via. “The Queen Wearing Prada”

Recently, a Weibo has aroused heated discussion. Netizens who did not buy video advertising members made a self-deprecating voice in the face of 90-second-long advertisements: “I can’t even afford members. What’s the use of showing these advertisements to me? It should be shown to those who can afford it.”

As soon as this remark came out, many netizens enthusiastically agreed. The so-called “customized placement” advertisements on video websites, Moments ads and various apps are somewhat confusing, and I can’t help but ask, “I can’t afford it / won’t buy it. Why do you recommend this to me?”

01.

18K gold paper clip,

What did I buy for?

In the first two weeks, Hermès released a series of design drawings of a series of fruit and vegetable platinum bags (Birkin bags) on the brand’s official Instagram account:

These vegetable and fruit bags are designed by artist Ben Denzer and are platinum bags of asparagus, cabbage, cucumber, apple and banana. Of course, the official quickly explained that this is the designer’s second creation of the classic platinum bag design. It is all made with real fruits and vegetables and will not be used in real design and production.

Although they understand the designer’s ingenuity and painstaking efforts, netizens still expressed their inability to appreciate it, and jokingly asked the designer “Say goodbye to the luxury design world quickly.”

via. “Run On”

There seems to be an insurmountable gap between luxury design and the aesthetics of the general public, and the two sides often fail to reach a consensus on some products. In the first two months, Twitter also launched a “luxury complaint” activity, foreign home office, Netizens who are idle and bored have posted the most outrageous luxury items they have seen while surfing the Internet. .

It was originally shared by a netizen from Nordstrom Of a diamond chair decoration , You can add a chain to carry it on your shoulder or carry it on your hand. The tweeter said: “My interest is to find outrageous products on Nordstrom’s website. This may be the most outrageous one I have found.”

Subsequently, the netizens in the comments also found that the product evaluation on the right “Every penny is worth it” And under the product “Only one left” Make this picture even more funny.

Thus, a “outrageous luxury” battle began.A netizen shared a piece Price of 100 US dollars (about 640 yuan) stone . What’s even more outrageous is that this netizen does have a piece, and the bottom piece of reply is asking “why” inexplicably.

and also A brick from Supreme, priced at US$300 (approximately 1900 RMB) . Netizen: “This brick is very useful, for example, it can be used to shoot yourself to death-when you find yourself buying a brick for $300”, “Hang it on the idle fish and sell it, and say it can kill vampires or something” .

Nordstrom also has a trick: Bicycle lock necklace priced at US$845 (about 5400 RMB) . Some netizens said that this is no different from the jewelry made by their daughter’s handicraft class, and some netizens commented unscrupulously: “How wonderful, so that you can lock yourself in a place at any time, so no one will steal you.”

The same stylish design is the one recommended by the Facebook page every day Ski goggles priced at US$925 (approximately RMB 5,900) . Netizens commented: “Yes, blind everyone on your skiing road.”

The aesthetic crit is yet to come: a Broccoli handbag priced at US$1,395 (approximately RMB 8,900) . Although this price is not a big deal, its design and workmanship shocked all the netizens present. If it weren’t for a big fan of broccoli, it would be hard to imagine anyone who would spend a lot of money to buy such a handbag.

What’s even more incredible is Tiffany sells 1100 US dollars (about 7000 yuan) canned food and 1500 US dollars (about 9600 yuan) paperclip bookmark . If the paperclip bookmark is to pretend to inadvertently reveal one’s cultural literacy and strong financial resources while taking out the book, it is hard to imagine the specific use scene of the silver can of thousands of dollars.

Tiffany’s also exaggerated a sterling silver yarn ball priced at 9,500 US dollars (about 60,000 yuan). Netizen: “A cute cat that is unique in the world is worth it, but it is estimated that cats will not like playing silver thread balls.”

The puzzling netizens can only comfort themselves: “Maybe the rich will need to use this to weave something.”

02.

Can’t afford it and won’t buy it,

Why push me ads?

