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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 $.
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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 retreat, the aspiration is not to die (ever). Bryan Johnson should get into merch, it would do well.
Aspiration is socializing in the form of book clubs, running clubs, private member clubs, and anything that qualifies as the opposite of being extremely online. Print is similarly having a semi-comeback, and with it, it’s very likely that carrying an i-D or Cosmopolitan magazine tote or a cap will get signal being plugged in culture (or at least being affiliated with their content), something that 032c achieved on a pan-brand level (it’s a quarterly magazine, a fashion brand, and an independent gallery).
Regardless of the status symbols of choice, aspiration falls into one of these four categories:
Aspiration as affirmation of economic power. In this scenario, status signaling is just about (having) money. Capital is economic. Keyword is affluence and examples are any expensive experience mementos (products from high-end hotels, superyachts, Japanese ryokans…).
Aspiration as membership. Showing off is here about belonging and capital is economic and social. Apollo Bagels, Monte’s, Erewhon, all of them do not sell just food but became labels of a lifestyle. Keyword is identity.
Aspiration as knowledge. Here, status signaling is not just about displaying one’s purchasing power, but also knowledge where to direct it and how to display it. To voir (see) is to savoir (know). Keyword is trendiness and examples are any displays of new cultural products, ideas, and meanings.
Aspiration as creativity. In this scenario, showing off is through creative expression. Fashion substacks rarely create anything new, but remix, re-contextualize and re-interpret the existing trends, ideas, styles and looks. Creativity is in commenting on, questioning, and criticizing things that someone else came up with. Originality is in dot-connecting. Keyword is individual expression and examples are cultural derivatives in the form of merch and collaborations.
Love how you frame Aspiration as Membership. This really resonates with what we’re building at ANATATI. As a new brand, we didn’t expect it, but our Sip & Socialize events have evolved into spaces where women connect over shared values like sustainability and thoughtful design. What we’ve realized is precisely what you’ve just written, that it’s about creating a lifestyle beyond fashion, where belonging and identity are at the core.
Where can I preorder/buy your new book in Switzerland? amazon does not ship it to Switzerland...Thank you.