LUXURY 3.

0
 Luxury 3.0

Charting the Future of Fashion & Luxury

and Quantifying What Matters Most
to the New Luxury Consumer

Luxury 3.0
2 Highsnobiety & BCG
 2 1

Fig 1: Diesel Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Luxury 3.0

3 Fig 2: @antoniaphyllissophie Highsnobiety & BCG
 CONTENT

Introduction 5—9
Methodology 10—14
Brand Credibility Matrix 15—20
Communities Over Crowds 21—43
Knowing Is the New Owning 44—53
Conclusion 54—60
Credits 61—62
Luxury 3.0
4 Highsnobiety & BCG
 INTRODUCTION

Following Highsnobiety and Boston

Consulting Group’s inaugural New Luxury
White Paper “Culture Culture Culture,”
the second installment continues to quantify
what matters most to a new generation
of luxury consumers.

Fig 1: @mgn.jwl Introduction Luxury 3.0

5 Highsnobiety & BCG
 As we build on that body of research,
we are revisiting the insights we uncovered
in the first project and tracking how
the landscape has changed since then.
The key takeaways from our “Culture
Culture Culture” report were:

Top Takeaways from Our 2020

New Luxury White Paper
• Desirability in luxury today is driven by
cultural credibility as much as by high-end
products and experiences. Brands who are
not building cultural credibility risk losing
relevance with the next generation.
• Cultural credibility has democratized
the luxury space and obliterated the idea
of a "brand category." The days when a
brand would cater to just one consumer
segment are long gone.

• A brand’s cultural credibility is • Young consumers are spending increasing

determined by how its image reflects a amounts of time seeking inspiration and
customer’s personal values and/or that community. Social channels such as IRL/
brand’s role within the consumer’s wider WOM1 are increasingly important, and it is
cultural landscape. in this top-of-funnel phase where they are
also making their purchase decisions.
• In this landscape, it is crucial to observe
the evolving values of a cohort we call the
Cultural Pioneer – the early adopters and
thought leaders who are arriving first to
this new mode of engagement and
consumption.

1
Word of Mouth

Fig 1: Off-White™ Fall/Winter 2022, Introduction Luxury 3.0

6 Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Highsnobiety & BCG
1

BRANDS WHO ARE NOT BUILDING

CULTURAL CREDIBILITY RISK LOSING
RELEVANCE WITH THE NEXT GENERA-
TION 2

Fig 1: Virgil Abloh x IKEA "MARKERAD" Collection, Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Introduction Luxury 3.0
7 Fig 2: RMR Thomas Welch / Highsnobiety Highsnobiety & BCG
 The implications of the past two years
will have an outsized global impact across
culture. But rather than ushering in
a paradigmatic shift in values, we’ve
observed that the pandemic has largely
been an accelerator for the nascent trends
we began tracking with our first paper.
For this second installment, co-authored by
Tony Wang, we continue our exploration on
the future of luxury — quantifying the shif-
ting values, behaviors, and desires of the
luxury consumer across geography, age,
and time.
Central to our analysis are the behaviors
and attitudes of Cultural Pioneers, which we
track as a distinct cohort of consumers with
a considerable importance. This is the group
whose values play a significant role
in indicating future trends and whose
influence isn’t necessarily defined by
their reach but by their authority. Cultural
Pioneers are the first to adopt new products,
brands, and ideas in the new luxury
landscape, and they are an important
litmus test for future trends.
The New Luxury (which Highsnobiety
originally coined in 2018) described a
landscape where traditional definitions
and notions of luxury were eroding;
where brands like Nike and Stone Island
were being considered in the same breath
as Balenciaga, LV, and Gucci. But today,
luxury – what it is and how it works –
is more intangible than ever.
Cultural credibility for the new luxury
consumer is driven by stories, lore,
belonging, and community. We’re calling
this new approach Luxury 3.0, mirroring
the internet’s evolution into Web 3.0. And
much like Web 3.0, which is characterized
by decentralization away from traditional
sources of authority, Luxury 3.0 similarly
represents a profound shift where
individuals and communities have
more control over the narrative
than ever before.

