Over the past two years, we have noticed new cultural forces exerting pressure on how people think of ‘luxury’.
New Codes of Luxury is a global survey that brings together editorial forecasting from VICE, i-D and R29, VMG audience surveys across APAC, EMEA, LATAM, NA, all translated by VMG’s Creative Agency, Virtue Worldwide, into provocations and actions for brands.
The pandemic shone a harsh light on the systemic inequalities in our societies all over the world; the cult of the billionaire started to crumble as we watched many of the world’s wealthiest profit from the crisis; and the climate crisis escalated. These created a cultural pressure: to renounce flashy and wasteful, to avoid displaying wealth and privilege, to spend more consciously. At the same time everyone’s mental wellbeing was put under pressure from all directions – from health concerns to money worries to injustice. That created a cultural pressure of its own: To seek comfort and safety, rather than luxury.
