At the moment it’s fashion week! Which means a whole lot of runway shows and celebrities. Personally, I don’t idolize the models walking down these runways in clothing garments that cost more than one of my car payments, but to each their own.
I don’t understand the premise of buying a $3,000 shirt or pair of pants when you can find other more affordable options that are probably more flattering in cost and appearance. I’m not just saying this because I can’t afford to make luxury fashion purchases, I don’t envy those that can, and I’ve just never seen the point.
Let’s think about it critically: I think the luxury—or designer—fashion industry is a scam, and extremely gimmicky. Often, when you or a friend has a high-end or designer item of any sort, you feel like you have a bragging point, don’t you? On the other hand, your friends might “ooh” and “ahh” over your Louis Vuitton purse. The reason for this reaction is that luxury fashion is highly marketed towards middle-class Americans as unobtainable. It’s an easily recognizable mark of elitism in class and income.
Designer items reinforce the idea that people naturally want things they don’t have; they want a better job, more money, more expensive things. Buying a designer item is a splurge, and one that most don’t have the luxury of affording. This is where I also like to categorize the owners or collectors of luxury fashion and those who have the ability to but don’t into two categories: “Rich” and “Actually Rich.”
I’m going to set up these examples for you, to help you visualize my point. “Rich” people in my mind are the Kardashian/Jenner family, any run of the mill A-list celebrity, and ESPECIALLY pop artists/rappers. There is no doubt that whenever a member of the Kardashian/Jenner clan is spotted out in public, they are wearing an outfit and arrive in a respective coordinating car that cumulatively costs more than a four-year stint here at KU. The reason that they do this is because they know the ridiculous view of the public eye, and the expectations that have been set for them by our society. The celebrity groups listed above know that they’re highly popularized by the media and are meant to look the part.
Rich people also feel the need to reinforce the idea of separatism between themselves and their fans. I’m convinced that some days they wake up and think, “Hmm… I wonder if people making $60,00 a year forgot they can’t afford a G Wagon, I’ll just post mine on my Instagram story!”
I mean come on, they post their expensive things—flashy cars, multimillion dollar mansions, designer handbags and clothing—for a reason. They want to remind you and everyone following their platform that they are better than you.
Now when it comes to “Actually Rich” people here are some examples: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, old money families and business tycoons. Those in this category have amassed a repulsive amount of money. I mean there’s even a website where you can spend the total amount of Bill Gates’ net worth just to see how many NFL teams and private jets you could buy (linked here). Think about it this way, Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth is an estimated $73.8 billion, and Kylie Jenner’s is only estimated at $1 billion. Now let’s do some quick math, Zuckerberg’s net worth is nearly 74x that of Jenner’s, and when was the last time you saw him in Givenchy? The answer is you didn’t, because he dresses himself like my 15-year-old brother. This is my point exactly; “Actually Rich” people don’t wear designer items because they don’t need to flaunt their money through pointless fashion. We all know that Jeff Bezos is the richest man in America and that wouldn’t change if he was wearing a t-shirt he picked up from Goodwill.
The main difference between my two categories is “Rich” people are defined by their money and the way they choose to spend it. “Actually Rich” people are defined by their companies, or the things that brought them money, not by the money itself.
My post-assessment verdict is that designer fashion is a joke and another tool of capitalistic marketing schemes. Also, half of the time luxury fashion outlets spawn the most abhorrent looking clothing items I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t be caught dead paying $825 for Balenciaga shoes that look like socks. I can’t give you an opinion on the best runway shows of the week, but I can definitely tell you that Elon Musk is probably wearing a Hanes cotton-blend t-shirt right now. I’m going to keep wearing my favorite $20 hoodie from Target, and you can keep the Gucci, Prada and Hermès for yourself.