Luxury brands cannot sustain exclusivity while selling at mass scale.

Evidence

Despite steps to rationalize the luxury sector, brands never completely solved the fundamental paradox of maintaining exclusivity while selling at mass scale. But if there were ever a question about the role of China in the luxury market, the stock price drops made it clear that the industry badly needed Chinese consumers to increase shareholder value. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 773

Categorization

• XREF: This is the core tension Marx identified (exclusivity vs. scale) that underlies the omnivore monoculture — connects to earlier chapters on luxury’s status-signaling function. — connects to: Luxury brands profit mainly from cheap entry-luxury goods, not expensive items — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 289; Scarcity of access and time, not money alone, make luxury goods credible signals — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 220