Prior luxury paradigms focused on gatekee- Luxury 3.0 is a framework for brands
ping consumers from the brand narrative, to understand how to build credibility
creating aspiration through a top-down by investing in communities for their
brand approach that was exclusionary by consumers to buy into. Stories over
design. But this approach is outdated. At product; knowledge over possession;
a time when a Reddit group can game the community over crowds; participation
stock market, meaningful friendships are and experiences over observation.
being formed throughout the metaverse
in video games, and new media platforms
such as Substack and OnlyFans are mone-
tized through fans instead of advertisers,
the definition of luxury is also shifting to
be as much about belonging, knowledge,
and identity as it is about owning product.

Luxury 3.0 is the natural evolution of the

key principles we explored in “Culture
Culture Culture,” a luxury paradigm
where the intangible aspects of luxury are
growing in importance. But this time, those
principles are taking place in a consumer
landscape which is increasingly
decentralized.

Introduction Luxury 3.0

8 Highsnobiety & BCG
 1

“I think that possession is important, but not

as important as when I was a kid. Now it’s
about convincing the consumer that
the Moncler world is something they
can participate in.”

— Remo Ruffini,
CEO of Moncler
Fig 1: Loewe Fall/Winter 2022, Introduction Luxury 3.0
9 Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Highsnobiety & BCG
 METHODOLOGY
To continue our exploration, we pull insights
from two overarching sources.
First, we conduct a global consumer
survey to generate quantitative insights
on a macro-scale. In 2019, we conducted
the first survey in the series — polling
luxury consumers across geographies, back-
grounds, and ages to generate deep
insights around the consumer journey,
levers of credibility, and brand desirability.
Fig 1: 1017 ALYX 9SM Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety
10 Fig 2: @gabbois
Our new survey contained the responses
from ~3,000 general luxury consumers and
1,350 Cultural Pioneers. As a proxy for the
Cultural Pioneer demographic, we polled
a sub-segment of Highsnobiety’s audience.
This cohort of consumers not only skew
younger, but also buy 38% more luxury
goods than the general public, and therefore
give a glimpse of where the market is
heading.
Secondly, we conduct a series of in-depth
interviews with industry experts across
luxury, fashion, culture, and technology
segments. These interviews were pivotal
in helping us both shape and validate
hypotheses that emerged from the
consumer survey.
Methodology Luxury 3.0
Highsnobiety & BCG
 Overall Luxury
Consumer Population
Gen-Z
20%
Age 18-23
US 40%
Younger
Millennial 21%
Age 24-31
Older
Millennial 22%
UK 40% Age 32-39

Gen-X
37%
Age 40-55
GER 20%

Countries Ages

Surveyed approximately 3,000 consumers of different nationalities,

ages, and backgrounds

Source: New Luxury Survey July 2021 / All respondents N=3022, US, N=1205; UK, N=1209,
Germany, N=608, Highsnobiety Cultural Pioneers N=1340; US, N=548

Cultural Pioneers
Surveyed approximately 650 of Highsnobiety’s audience,
as a proxy for US Cultural Pioneers

YOUNGER BUYS MORE LUXURY

Average luxury purchases

Gen-Z 20% 21% per year:

Younger 18%
Millennial
37%
+
38%

Older 24%
Millennial
8.9
21%

Gen-X 38% 6.4

21%

US Luxury US Cultural US Luxury US Cultural

Consumer Pioneer Consumer Pioneer

Methodology Luxury 3.0

11 Highsnobiety & BCG
 “As the places we usually would find
community are eroding, there is a
radical renaissance of community. With
the acceleration of mobile and digital
technology, there are new spaces to explore
more narrow niches of identity, passions,
and causes… it’s allowing us to go into a more
unfiltered depth of discovery of ourselves
than we’ve ever imagined.”
– Erika Wykes-Sneyd, Global Vice
President, Marketing Comms at adidas
1

Fig 1: Botter Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Methodology Luxury 3.0
12 Highsnobiety & BCG
 “Community is at its most powerful when
there is a feedback loop: when members
are able to provide feedback and we get
authentic and honest insights.”

