Social Class and The ‘Wirkin’ Birkin

Given that everyone can now buy designer handbags and new cars, the rich have taken to using much more tacit signifiers of their social position.

This started with the Seventh Avenue, shop-and-copy approach that has defined the industry, but no longer works with consumers on a global scale. America created the concept of lifestyle brands—it drove the rise of casualization as early as the 1950s, first through denim, then khakis, and now leggings. But the fashion itself has long been predicate... See more