In fact, this is not the first time that the issue of luxury advertising has been raised. Some netizens also gave the answer intimately:

The meaning of luxury is not to bring enjoyment when used, its more important role is to form a distinction between classes. What it provides is a sense of spiritual satisfaction, not the use value of commodities as daily necessities.

therefore, Everyone will become an audience for luxury promotion:

For real consumer groups, luxury goods mean taste, aesthetics, identity and wealth status. They identify each other among people of the same class through luxury consumption and complete social interaction.

But at the same time, if the world is full of rich people, then “rich people” will no longer exist; if the world can afford luxury goods, then luxury goods will no longer be “luxury”. There must always be such “luxury atmosphere groups” , Both recognizable and unable to afford luxury goods, this kind of “envious, jealous and hate” contributes to the meaning of luxury goods.

via. “The Great Mrs. Maisel”

The Israeli biologist Zahavi once proposed a hypothesis called the “handicap principle” ,That is to say, if a creature retains some flashy, useless, or even useless characteristics, it actually means that it is powerful enough to fully afford the trouble caused by such characteristics.

This “cumbersome principle” also makes sense when it comes to luxury consumption. If a person has enough money and spare time to buy expensive clothes that are difficult to take care of, incredible decorations, flashy daily necessities, then exactly one message is revealed: This person is rich enough to afford these things of little use value.

It is very enviable.

via. “Chibi Maruko”

To put it another way, when we don’t understand what luxury design is “At the time, perhaps it just shows that we are not the audience of this product. What we have to do is to become an atmosphere group that understands but can’t afford it, and exaggerates the temperament of luxury products that can be viewed from a distance but not playable.

As for the real audience, buyers will naturally spend a lot of money for “innovative design”, “unique shape”, “showing taste” and other reasons.

Luxury is like this: if you have money and leisure, you can buy it if you want to buy it; if you really want it, it’s not ashamed to work hard to make money; if you don’t appreciate it, there will naturally be something more suitable for you waiting for you in the world.

via. “Please answer 1988”

-Today’s topic-

You have bought or seen

What is the most outrageous luxury design?

Author-Iris

via. “The Queen Wearing Prada”

Recently, a Weibo has aroused heated discussion. Netizens who did not buy video advertising members made a self-deprecating voice in the face of 90-second-long advertisements: “I can’t even afford members. What’s the use of showing these advertisements to me? It should be shown to those who can afford it.”

As soon as this remark came out, many netizens enthusiastically agreed. The so-called “customized placement” advertisements on video websites, Moments ads and various apps are somewhat confusing, and I can’t help but ask, “I can’t afford it / won’t buy it. Why do you recommend this to me?”

01.

18K gold paper clip,

What did I buy for?

In the first two weeks, Hermès released a series of design drawings of a series of fruit and vegetable platinum bags (Birkin bags) on the brand’s official Instagram account:

These vegetable and fruit bags are designed by artist Ben Denzer and are platinum bags of asparagus, cabbage, cucumber, apple and banana. Of course, the official quickly explained that this is the designer’s second creation of the classic platinum bag design. It is all made with real fruits and vegetables and will not be used in real design and production.

Although they understand the designer’s ingenuity and painstaking efforts, netizens still expressed their inability to appreciate it, and jokingly asked the designer “Say goodbye to the luxury design world quickly.”

via. “Run On”

There seems to be an insurmountable gap between luxury design and the aesthetics of the general public, and the two sides often fail to reach a consensus on some products. In the first two months, Twitter also launched a “luxury complaint” activity, foreign home office, Netizens who are idle and bored have posted the most outrageous luxury items they have seen while surfing the Internet. .

It was originally shared by a netizen from Nordstrom Of a diamond chair decoration , You can add a chain to carry it on your shoulder or carry it on your hand. The tweeter said: “My interest is to find outrageous products on Nordstrom’s website. This may be the most outrageous one I have found.”

Subsequently, the netizens in the comments also found that the product evaluation on the right “Every penny is worth it” And under the product “Only one left” Make this picture even more funny.

Thus, a “outrageous luxury” battle began.A netizen shared a piece Price of 100 US dollars (approximately 640 RMB) stone . What’s even more outrageous is that this netizen does have a piece, and the bottom piece of reply is asking “why” inexplicably.

and also A brick from Supreme, priced at US$300 (approximately 1900 RMB) . Netizen: “This brick is very useful, for example, it can be used to shoot yourself to death-when you find yourself buying a brick for $300”, “Hang it on the idle fish and sell it, and say it can kill vampires or something” .

