Why would someone wear only Louis Vuitton? (SoGv3-7)
Lemme start with a confession. I don't even know the spelling of Louis Vuitton. I had to look it up.
Confession 2.
To me, clothes are a mere utility. I often am dressed inappropriately for various occasions. I am not sure of conventions. I am regularly refused entry to places that require a dress code. If I am in a room full of 100 people, you can wager a large sum on me being the worst dressed person there. And not in a great way, like Ranveer Singh often is. But in a bad way. So bad that I am slotted as shady, uncouth and all that. No, I am not deprecating myself. I am merely stating facts.
Confession 3
Even though I want to be very regular with these emails and build a community of people that grow alongside me and help me grow and then I help them grow, you know in a loop... I haven't been able to!
Confession 4
A large part of why I haven't been able to send these emails is, I don't know what to write! As simple as that. Until Krishna set this email to me. And asked me to write about it. And when he asks for something, I can't say no. Can I?
So, here I am.
I am reproducing it in its entirety. All typos are his. Highlights are mine. Names of other people redacted for privacy.
[START]
Hi!
Since you haven't been writing the SOGs, here is a reverse brain dump from my side, hoping you would start again.
I am just back from XXXX's wedding & we were having a very interesting discussion about people he knows, who only wear Louis Voutton. Nothing else. He was ranting about how he can never understand somebodys obsession over such a overvalued hype.
Heres what I said him. You can never become rich if you secretly despise wealth or are jealous of people having it. Rather than calling the users idiots, one should try to figure out / hack into their thought process, that can happen only by accepting it & not admonishing it.
The core of the topic is why do people wear clothes. I mean a specific design/color. Here are four reasons I could think about, do they make sense? are there more?
1. Cover the body (Monks & You ๐)
2. Uniform / Dress Code (Offices / Meetings)
3. Express One self (Teenagers / Waveboarders / Hippies)
4. Exclusive Club (Louis Voutton?)
So Louis Voutton persumably burns all the merchandise that they couldnt sell. Could this be a big sell?
Just exploring a line of thought, let me know your thoughts if you find this interesting.
Regards
Krishna
[END]
So, the crux of Krishna's email is this - Hack into their thought process. And understand why do people pick what they pick. What makes them pick what they pick. What mental models are at play?
Lemme try.
Although Krishna has given the answers already, I will try to add a layer on top.
1. Cover the body (Monks & You ๐)
Utility. Simple. You need something to cover to prevent you from, you know, catching a cold. You need physiological protection.
If you believe in this, you would wear whatever you lay your hands on in the morning. The color, the shape, the size will not matter. In fact, you'd have a wardrobe made up entirely of the same things. In fact, I am doing this. After I lost most of my clothes, I plan to buy 3-4 pieces of the same design, same color, etc. Steve Jobs apparently had the same wardrobe. Minimalists believe in multi-purpose, multi-use objects.
In the world, not more than a 1% would subscribe to this.
2. Uniform / Dress Code (Offices / Meetings)
Includes schools, clubs, social occasions.
People dress up because they are forced to. If left to themselves, they will probably not follow a dress code. I think a dress code is a form of mild subversion. If you want to belong, you need to dress up. If you want to be accepted, ensure that you have a certain piece of garment. More on this in option 4.
About 3% people would be in this category.
3. Express One self (Teenagers / Waveboarders / Hippies)
Not sure.
Since I've read Girard, I have come to believe that there is no free will per se. No one wants to express oneself. They merely want to belong to cliques. Who makes those rules for those cliques? I don't know. You may argue that a Ranveer Singh is expressing himself. I think he is merely wanting to stand out. Dressing loud and wild could be his way to stand out. And not express himself.
But then I think there is so much variety, so much choice available because people think that they are making a choice out of their free-will. And I am not sure that is the case. They just ape whatever they think fits into their understanding of the world!
4. Exclusive Club (Louis Voutton?)
Now I think this is the answer. The real crux. The real reason why people make choices.
By wearing the same tee every day, even though I make my life simpler, I signal that I am utilitarian and believe in consuming fewer resources.
By wearing a uniform, I tell my clique that I belong. The creators of the clique send a signal that members are not alone. Safety, first!
By wearing an LV, I signal that I am rich. That I have the ability to buy expensive things. That I have a higher chance of survival compared to others. That am a great mating choice. You know, selfish gene. Of course, a large part of this is sub-conscious. Of course, by burning their inventory that is unsold, LV maintains the narrative. As a marketer, there's a lesson in there for me. By creating limited inventory, I want to signal to my customers that they have a tiny chance of being part of this club. In fact, this exclusivity has been used by businesses to get people to spend more. Most luxury brands work on this. Heck, gold is precious because it's scarce. Bitcoin is scarce. Our time, ladies and gents, is scarce. And is drifting away. Faster than you can imagine.
Also, think of occasions. By wearing white (or black in some cultures) when people die, you signal that you are part of the mourning of close relatives. You are in that club of mourners, if you will.
5. Additional dimensions (that Krishna did not think of and I can think about).
Often, in business and in life, what you wear dictates how others perceive you. I mean would you let a bald man with tattoos and shorts perform a heart by-pass surgery on you? Walking down a lonely road past midnight, will you trust a guy dressed in rags? What would you think of a pizza delivery guy dressed in an impeccable suit? Complete with a bowler hat and a stick.
You make a lot of your dressing decisions on the basis of how you want people to perceive you. All the 4 above can easily fit into it! It does. Think about it.
Confession 5.
I feel so inadequate while talking about fashion!
Confession 6.
Love writing. Need to get some discipline in life and write more, write often. It is what exercises and nourishes my mind!
This is it for the time being. See you guys soon.
Thank you for reading!
Regards,
@saurabh
SoGv3-7
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PS: Sending this to a shorter group that has allowed me permission to email them even inane updates.
TAGS: Fashion, Decision Making, Luxury, Louis Vuitton
STREAK: 1 (Read this on streaks).
Last and longest steak was 4. Haven't sent one almost all of November. Which is not good. And no, not sure I'd be back but I had to write this one!
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