In Seoul, there are designer purses in every single place. The Hermes Birkin for the last word flex. The Chanel Medium Double Flap for the very fancy. Girl Dior baggage by Christian Dior are highly regarded. After all there are the ever-present Louis Vuitton baggage — what number of Speedy 30 baggage are you able to see in a single day? After all you additionally see Gucci, Prada, Bottega Veneta and generally Burberry too. I’ve seen YSL, Mulberry and Chloe right here and there. I’m not right here to evaluate Koreans’ love of designer baggage. I like them, though I purchase “pre-loved” ones. Nonetheless, designer baggage are much less widespread within the US. One among my Korean buddies who not too long ago moved again to Korea after spending 10 years overseas mentioned his single greatest tradition shock was seeing designer labels in every single place. Nearly each one in every of my buddies and associates in Korea sport designer wallets and baggage, however virtually all of my US buddies and colleagues don’t. These two units of people have related instructional and earnings backgrounds.
What’s placing is that in South Korea, the land of designer purses, the story about Korean first woman Kim Keon Hee receiving a present from pastor Choi Jae-young of a Girl Dior bag has loved a remarkably lengthy shelf-life. She was secretly filmed by him whereas receiving this present valued at 3 million received or about $2,294, exceeding the authorized limits of items that politicians are allowed to obtain. She was interrogated for 12 hours. Whereas $2,294 could seem to be an exorbitant quantity for a purse, it’s not. Hermes Birkins are tough to safe, and so they can simply price $25,000. A Chanel Giant Traditional Flap runs about $12,000. A brand new Louis Vuitton Speedy Delicate 30 Artful is $3,250 whereas a standard Monogram Speedy 30 is slightly below $2,000. In Korea, these costs are even larger than the US costs I listed. Provided that many Korean customers would possibly have already got a way of the costs of luxurious designer purses, why are they so offended in regards to the Girl Dior bag, which is one however in comparison with some is extra modest?
In keeping with a CNBC article in 2023, South Korea was the largest per capita spender on luxurious gadgets worldwide. Particularly, Koreans spent $325 per capita in comparison with $280 per capita by US customers on luxurious gadgets. Evaluate this determine with the median family incomes in Korea and the US. In keeping with the US Census Bureau, the median annual family earnings in 2023 within the US was $80,610. Statistics Korea reported that within the first quarter of 2023, the median month-to-month earnings was 5.122 million received, or 61.464 million received yearly, which equals $46,774. Per capita, Koreans spend a far bigger portion of their incomes than Individuals on designer merchandise regardless of incomes a lot much less.
In actual fact, there are numerous tales in Korea about bills on designer baggage. A 2013 article in The Korea Instances about Korea’s obsession with designer baggage acknowledged that Louis Vuitton baggage had been often called the “3-second bag” since you may see one each three seconds in Seoul. One other 2013 article in The Korea JoongAng Every day known as it “the Ji-young bag” — as ubiquitous because the widespread identify, “Ji-young.” In The Korea Instances article, the writers quote Kim Jin-sook, an workplace employee in her early 30s who earned about 1.5 million received month-to-month (or $1,400 on the time of the article), and spent half of her wage saving for a brand new designer bag. She opts out of different leisure spending to take action as a result of the bag represents “the one pleasure in my life.” I as soon as heard a narrative a few combat between a Korean couple over a Chanel bag. This argument ultimately led to their divorce.
I ponder if some middle-class Koreans see designer merchandise, together with purses, as a “essential” expense in extremely aggressive Korean society. People need to sign to others that they’re profitable — for girls, there is no such thing as a simpler approach to flaunt this than with a purse. Purses are gadgets that many ladies carry anyway, so one can justify their existence when it comes to their performance. After all, designer baggage function standing symbols. What occurs if everybody has a designer bag? Carrying a Louis Vuitton bag not indicators exclusivity if everybody has one, however having a no-name bag may alternatively be stigmatized. Or, the hierarchy among the many designer labels kicks in.
Maybe it’s partly as a result of the common Korean should scrimp and save for such designer equipment that many resent the truth that the primary woman, who’s already privileged and rich, allegedly obtained a bag without cost and for unspecified political favors. In comparison with some crimes, together with these of politicians, which might be reported in Korea, receiving a Girl Dior bag would possibly pale as compared. Nonetheless, this story clearly struck a nerve. It was not an excellent search for President Yoon Suk Yeol who, at a information convention in early Might 2024, needed to handle the incident just some months earlier than the federal government introduced that they had been elevating the month-to-month fundamental old-age pension for seniors to 400,000 received (or about $304). People receiving the minimal old-age pension must save their complete pension earnings for 7.5 months to purchase that Girl Dior bag.
Grace Kao
Grace Kao is an IBM professor of sociology and professor of ethnicity, race and migration at Yale College. The views expressed listed here are the author’s personal. — Ed.