The subcultures of Louis Vuitton

Figure 7: Louis Vuitton consumer board

The Louis Vuitton subculture is the target audience they find themselves sharing similar interests and resonating with. Brand subcultures are groups of people who collectively identify and adopt themselves into lifestyle choices and similar notions about the brand. It is well known that Louis Vuitton specialises in leather goods including handbags, trunks, shoes etc. However, the best-selling product by the iconic French fashion house is to be their globally famous bags and luggage, seen to be a celebrity favourite for decades, seen to be in the arms of Audrey Hepburn and Coco Chanel (‌Lifestyle Asia Singapore. (2022). It is said that an old money tribe, formed by Hollywood's glamour, is a tribe that wears Louis Vuitton. The classic 1920s tribe consists of social elites with inherited wealth to spend on luxury goods. (Nast, C. 2022). Fashion-conscious individuals from high-level and social classes are also Louis Vuitton tribe members. It can be very expensive to provide premium material quality, so designs are usually quite expensive. It is worth paying a high amount for an item that makes an iconic fashion statement, as these brand tribes will pay any price to own it (Hahn, R.).

However, in current times the consumer has remained classic old money but has caught the eye of millennials through the power of social media marketing. The things that this tribe find most intriguing for their lifestyle are ‘instagramable’ and aesthetic choices that fit their social media feed and general life aesthetic. This tribe is usually made up of driven women who strive for independence who remain chic, sophisticated, and exclusive, which Louis Vuitton is. Louis Vuitton is constantly capturing young consumers' attention.

BTS X Louis Vuitton

Along with the younger generation being a brand tribe it has also become global this can be seen through the Chinese youth idol group Teens in Time (TNT) when they were announced to be the brand ambassador, and the reaction to this announcement received 1.1 million retweets within three hours. (Li,X. 2022). Over 1000 orders were placed on the website within just a few days of Gong Jun becoming the brand ambassador, and 6 million yuan were sold. (£717,036). A strong consumer power exists in the Chinese market and there is a strong influence from the "fan economy" on that market as well. Similarly, in April 2022, the announcement of BTS popular Korean pop group grasped young consumers, expanding Louis Vuitton’s target audience even further, (Li,X. 2022), especially when these pop groups are known to be involved with a lot of bold and bright colours to stand out. The explanation of the k-fashion modern aesthetic is simply the desire to be original, creating Louis Vuitton's characteristics of wanting to be authentic and original to the brand.