– Bettina Fetzer,
Vice President Communication & Marketing
at Mercedes-Benz AG
1

Fig 1: Dior Womenswear Fall/Winter 2022, Peter White / Getty Images Methodology Luxury 3.0
13 Fig 2: George / Getty Images Highsnobiety & BCG
1

2 3

Fig 1: Miu Miu Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Methodology Luxury 3.0
14 Fig 2: @kendricky
Fig 3: @asapnast
Highsnobiety & BCG
 BRAND CREDIBILITY
MATRIX
1

“Brands want to bridge the gap between

their intentions and their actions. There are
many empty companies, ‘hollow companies,’
as Naomi Klein says. That is a problem.”

— Céline Semaan,
Founder at Slow Factory Foundation
Fig 1: Moncler x 1017 ALYX 9SM, Julien Tell / Highsnobiety Brand Credibility Matrix Luxury 3.0
15 Fig 2: @yoon_ambush Highsnobiety & BCG
 TL;DR: Product quality remains the most important attribute driving a purchase
decision for luxury consumers. However, over the past two years, consumers across
all age groups are placing more emphasis on sustainability and the importance
of celebrities – with both attributes rising in their respective rankings
as decision drivers.

Our Brand Credibility Matrix is a recurring
piece of analysis in our New Luxury White
Paper series, quantifying the relative
importance of key luxury purchase drivers
across segments. This updated version
of the matrix gives us a before-and-after
picture of the last two years, enabling us
to also track trends and forecast future
movements. Product quality remains the
most important attribute across cohorts,
even if it’s lower for a younger generation
than for older ones (at 54% to 68%),
emphasizing that fundamentally, product
has always been and continues to remain
key According to our data, not only is
superior product quality the top driver
across age groups, it’s even more important
for Cultural Pioneers, at 75%. Across all
age groups, sustainability is increasingly
becoming an important consideration in
purchasing decisions. In our 2019 survey,
sustainability was only ranked as the 10th
and 7th most important decision driver
for younger and older luxury consumers,
respectively. In this year’s version, it has
jumped to ranks 7 and 6, respectively.
Another attribute that grew in importance
across the board is the impact of style
influencers in driving luxury purchase
decisions, lending further credence to social
commerce as a growth channel for luxury
sales. We’re still seeing older generations
give more importance to status signaling,
whereas younger generations care more
about buying products worn by tastemaker
personalities. Cultural Pioneers, on the other
hand, give more priority to unique product
styles and brands that align with their social
values.
Another major takeaway here is the sheer
number of purchase drivers, all of whom
are relatively closely ranked within a 28%
ranking range. Gone are the days when
luxury brands could rely on a couple of key
decision points in driving sales. Brands
must orchestrate an increasingly complex
set of attributes that inform credibility and
thus drive conversions. The difference in
ranking for the new luxury consumers is
even more narrow at 23%, whereas older
generations have a wider 32% split.

Fig 1: Metaverse Fashion Week, Vittorio Zunino Celotto Brand Credibility Matrix Luxury 3.0
16 / Getty Images Highsnobiety & BCG
 Rate the importance of the following attributes
when purchasing luxury products

Overall Younger Older Cultural

`Luxury Consumer Generations1 Generations Pioneers
overall overall overall

2021 2019 2021 2019 2021 2019

1 Superior quality 1 54% 1 1 68% 1 1 75% 2

2 Brand is timeless 3 45% 3 2 60% 4 2 60% 4
3 Curated assortment 2 47% 2 3 55% 2 4 52% 1
4 Best value 4 44% 4 5 50% 3 5 36% 9
5 Unique product style 5 42% 5 4 51% 5 3 56% 3
6 Sustainability 7 37% 10 6 45% 7 7 31% 11
7 Social values2 8 36% 7 44% 6 33%
8 Signal status 12 32% 8 8 45% 6 8 25% 6
9 Worn by stylish personalities 6 38% 7 9 41% 10 11 21% 5
10 Personalize the products 11 33% 6 10 40% 8 12 18% 12
11 Limited editions 10 33% 8 11 40% 9 9 24% 7
12 Partnered with creators 9 33% 12 12 38% 12 10 22% 8
13 Community and friends 13 31% 11 13 36% 11 13 14% 10
buy brand

1
. Younger Generations represent Gen Z and young Millennials; older generations represent old Millennials and Gen X 2.
Not included in 2019 study

