I have seen people show off luxury items on social media and these people claim to be really rich but in reality, they are not because these people make about $40k or less annually which means that they are not rich as we will assume, but their spending on these luxury items have increased over 300% the last 2 years.
In the past, wearing or carrying luxury item used to be a status symbol and people would wear it just to show their status. Before these new day luxury fashions, a lot of things were regarded as a symbol of royalty including pineapple which were never eaten but rather rented for parties by the elite to help project affluence.
Fast forward to about 400 year ago, luxury has now become a thing for every person and when you check the luxury items, you find out they are things from mirrors, cotton neckerchiefs and handkerchiefs. Little wonder why these were the things that were used to fool African fore fathers into slavery.
In recent times, we have seen that luxury shows exclusivity and they go far to display this with the type of celebrities they show wearing or using them, and the time and rare gems used to make them. They even make these exclusivity more dear to the heart with the introduction of limited editions and season collections. So, these brands have been able to make their products trend during a particular time, and will make people wear them at the time it trends even when they are paying premium for it because if they do not use them, they will become old fashioned as they will not follow the next season trend.
When you ask the majority of the people who purchase luxury item, they do so becauuse of their social status and how people perceive them and this looks like a forecast of Paul Mazur from 1927 in a Harvard business review where he talked about shaping consumer mentality to a point where what they desire overshadow what they want and as such causing them to purchase more of their desires than their needs.
People who live in a area where the income inequality is high and the the wealth gap is extreme tend to search more of the luxury items they see the rich and high people wear because they want to be in that circle. These people begin to find ways to be in this class and do not mind buying them over needs and all these things fall on perceptions.