Young Luxury Shoppers Explain Why They’re Willing To Pay $500 For Sneakers

Luxury goods are a social signal, as psychologists and economists will attest. They broadcast a message about status and taste, in part through their high-end materials, craftsmanship, and of course price tags. But what exactly motivates someone to line up for a $500 pair of sneakers, or a $400 hoodie? These items carry the weighty cost of luxury goods, and may be made at top-level factories with high-quality materials. But when people have traditionally imagined luxury, sneakers and hoodies were not what came to mind. Highsnobiety is a digital publisher, creative agency, and soon an e-commerce company whose young, fashion-centric audience—mostly men—includes a lot of people who will shell out hundreds for sneakers, hoodies, and t-shirts. Its main areas of coverage tend to be subjects like streetwear, music, and designer fashion. To get a sharper picture of its audience and what motivates it to buy, it surveyed about 5,000 of its 16- to 34-year-old readers and followers around the world, and nearly 2,400 other consumers in that age group in key markets. Read more at Quartz.