1 No change vs. 2019

1 Positive change vs. 2019
1 Negative change vs. 2019
Source: New Luxury Survey July 2021| All respondents N = 3022; US, N = 1205; UK, N = 1209; Germany, N = 608;
Gen X, N = 1132; Older Millennial, N = 659; Younger Millennial, N =629; Gen Z, N = 602;
Cultural Pioneers, N=1340 (US Only)

Brand Credibility Matrix Luxury 3.0

17 Highsnobiety & BCG
1 2

“A lot of brands have communities, but at

the core of it is always product. If you look
at Nike, or Apple, or what we do at Bottega
with the intrecciato weave, appreciation for
product is at the core of luxury."
— Dexter Darbouze,
WW Head of Integrated Media
at Bottega Veneta

''75% of Cultural Pioneers rank 'Superior

Quality' as the most important attribute
of a luxury product.''

Fig 1: Miu Miu Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Brand Credibility Matrix Luxury 3.0
18 Fig 2: Dior Womenswear Fall/Winter 2022, Peter White / Getty Images Highsnobiety & BCG
 Cultural Credibility Key Takeaways
Importance of the following attributes
when purchasing luxury products

• Superior quality is the most important

category overall and within each category.

• Younger generations attribute less

importance across dimensions, particularly
timelessness and status, while older
generations attribute higher importance.

• Cultural pioneers have greatest

differences from overall population,
ascribing notably higher importance
to quality, timelessness, and uniqueness,
and lower importance to all other
dimensions

Fig 1: DRESSX wearable metaverse collection on Roblox, Brand Credibility Matrix Luxury 3.0
19 Courtesy of DRESSX Highsnobiety & BCG
 “When it comes to community,
it is important for us that we reach new fans
in their own environments… you might
not be a current customer of Mercedes
but you might be a fan of 90s pop culture,
which is the world that our collab with
A$AP Rocky explores.”

– Bettina Fetzer,
Vice President Communication & Marketing
at Mercedes-Benz AG

Fig 1: Off-White™ Fall/Winter 2022, Luxury 3.0

20 Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Highsnobiety & BCG
 COMMUNITIES
OVER CROWDS

The conventional model of brand

communities is outdated. Brands need
a new framework in order to understand how
to build thriving communities. We call this
new framework the metacommunity.
Metacommunities are fluid, dynamic,
and fragmented. Instead of speaking to
a single archetype or demographic, it is an
overlapping ecosystem of many different
sub-groups of fans, consumers, detractors,
and commentators.

Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0

21 Highsnobiety & BCG
 1

IT IS AN OVERLAPPING
ECOSYSTEM OF MANY DIFFERENT
SUB-GROUPS OF FANS, CONSUMERS,
DETRACTORS, AND COMMENTATORS
Fig 1: The team at Marni, Piotr Niepsuj Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0
22 Fig 2: @lottaliinalove Highsnobiety & BCG
 TL;DR: The conventional model of brand communities is outdated.
Brands need a new framework in order to understand how to build thriving
communities. We call this new framework the metacommunity. Metacommunities
are fluid, dynamic, and fragmented. Instead of speaking to a single archetype or
demographic, it is an overlapping ecosystem of many different sub-groups of fans,
consumers, detractors, and commentators.

As our social sphere has become more
digital, it is unsurprising that online
communities have boomed.
Ever since online music sharing
communities like Napster completely
upended the entire music industry,
it’s been clear that online communities
have the power to impact businesses and
“the real world” in a very material manner.
Within fashion, forums like Superfuture
and StyleZeigiest played a significant role
in creating online fashion communities
in the ‘00s and ‘10s.
Fast forward to 2021 and online
communities have become forces for
disruption. On one end of the spectrum,
you have accountability-driven accounts
like Diet Prada and Slow Factory, and on
the other end meme accounts like Dank Art
Director Memes and I Deserve Couture,
which both celebrate and critique the
industry. In between, you have fan groups
like New Bottega, Old Celine, and Prada
Archive, which also fit into this broader
ecosystem of online accounts that form
the overall brand community.
More broadly, groups like WallStreetBets

More broadly, groups like WallStreetBets Long gone are the days of brand
have shaken up traditional finance institu- strategy where the core customer is a
tions by enabling retail investors to coordi- single consumer archetype. Brands that fail
nate to understand their community are not a
trading activities (while also reveling in the singular group but a metacommunity of
glory of making risky investment decisions many different consumer segments and
and sharing the results for the world to see). cohorts will struggle to effectively engage and
generate cultural credibility.
The pandemic has forced the world to
reconfigure how we socialize with our friends
and peers. And it has accelerated the growth
of online communities by adding a list of
new names – Slack, Zoom, OnlyFans – to
an already growing list of platforms we
rely on to connect and gather.