Nordstrom also has a trick: Bicycle lock necklace priced at US$845 (about 5400 RMB) . Some netizens said that this is no different from the jewelry made by their daughter’s handicraft class, and some netizens commented unscrupulously: “How wonderful, so that you can lock yourself in a place at any time, so no one will steal you.”

The same stylish design is the one recommended by the Facebook page every day Ski goggles priced at US$925 (approximately RMB 5,900) . Netizens commented: “Yes, blind everyone on your skiing road.”

The aesthetic crit is yet to come: a Broccoli handbag priced at US$1,395 (approximately RMB 8,900) . Although this price is not a big deal, its design and workmanship shocked all the netizens present. If it weren’t for a big fan of broccoli, it would be hard to imagine anyone who would spend a lot of money to buy such a handbag.

What’s even more incredible is Tiffany sells 1100 US dollars (about 7000 yuan) canned food and 1500 US dollars (about 9600 yuan) paperclip bookmark . If the paperclip bookmark is to pretend to inadvertently reveal one’s cultural literacy and strong financial resources while taking out the book, it is hard to imagine the specific use scene of the silver can of thousands of dollars.

Tiffany’s also exaggerated a sterling silver yarn ball priced at 9,500 US dollars (about 60,000 yuan). Netizen: “A cute cat that is unique in the world is worth it, but it is estimated that cats will not like playing silver thread balls.”

The puzzling netizens can only comfort themselves: “Maybe the rich will need to use this to weave something.”

02.

Can’t afford it and won’t buy it,

Why push me ads?

In fact, this is not the first time that the issue of luxury advertising has been raised. Some netizens also gave the answer intimately:

The meaning of luxury is not to bring enjoyment when used, its more important role is to form a distinction between classes. What it provides is a sense of spiritual satisfaction, not the use value of commodities as daily necessities.

therefore, Everyone will become an audience for luxury promotion:

For real consumer groups, luxury goods mean taste, aesthetics, identity and wealth status. They identify each other among people of the same class through luxury consumption and complete social interaction.

But at the same time, if the world is full of rich people, then “rich people” will no longer exist; if the world can afford luxury goods, then luxury goods will no longer be “luxury”. There must be such “luxury atmosphere groups” , Both recognizable and unable to afford luxury goods, this kind of “envious, jealous and hate” contributes to the meaning of luxury goods.

via. “The Great Mrs. Maisel”

The Israeli biologist Zahavi once proposed a hypothesis called the “handicap principle” ,That is to say, if a creature retains some flashy, useless, or even useless characteristics, it actually means that it is powerful enough to fully afford the trouble caused by such characteristics.

This “cumbersome principle” also makes sense when it comes to luxury consumption. If a person has enough money and spare time to buy expensive clothes that are difficult to take care of, incredible decorations, flashy daily necessities, then exactly one message is revealed: This person is rich enough to afford these things of little use value.

It is very enviable.

via. “Chibi Maruko”

To put it another way, when we don’t understand what luxury design is “At the time, perhaps it just shows that we are not the audience of this product. What we have to do is to become an atmosphere group that understands but can’t afford it, and exaggerates the temperament of luxury products that can be viewed from a distance but not playable.

As for the real audience, buyers will naturally spend a lot of money for “innovative design”, “unique shape”, “showing taste” and other reasons.

Luxury is like this: if you have money and leisure, you can buy it if you want to buy it; if you really want it, it’s not ashamed to work hard to make money; if you don’t appreciate it, there will naturally be something more suitable for you waiting for you in the world.

via. “Please answer 1988”

-Today’s topic-

You have bought or seen

What is the most outrageous luxury design?

