Photo by Anna Webber/Getty Images for IHG Hotels & Resorts
They say you can tell a lot about a person by what appears on their social media feed. I am not sure what that says about me, since I see a lot of videos of wealthy, forlorn women explaining why they regret buying their Birkin handbags.
The problem is not that the bags are too heavy or the wrong color, or that their owners now can’t afford rent. No, what these women regret about their $10,0000-plus purchase is that people they find distasteful are posting videos about their own Birkins. And once influencers have Birkins, by definition, Birkins are no longer exclusive. And if they don’t signal exclusivity, what’s the point? May as well carry a Trader Joe’s tote bag and become an anti-Birkin influencer.
Birkins are not the only luxury item influencers are ruining (metaphorically, anyway). They are also making the US Open, once a civilized affair, less pleasant. Influencers bring their ring lights, make a lot of noise, have little interest in the match, and are even distracting players. (To be fair, many of them — about 100 — were invited by tournament officials.)
Continue reading the entire piece here at Bloomberg (Paywall)
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Allison Schrager is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and a Bloomberg Opinion columnist.