Why South Koreans are obsessed with Luxury Goods

The quality of luxury items has decreased dramatically in the last two decades. These days, you only pay for the name, not its durability. Planned obsolescence is a real thing.

I'll never forget my Korean friend studying abroad in my country, and sometimes not having enough to eat except a pack of ramyeon but spending $3,000 on a dior scarf when we went to the poshest department store in my country. She was in her overdraft but her motto was classic designer things don't go out of style. Made me realize that everyone has different priorities in life...

paying 1.5k for a scarf.... I can literally build my entire wardrobe from ZERO with all new clothes with that.

Korean obsession with materialistic, superficial, luxury items is out of control, even as a Korean myself i always have a hard time wrapping my head around and understanding them.

I watched a documentary a while ago about how Koreans max out their credit cards and have a lot of debt just to own luxury items. It’s really sad to see how pressured these people feel by the society to willingly go into debt for wearing a luxury brand item.

Korean culture is among the most superficial in the world. That’s not a judgement, it’s just an observational fact. Appearance is what society there values.

The crazy thing is the real rich folks don’t really buy these things. Most “luxury” items are targeting middle class citizens. These companies just use celebrities to market their items. Their main customers are from East Asia… especially China and South Korea where they have a huge wealth gap

I was once talking to a korean girl and she was flabbergasted when I told her that most Europeans don't buy those brands. I say this because most of the brands mentioned here are from Europe. The likes of LV, Gucci, etc are pure garbage. They are the fast food of "luxury fashion". Most of these mainstream brands are garbage and their products are made exactly the same way as the brands from China. You are paying 1000x more solely because of the name. There are only 3 brands that I would consider buying and those are Loro Piana, Brunnelo Cucinneli and Cartier. Also, just because something is expensive it definitely does not mean that it's good, like the first lady said. This, naturally, is a personal opinion, but people should definitely be aware that the mainstream "luxury" brands aren't luxury at all.

SK is getting scarier and scarier. If I lived there, I might work my butt off just to afford these useless stuff to please people.

Hyper-consumerism and hyper-capitalism

I moved to the united states when I was 7 so although I'm korean, I didn't grown up with new cultural norms. I do not own any luxury brands, I buy normal non-luxury products for my family of 5 so I have enough money to give my dad $3000 allowance per month. I wonder how many of the korean 20s-50 year olds are following the older culture of financially taking care of their parents. We are currently wearing our $10-$50 clothes right now but I was able to bring my family plus my dad to korea for a 2 month trip. We look around and there are alot of well dressed koreans which is great for them. But what will happen to them if they lose their jobs? Instead of fake dressing rich, I am more interested in fake dressing poor. If a person stood next to me, nobody would ever guess that my husband and I are the millionaires next door by looking at our $7 flip flops or our $10 tshirts

My friend is currently working in Korea as a postdoctoral. She even got contempt from her Korean colleagues sometimes that she look like a waitress since my friend always like to wear jeans and a T-shirt. When I heard that I really feel mad for her, I really hate this type of culture, trend, or lifestyle. Such a toxic environment to have this kind of society around you. I never want to go to study or even work in Korea. What an obsessive society. lol

After giving tons of money to luxury brands, it is ridiculous to advertise the brand by wearing their products with huge emblems. I prefer to buy a products not because of the brand, but because I like the design and because they are of good quality. It's pointless to buy something just because it has a name

To say that 9 out of 10 people own a luxury item is to be very disconnected with the country's reality.

I loved Korea since childhood but the route its taking right now its kinda scary, everything is becoming so superficial where people aren't separating K-pop and drama standards from reality it's INSANE, i wish the best for the few real people living there they must have a strong mindset.

Surprised there wasn't any questions asking if this luxury brand culture and looking at others is a bad thing in Korea. As we know they value monetary things a lot in Korea and need to show it to others.

Its sad when they’re always looking to flex but a lot of them have crazy debt. They don’t even know why they like the brand or what to look for, they simply like it because people recognize the brands. They live off of other people’s opinions and there’s rarely any individualism when it comes to expression.

I live in Bangkok and the shopping mall that sell knock offs in city center has staff that speaks Korean since so many Koreans buys knock off. I remember when I lived in Seoul in late 1990's and early 2000's it was easy to find high quality knock offs in one high rise shopping mall in Myung Dong or in some small spaces in the high rise arcades in Dong day moon. Then in the 2010's all those shops disappeared since the police kept cracking down on them. Actually the knock offs in Bangkok come from HK Taiwan and from Mainland China. It has gotten to the point that staff from the high end malls even in Bangkok who have staff from abroad working can't distinguish. My Korean friend got a Dior book tote (with the Paris map on it) and when she continued on her trip to Europe had gone into Dior shops in Milan, Barcelona and even one in Paris and they didn't know it was a fake. LV is the most common fake product around the world and staff from the boutique told me....high end customers don't need to show off labels...subtle is the highest form of flattery....loud labels streams fake.

South Korea as a whole feels like a Black Mirror episode on it own lmao I know the entire world is sick and we need to do something about it, but SK feels unreal, sometimes I can’t believe the things that come out of their mouth…

I think the lady in pink is very realistic in her luxury purchases. As she said she keeps her items for years and in that sense it is better than buying multiples over the same time period that dont get as much use. Also certain luxe goods appreciate in value over time & can be handed down so there's isn't a total loss. There are Chanel bags selling for almost the same price used as was paid when they were brand new. Its not a lifestyle for everyone but if you can afford to, invest in quality luxury items that will stand the test of time. Unfortunately many brands no longer provide quality & encourage consumerism so you have to do your homework.