To get the culture, follow the money

When I wrote my first book, The Business of Aspiration , back in 2020 (the second one, titled Hitmakers , about how brands influence culture, is coming on December 2nd), I looked into all the ways that people signal their status, differentiation, and belonging. It was a time of niche magazines , curated bookshelves and coffee connoisseurs , aesthetic innovation , and the curation of everything .

The basic principles remain, but the status signaling today went even more specific and niche, with spending money having a major comeback. It’s the new Gilded age, but make it atomized. While a few years back, aspirational consumption revolved around one’s taste, knowledge, creativity or identity, now it’s about $.

Luxury items used for status signaling, like watches, handbags, shoes, or dresses, are more expensive than just a few years ago. Merch once served mostly to transform non-culture into culture (a branded tshirt, a pair of collab sneakers) and to translate economic value into social, cultural, or environmental one. Merch now is akin a luxury good, used less for signaling of a cultural savvy or even social status, and more for conveying one’s economic power.

Ultra-expensive hotels, Formula 1, US Open, other sporting events and superyacht merch do not signal any particular taste, but a literal boatload of cash. “Rarely does one have the privilege to witness vulgar ostentation displayed on such a scale,” said the flag of Tom Perkins’ Maltese Falcon superyacht. They are also a sign of collaborations as a brand-building, marketing, and promotional mechanism spreading from fashion into other markets (experiences, hospitality, hard luxury , travel, furniture, food).

There are also turbocharged aspirations around longevity, biohacking, anti-aging, protein supplements, or glucose tracking. It’s not enough anymore to go on a wellness

Read the rest of this analysis on The Sociology of Business .