Online communities have evolved to a point

where they’ve become complex ecosystems.
Within any given online community, different
sub-communities of different groups of indivi-
duals co-exist, and these online communities
will have overlapping relationships with one
another. We call these interconnected chains
of communities the metacommunity.

Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0

23 Highsnobiety & BCG
 “One of the open secrets of being
a luxury brand is that you don’t need to
talk about yourself. If you know, you know.
So with that positioning, it made sense for
us to not have a social media where you talk
about yourself every single day and it doesn’t
really line up... what you saw from that, is
other people rising to the top and trying
to fill that void that we created.”

— Dexter Darbouze,
WW Head of Integrated Media
at Bottega Veneta

Fig 1: Louis Vuitton Womenswear Fall/Winter 2022, Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0
24 Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images Highsnobiety & BCG
 YOUR IDENTITY
WITHIN A COMMUNITY
DOESN’T NEED TO BE SO MONOLITHIC

Fig 1: The North Face’s Fall 2021 campaign, It’s More Than a Jacket, Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0
25 Courtesy of The North Face
Fig 2: @kendricky
Highsnobiety & BCG
 “Communities are a lot more dispersed.
The way Discord is built as a product is
that there are hundreds of different niche
subcultures or interest groups that you can
affiliate yourself within a single main server,
and gain status within those specific
areas of the larger community.”

— Amber Atherton, Head of Strategic

Communities at Discord

Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0

26 Highsnobiety & BCG
 Traditional Brand
Community Model
Monolithic: Made up of a single type of
brand enthusiast that all behave in a
similar pattern.
Closed: The brand community exists
specifically for top customers and loyal
fans to come together and laud the brand.
Linear: Either top-down brand commu-
nication, or fan-driven “user-generated
content” with little exchange in between.
Celebratory: The community shares their
passion by celebrating the brand.
Centralized: The community exists on
a set of brand-owned and operated
channels that give the brand control
over the community.
Extractive: Brands take more from their
communities than they give.
Today’s new luxury consumers are
highly engaged and active in online
communities, with younger genera-
tions being the most active and engaged
with their respective online community
groups. These online communities are
fragmented across different platforms,
such as resale groups on Facebook,
Discord servers for popular fashion
vloggers, discussion threads on
Telegram, and official brand
accounts on Instagram.
27
Brand
Metacommunity Model
VS Dynamic: Made up of different sub-
groups each with differing reasons for
being part of their specific community.
VS Open: The brand metacommunity exists
for a wide group of customers, fans,
and even detractors to collect, discuss,
and trade.
VS
Circular: Brands listen, respond and act
on feedback from their metacommunity
to amplify brand activations and
messaging.
VS Accountability: The community shares
their passion by holding their brands
accountable.
VS Decentralized: The metacommunity
exists across brand-owned and third
party channels, as well as across
platforms that the brand may not
necessarily have direct control over.
VS Generative: Brands give more to their
metacommunity than they take.
Therefore, they expect their brand
communities to give them opportunities
to participate, be heard, and create
rallying points to meet up in real life.
For them, engaging in a two-way
dialogue with brands and the wider
brand community that surrounds them
is not a bonus: it is a prerequisite.
Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0
Highsnobiety & BCG
 Younger generations and Pioneers
Often maintaining daily
participate more in online
communication with peers
communities

% of consumers who participate % of users by frequency

in communities of engagement

32%
30% 30%
26%
23%
20%

12%
92% 93% 11% 10%
91% 7%
87%
75%

Multiple Once Less than Once

Every
Gen-Z YM OM Gen-X CP times every once a per
day
a day few days week week

YM: Younger Millenials Overall luxury consumers

OM: Older Millenials
CP: Cultural Pioneers Cultural Pioneers

Most often using Instagram

and Youtube for communication

% of users who use particular

social channels
89%

61% 60%
54%
52%
45%
40% 40% 38%
33% 34%
27% 30%
25%
18% 19%
17%
12%

Discord/
Instagram YouTube Facebook WhatsApp Twitter TikTok Snapchat Reddit
Slack