Author-Iris

As an endangered species in the wild, the import and trade of Asian arowanas in the US is illegal. But in other parts of the world, arowanas are a highly sought after luxury item and completely legal. They are prized by Yakuza gang members in Japan, business magnates in China, and fish collectors in Europe. A single primitive specimen can be more expensive than a Ferrari. From a swamp creature to a luxury item Asian Arowana. For centuries, Asian arowana has been a popular folk dish of Southeast Asians. Outside of local markets in Malaysia, this fish is neither widely traded nor favored. But everything changed in 1975. As wetland habitats in Southeast Asia decline, Asian arowanas begin to decline in numbers. CITES, a treaty restricting trade in endangered wildlife species, has classified the Asian arowana as threatened. This move aims to ban the trade of arowanas for commercial purposes. But according to Emily Voigt, who has spent nearly a decade delving into the story of the Asian arowana for her book, The Dragon Behind the Glass, “That official endorsement is completely counterproductive. It really turned the fish into a limited edition luxury item.” Smugglers in Malaysia began to smuggle Asian arowanas into Taiwan and Japan. In an effort to stop this illegal trade, CITIES has allowed farmers in Southeast Asia to legally breed, harvest and sell Asian arowanas. But again, everything went to a dead end. In the decades that followed, hundreds of arowana farms sprang up across Indonesia and Malaysia. It is noteworthy that these fish all disappeared from the wild. Today, the biggest market for Asian arowana is China. The fish has a “spirit” and the plastic surgery market for fish blooms Emily Voigt said: “It has become a mystical creature that is said to have the power to protect and help you make good business decisions, bringing wealth and prosperity. There are even stories of arowana jumping out of the tank as a warning of bad luck.” To keep their fish aesthetically pleasing, owners don’t mind spending money on “plastic surgery” to satisfy their hobby with eye lifts ($90), chin augmentation ( $60) and tail editing ($60). This belief has turned farm-raised Asian arowanas into an estimated $200 million/year global market. Huge income from trading arowana In the mid-1980s, a printing industry executive in Indonesia named Tris Tanoto quit his job and bought 12 Asian arowanas for $170. With the help of friends, Tanoto bought a small farm in East Jakarta, raising fish in a pond on the property. Experiencing many failures, to this day, Tanoto’s base of operations is one of at least 250 CITES-accredited Asian arowana farms across Southeast Asia. PT Munjul Prima Utama is one of Indonesia’s largest exporters of Asian arowana, especially “Super Red” – a crimson arowana that is very popular with the Chinese because they consider red to represent vitality and good luck. Each year, the company sells about 1,000 of the 7,000 Asian arowanas, generating about $3 million in annual sales. The average is $3,000/fish, but prices can fluctuate based on many factors such as color, origin, fin size and head shape… Tanoto sells 8 varieties of Asian arowana, with prices starting from 1,200 up to $5,500. Tanoto sold a “perfect” Super Red arowana to a Chinese man for $30,000. The extremely rare Asian Arowana can earn 10 times that amount. A Malaysian breeder specializing in albino Asian arowana once sold one of his arowanas for $300k. Instead of going directly to customers, many farms in Southeast Asia sell in bulk to dealers in other countries. Among these agents is David Carr, who runs Planet Arowana. With a passion for arowanas, David Carr moved to Malaysia and spent a year learning everything about this fish from local breeders. Carr says the process works like this: The lake has 20 arowanas (6 males, 14 females). Each female lays 10 to 80 eggs. Every 2-3 months harvest fry (called fingerlings). The fish are shipped to the UK and sold at 4-6 months of age for between $300 and $4k or more each. Carr sells his arowana to buyers around the world. In recent years, Carr said demand has expanded from Asia to the West.

