Written by Jeffrey Shen, Sherry Zhang and Charlotte Wu

A recent ongoing study from Straits Research has projected that the rapid growth of the luxury fashion market will continue to soar in popularity; with the likely potential of increasing its worth by close to $200B USD by the year 2031.

And although many consumers of high end goods are young people, only a specific sub-section of this age group, international students, have taken a keen liking to these luxury brands. The never-ending obsession with fashion pieces from various designers including Gucci, Balenciaga, Off-White and Louis Vuitton, have raise a lot of question about the backstory of this fascination.

Is it the sometimes “unique” look of the pieces themselves or the status that these brands can present? What does this mean for international students who financially, can’t keep up with these trends?

A MARATHON FOR STATUS
To investigate how this obsession is reflected in the current fashion trends of international students, we’ve spoken to various students at Trinity College Foundation Studies who were caught wearing their favourite designer brands:

LUCAS
Fond of the brand Dior, Lucas enjoys buying and wearing designer clothes as they have very specific styles tailored to different fashion trends. Whether it be a combination of the design, styling or even the fit of the clothes, “I feel like I enjoy wearing designer clothes because some of them suit my exact personality very specifically as opposed to regular ‘one design fits all’ clothing,” Lucas ponders as he ruminates over the next question.

The international student goes on to chalk up peoples’ decisionmaking over purchasing designer clothes down to three core reasons, “1. Fashion trends, 2. because they look good to your taste and 3. because it is a symbol of wealth.” Lucas follows this up by pointing out that he doesn’t feel that people who wear mid-range priced brands should be percieved as less wealthy or popular compared to the people who wear more expensive brands, “not unless you consider countries like America where wealth and status may be even more culturally important than wellbeing to the individual.” 

It seems that not all international students who buy into designer clothing find the status it portrays as a driving factor behind acquiring these luxury goods. However, it cannot be assumed that all international students indulge in these luxury brands for the sole purpose of its quality and design.

Some international students do purchase designer clothing purely for the sake of the brand logo as it works as a symbolic, visual shortcut to the brand’s perceived societal value. This can be easily seen in instance where international students are spotted wearing clothing with logos plastered over in a larger than necessary manner; clear evidence that they want the brand they are wearing to be recognised by others.

MONNIE
Wearing designer fashion isn’t just about it’s status and popularity in the eyes of others; but at times, it’s also about the unique designs the clothing possesses. With a strong sense of taste and design, Monnie wears clothes that she considers to be of high status and fashionable as they make her feel more stylish; purchasing pieces from trending, popular brands to feed into her outfit needs.

Possessing some sense of style can allow ordinary people to show their own tastes, which is the most important point for Monnie in how she dresses herself. Having interesting clothes can also express a person’s attitudes towards their own lifestyle and this can also reflect the main traits of their personality. They are symbols of the wearer’s personal values which cannot exactly be reflected beyond of the clothes that they wear.

The more interesting thing is that even though buying clothes in this way costs Monnie a lot of pocket money, she is still willing to buy them; reinforcing that there is truth to the idea that branded clothes can reflect a liveliness that is hard to replicate. International students who wear luxury brands do so to match not only their lifestyles, but their preferences, status and popularity too.

Though these students may say that the value of the status that comes from wearing designer clothes is less of a concern to them than the way these pieces can help them express themselves; it still seems that status holds an importance when it comes to wearing these pieces in certain settings. This can be seen in those who look to purchase clothes with more popular brand names or ones that are fitting of current trends. However, many international students like Monnie not only buy the clothes for their popularity, but as a form of expression too; as a means to show others their interest in fashion. 

LEXIE
As an international student who always wears the latest designer clothes, Lexie’s fondness for wearing brand-named clothes is due to the fact that most of her friends doing the same. If she does not wear the crowd favourites, the fear of put out of place with these friends has Lexie focused on status first and style after. Often spending most of her pocket money on these clothes, Lexie was willing to even pay installments on the designer pieces that she wants.

Lexie believes that wearing these clothes would bring her the opportunity to make better friends, integrate into her social circles more quickly and improve her quality of life. Lexie asserts that people buy designer clothing for mostly social reasons and wearing them becomes is a symbol of their wealth. From this, we can understand the reasoning as to why status is one of the main driving factors for international students to purchase branded clothes – it is a sign of the wearer’s economic strength.

The more luxurious the brand is, the higher the wealth and social status of the wearer. At the same time, wearing designer clothing can help international students identify those that belong to the same circle in order to distinguish themselves from others who don’t. This is indicative of the perceived social standing that these clothes can provide for them.

In this way, such fashion-conscious students can comfortably discuss the latest trends and topics of interest together, such as the latest styles, models and products. At the same time, showing off their branded clothes on social media can further contribute to the praise and validation they seek, which is not only a supposed symbol of taste, but it also expands their social influence amongst their peers.

THE LONG STRETCH OF FASHION WOES
It can be concluded that not all international students possess the same motive when it comes to purchasing designer clothes from luxury brands. While some look to buy them for the style, cut, or design, others prefer wearing designer clothes to visually express their interest in fashion; going so far as imply its assumed popularity as a status symbol of wealth and prosperity. Whether the social value of designer clothes might be signs of a genuine fondness for the designs or as need to fit in, one detail can always be agreed on – fighting to keep up with the luxury brand lifestyle is a great financial commitment placed on a person’s wallet.