C2. What types of online communities are you a part of? Source: New Luxury Survey July 2021| All respondents N =
3022 (US, UK, Germany); Cultural Pioneers, N=1340; Gen Z, N = 602

Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0

28 Highsnobiety & BCG

According to our survey, 86% of general
luxury consumers participate in an online
community of some sort, with Gen-Z
consumers and Cultural Pioneers at a
staggering 92% and 93% respectively.
The general luxury consumer is also highly
engaged: 56% of overall luxury consumers
engage with their online communities daily
or more. Cultural Pioneers are even more
tapped in, with 62% engaging daily or more.
These online communities exist beyond
traditional social media to encompass
messaging apps, forum boards, websites,
and other platforms across the metaverse.
Fig 1: Prada Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety
29
1
Online communities are no longer
autonomous to the luxury experience;
they are a powerful multiplier of the
luxury experience. Strong metacommunities
cut across multiple phases of the consumer
experience, serving as a source of inspiration
pre-purchase as well as a place to share one’s
assets post-purchase, creating an engaging
feedback loop surrounding a brand’s offering.
Tied together by knowledge, the consumer
journey no longer follows a linear flow
but a circular one.
Luxury 3.0
Highsnobiety & BCG
 “The North Face community isn’t made up
of one kind of fan. There are various
‘micro-tribes’ that comprise our community,
but our starting point is always the same.
Regardless of whether you are a hardcore
climber on the West Coast or a streetstyle
influencer in Manhattan, your love of our
brand is bound together by the same ethos:
to never stop exploring. So the idea of one
big brand campaign that speaks to
everybody doesn’t apply anymore. We need
to find opportunities to connect with people
and ‘micro-tribes’ on a more of a
one-on-one basis.”
— Mike Ferris, VP Global Brand
Management at The North Face
1

Fig 1: @nolandanielwhite Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0

30 Fig 2: @tulieyaito Highsnobiety & BCG
 % of consumers who participate in each respective community

Overall luxury consumers Cultural Pioneers

57% 57%
52%
46%

32% 30% 30% 31%

29% 27% 26%
24%
22%
19%

Brand Running
Luxury Sports Gaming Sneakers Streetwear
Specific /Fitness
20% 20%
16%
15%
14% 14%
13% 12%
7% 8% 7%

1%

Work
Fan Groups
Industry Crypto
(K-Pop fans, Activism Other None
(leanluxe, / Investing
etc)
etc)

C2. What types of online communities are you a part of?

Source: New Luxury Survey July 2021| All respondents N = 3022
1 (US, UK, Germany); Cultural Pioneers, N=1340; Gen Z, N = 602

Fig 1: Kenzo Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Luxury 3.0

31 Fig 2: @_lalune_official_ Highsnobiety & BCG
 Outside of fashion related groups (luxury,
brand-specific, sneakers, and streetwear),
which are the most popular type of communi-
ties for the new luxury consumer, the next top
three verticals are sports, gaming, and fitness.
We are seeing the new luxury consumer in-
creasingly involved in other cultural
topics and verticals. This mirrors several
trends we uncovered in our prior research.
For example, in our Gaming White Paper,
communities on games like Animal Crossing
have been vital meeting points for fashion
enthusiasts to share their passion: from
dressing their characters in designer outfits
created from scratch in-game to hosting
virtual fashion shows that attract tens of
thousands of views on streaming platforms.
Luxury and streetwear brands that are able
to use fashion as a means to engage with
different cultural interests beyond their core
product are seen as more credible. Our sur-
vey results around which brands are seen
as having the most credible communities
echo this; whether it’s a brand like Nike that
engages with sports, Supreme with street
culture, or Prada with art, to cite a few
examples. By choosing to be patrons of
a space they care about, these brands are
seen as authentic players and vital in culture.

