living there they must have a strong mindset.

[mar_dma]

South Korea as a whole feels like a Black Mirror episode on it own lmao I know the entire world is sick and we need to do something about it, but SK feels unreal, sometimes I can’t believe the things that come out of their mouth…