Every few months (and recently even more often), a new wave of headlines proclaims the “end of luxury.” Supposedly, the new generation doesn’t want to carry Vuitton monograms, buy Hermès, slip into Gucci loafers, or line up for Chanel bags. The argument goes that legacy luxury is outdated, that Gen Z is too practical, too purpose-driven, too minimalist.

I think every generation has a counter-culture phase. But we will always want more luxury. Even if we can’t afford it, we still want it. Maslow’s pyramid may not be perfect, but directionally it holds: once we cover survival, we climb toward status, aspiration, and comfort. And luxury watches, handbags, hotels or cars is simply that feeling of winning materialized.

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If spending on luxury is dipping, I don’t think it signals the demise of the category. It’s far more likely a reflection of broader economic certainty (or rather uncertainty). Luxury is the perfect canary in the coal mine of economic cycles: when confidence dips, the first thing people trim is the nice-to-haves, however desirable it might be. It gets pushed off to later, but I don’t think it gets cancelled.

Some of my family were out there in 1968, counter-culturing in the streets of Paris. Yet, as that generation aged, they got kids, jobs, built companies, invested in the stock market, etc. Apple started off as a barefooted counter-culture company, today they’re the luxury brand of electronics. The rejection of luxury in youth didn’t kill it; they just weren’t the target audience at that time.

There’s also a cyclical pattern. Luxury shifts, probably more visibly than other industries (because of it’s nature). It shifts from loud monograms to “quiet luxury”, from products to experiences, from heritage to novelty. But the underlying desire remains unchanged: we strive for better, shinier, more exclusive things and, deep down, we want others to recognize it.

So when I see today’s chatter about the fall of luxury, I think we’re mistaking a short-term wobble for a structural collapse. My bet? We’re witnessing economic uncertainty and some analysts are confusing that with a generational stage-of-life gap, not the death of desire. Luxury is resilient.

And perhaps that’s the real lesson: don’t count out an industry that thrives on aspiration. Because aspiration never goes out of style.

PS: That Birkin bag on the image was made for a counter-culture icon of the 1970s.

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