Notably, despite the expensive price, items such as instant noodles with 100,000 VND/pack, millions of fish sauce bottles, and instant pepper cost up to tens of millions of VND per kilogram… are still expensive at home and abroad. Pepper is fertilized with self-composted organic fertilizer from eggs, milk, crab and moringa leaves Eating pepper like candy costs 22 million VND/kg While the price of dried pepper sold on the market today only fluctuates around 65,000-70,000 VND/kg, pepper products with Bau May brand have the lowest selling price of 1-2 million VND/kg. There are even seedless pepper products with prices up to 22 million VND/kg. Why is this product so expensive? Mr. Lam Ngoc Nham, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bau May Agriculture, Trade and Tourism Joint Stock Company (Ba Ria-Vung Tau), said: Instead of pepper being sold as a common spice, his company has produce premium pepper products that can be eaten directly. This means that this product can be used as a functional food with good health and high economic value. Not stopping there, Mr. Nham has created many direct consumption products that bring great export value, such as milk pepper that can be used for children from two years old or more than 2 million VND/day. kg. In particular, the crunchy dry seedless pepper that can be eaten like candy or fruit costs up to 22 million VND/kg, which is favored by fastidious markets such as Japan, France, Dubai, and Australia. “My company’s Tieu Bau May is fertilized with self-composted organic fertilizer from eggs, milk, crab and moringa leaves. These are all foods with many nutrients that are good for human health. When pepper plants are “eaten well”, they will produce delicious, aromatic peppers and many good nutrients for humans”, Mr. Nham shared. Thanks to this special “fertilizer” created by Mr. Nham himself, it helps to improve the pepper content. Accordingly, the percentage of kernels is absent, the percentage of rice is increased, the shell is thicker and especially, a unique seedless pepper variety is created. In addition, to meet strict export standards, Nham said that the company’s pepper growing areas all meet GlobalG.AP standards, an ISO certified food safety management system. Another special thing is that Bau May Company consumes products with stable prices 3-5 times higher than the market price. For example, at present, the average pepper price is at 65,000-70,000 VND/kg, sometimes the price drops below 50,000 VND/kg, causing many local farmers to cut pepper to grow other agricultural products. However, Bau May is still buying pepper from farmers for more than 150,000 VND/kg. “I provide seeds and technical guidance to each farmer household, convincing them to comply with the organic standards that I set to obtain quality products,” said Mr. Nham. Pepper, fish sauce … super expensive produced by Vietnamese enterprises. Photo: P.MINH – Q.HUY Mantis shrimp fish sauce is as luxurious as wine Living in the sea of ​​Phan Thiet (Binh Thuan), once enjoying the quintessence of fish sauce in a craft village, Mr. Bui Duc Hao, owner of Sen fish sauce company, always cherishes the idea of ​​raising Vietnamese fish sauce to a higher level. . “Although traditional fish sauce is being fiercely competed by industrial fish sauce, there are still many people who want to find delicious bottles of fish sauce with bold Vietnamese taste for family meals. In fact, good fish sauce is very rare on the market, it only stops at craft villages for the people who make fish sauce to enjoy “- Mr. Hao shared. Once Mr. Hao talked and shared the story of fish sauce with a friend who is a culinary expert, the two shared the same opinion that they must preserve the unique beauty of traditional fish sauce. Therefore, Mr. Hao decided to create a delicious fish sauce and of course not cheap. “If making popular fish sauce will easily drown with other brands, not to mention traditional fish sauce is being fiercely competitive with industrial fish sauce,” said Mr. Hao. As an architect, once designed for the rich, the owner of Sen fish sauce knows that in the market there are many people with money and they are willing to spend tens to hundreds of millions of dong for delicious and expensive food. Therefore, he decided to make a high-class fish sauce aimed at the segment of people with money. However, unlike the usual way of making fish sauce, Mr. Hao and his friend do not use fish to make fish sauce, but use mantis shrimp ingredients. Choosing mantis shrimp as a fish sauce ingredient is also a feat. Mantis shrimp only buy the kind that is caught in the spring, because this is the season that according to fishermen, seafood is delicious. Mantis shrimp are selected according to a standard size, not big ones, small ones and must be alive. After that, these shrimp are brought to Tam Giang lagoon to raise fat and reduce salinity. When the shrimp reaches the required standard, it is brought to make fish sauce according to its own recipe. The salt to marinate chuop to make fish sauce must be Sa Huynh salt. Super expensive fish sauce produced by Vietnamese enterprises. Photo: P.MINH – Q.HUY “Fish sauce made from mantis shrimp does not have a high protein content like fish, but it produces a round, aromatic and sweet fish sauce,” said Mr. Hao. Delicious and unique fish sauce needs to go hand in hand with the design. Mr. Hao was originally not interested in fish sauce bottles in plastic bottles because, according to him, doing so “only lowers the value of Vietnam’s famous sauce”. Under the professional eyes of the architect, Mr. Hao decided to change the shape of the fish sauce bottle. It must be luxurious and sophisticated to attract customers at first sight. The exterior is designed as luxuriously as Western wine bottles, inside which he thoughtfully comes with a pouring spout like in high-class restaurants used to pour wine. Mr. Hao is selling a bottle of fish sauce for 2 million VND. Putting this number next to the usual bottles of fish sauce is a difference in price difference. “Many people spend tens of millions of dong to buy a bottle of wine and drink it all at the party, but the bottle of fish sauce can be used for a whole year” – Mr. Hao explains why the company’s fish sauce is so expensive. Another interesting thing, when users feel good, they tend to return to buy regularly, so the company can’t keep up with orders. “This is not only about winning the business problem, but it is important that traditional fish sauce is still in the minds of many people if they know how to do it and meet the right needs,” said Mr. Hao. Unique snack, honey thing Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, General Director of Tanimex Long An Company, said that many cashew processing companies have gradually invested in deep processing product lines instead of exporting raw products as before. Deeply processed products with high added value such as salted roasted cashews, snack cashews, honey cashews, wasabi cashews… have been sold in the domestic market and exported more and more. In particular, these products are increasingly popular in the markets of Thailand, Hong Kong and the Middle East. Not only that, Vietnamese companies have the ability to create safe, clean and unique products. In particular, some companies grow cashews organically, so they can expand both domestic and international markets and reach a group of customers with money and high income. Super expensive pepper produced by Vietnamese enterprises. Photo: P.MINH – Q.HUY The demand for luxury goods will continue to increase sharply Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the purchasing power of the middle and wealthy classes in Vietnam is still quite high, especially for valuable and branded items. The proof is that more and more famous brands are present in Vietnam. Market research firm Statista said that despite the pandemic, the revenue of the luxury goods market in Vietnam is expected to reach 1.14 billion USD in 2021. In general, in the period of 2021-2025, the Vietnamese luxury goods market South will grow by an average of 7.2%. Many experts predict that the consumption of luxury goods will increase sharply in the coming years, including food and technology. It is inevitable when the income of many people increases. Grasping this trend, many Vietnamese companies have launched many high-quality high-end products in the domestic market.

