Brands and Those Who Love Them

This is my second week in Shanghai. I started to get some work, which is a good sign.

Walking down in the streets, finding everything curious, I was trying very hard to get a glimpse of this top international city. How is it international? What do the people here look like? For me, a girl living in the far south, everything is brand new to me. I sometimes feel I am more like a foreigner because I know nothing about the cultures here.

But what surprises me most is probably the wearings. You will probably see at least two Louis Vuitton shops within 3 kilometers in the city. People, especially ladies, are wearing all sorts of luxury bags in the streets. I can almost name every bag I see worn by ladies or even old women because all of them are famous brands. Coach, MK, Kate Spade are most common while you can also spot a lot of LV, Chanel or Givenchy. Most of the time you don’t need to spot. They are everywhere, directly feeding to your eyes. The number of people using luxury brands is really, scary to me. I am definitely a girl from little town.

But then a thought came to me. Are all of them so rich? Do they actually afford it? Why are they so obsessed, or even crazy about these several letters engraved on their bags?

First two things that come to my mind are security and confidence. Most of them, as I perceive, rely on these brands to show people that they can afford these goods and they are rich. Maybe they want to show it to their colleagues, to their friends, to clients, or relatives. These brands, in some way, represent their wealth and social level before they speak. This, in other words, somehow reveals the fact that they actually are seeking the recognition from the outside world. And the recognition they seek for is not about knowledge or any other spiritual traits, but about wealth and social status.

Is it what capitalism brings us? We are not recognized as a capitalistic country. But in most of our cities, we are more like living a capitalism life rather than a communist one. Yes, I think it’s still better than socialism because it does bring us wealth and freewill. But if our values are only buried in those brands and luxury stuffs, our cultures will no doubt be torn into pieces.