“This is a result of the recent significant exchange rate fluctuations between the euro and the USD. Price adjustments are made in the countries that are needed and the products are guaranteed,” said the fashion house Chanel. Chanel sells for the same price worldwide. ” The company also added that the increase in product prices is seen as an act of trying to protect its profits from the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic. Many brands still raised product prices during the Covid-19 translation. Photo: WWD. Prices increased depending on items such as Louis Vuitton’s Pochette bag increased 46%, while Chanel’s Classic Flap accessory increased by 20-31% by region. In addition, the best-selling designs of the brands Prada Re-Editions, Lady Dior or Gucci Jackie also have 18-25% higher prices compared to 2020. On the other hand, Hermès only increased handbag prices by 3-6% during the period of social isolation due to the Covid-19 translation. Chinese influential figure – Mr. Bags – tracked the price changes of products from season to season and shared their views with WWD that brands are not going to push prices up at the same time. “They will push up prices for select bags and the next step remains stable in the long run. Then, raise prices for a new group of bags,” he said. For example, Dior has not changed the price of a saddle bag for more than a year and the Chanel 19 only increased by 5% compared to last year. Louis Vuitton’s Multi Pochette bag grew 46% within a year. Photo: Harper’s Bazaar. By 2021, price increases will happen more often. Gucci increased the price of Neo Vintage GG Supreme and Horsebit 1955 bags by more than 15% in early March. There is a high chance that many brands will continue to increase in price this year, analysts added. However, this strategy is only a temporary solution and will have a specific limit on the number of price increases when international tourism is back to normal, and brands are required to adjust again. “In the watch sector, brands want to increase prices and continue to develop diversified goods. But when the economic booms,” said Zuzanna Pusz, head of European luxury fashion research at UBS. In the end, many companies have to reconsider their product pricing as well as the structure “. According to the sheet Vogue , the price increase is an effective way to balance brand damage. However, how much and for how long is the question that firms must think about to make the right decision, putting the interests of consumers first. In the Chinese market, consumers do not pay much attention to the story of increasing product prices. Instead, they will line up for a few days at the store before the new price is introduced. From the point of view of the nation’s people, they are not only buying a bag, but also an investment in the future. Buyers were waiting in line at Louis Vuitton’s store. Photo: Reuters.