“If you look to other brands and think

the grass is greener mentality, and try to
do something else, things often will become
problematic. Take Patagonia, they feel like
they know what they are. They’re not trying
to be everything to everyone. I think that
is extremely reassuring in today’s corporate
world. We’re increasingly thinking about
how to be exactly what we are for our
communities, instead of how to reach
more people by being something
we are not.”
— Lucas Zwirner,
Head of Content at David Zwirner
Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0
32 Highsnobiety & BCG
 1

Fig 1: Moncler + Dingyun Zhang Spring/Summer 2022 Collection, Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0
33 Courtesy of Moncler Highsnobiety & BCG
 % of consumers who want a particular
experience from a brand community
Importance
for overall Gen-Z 35%
luxury
Younger
consumer Enhanced 36%
Millennials
customer
experience Older Millennials 36%

Gen-X 34%

Gen-Z 29%
Loyalty Younger
31% Overindexed
program Millennials
for older
and exclusive
Older Millennials 31% cohorts
access
Gen-X 32%

Gen-Z 28%
New product Younger
29%
notifications Millennials
that fit
Older Millennials 25%
my style
Gen-X 30%

C1. What are the top personalized experiences you want from a brand community? Source: New Luxury Survey July
2021 All respondents N = 3022 (US, UK, Germany); Cultural Pioneers, N=1340; Gen Z, N = 602

Gen-Z 31%
Younger
Special 26%
Millennials Overindexed
occasion
for Gen-Z
gifts Older Millennials 29%

Gen-X 27%

Gen-Z 19%
Advance
Younger
access to 23% Overindexed
Millennials
product for older
launches Older Millennials 26% cohorts
/drops
Gen-X 25%

Gen-Z 28%
Model’s Younger
24% Overindexed
on the website Millennials
/app looks for Gen-Z
Older Millennials 23%
like me
Gen-X 19%

Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0

34 Highsnobiety & BCG
 Gen-Z 26%
They promote
emerging Younger
25%
trends and Millennials Overindexed
feature for Gen-Z
Older Millennials 23%
community
members
Gen-X 16%

Gen-Z 20%
The brand
Younger
knows my 21%
Millennials
name/style
in store Older Millennials 25%
and/or online
Gen-X 18%

Gen-Z 20%
Ability to Younger
18%
network with Millennials
like-minded
Older Millennials 19%
peope
Gen-X 14%

As we would expect, Cultural Pioneers
heavily over-index in fashion and streetwear
communities, but they are also over-repre-
sented in crypto and activism-related
communities. With Web 3.0 technologies,
including blockchain, making their way into
the creative sectors through the form of NFTs
and DAOs, we expect to see crypto and
luxury increasingly intersecting as their
interests converge around creativity
and community.
There is a clear split between what older
and younger generations want from their
brand communities.
Older luxury consumers tend to prefer more
transactional benefits, with the two most
important benefits a loyalty program and
advance access to exclusive drops. However,
younger luxury consumers gravitate more
towards intangible, value-driven benefits
such as championing philanthropic and
activist causes or having their voices
amplified by the brand. Of course, material
benefits are still important, but for younger
cohorts, the emphasis is less on getting
special occasion gifts over access
to launches and drops.

Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0

35 Highsnobiety & BCG
 1

ONLINE COMMUNITIES ARE

NO LONGER AUTONOMOUS
TO THE LUXURY EXPERIENCE,
THEY ARE A POWERFUL MULTIPLIER
OF THE LUXURY EXPERIENCE.

Fig 1: @postarchivefaction Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0

36 Highsnobiety & BCG
 % of consumers participating
in communities for identified reason

Importance
for overall
luxury Overall Consumer 37%
consumer To meet
like-minded people
Cultural Pioneers 42%

To learn new things and Overall Consumer 34%

expand my thinking
through discussions Cultural Pioneers 66%

To express Overall Consumer 33%

my own voice
and opinions Cultural Pioneers 33%

To get exclusive Overall Consumer 33%

information or access
to products Cultural Pioneers 55%

Overall Consumer 31%

To feel a sense
of belonging
Cultural Pioneers 23%

To be part of discussions Overall Consumer 31%

and bounce ideas off
of others in the group Cultural Pioneers 39%

Overall Consumer 27%

For discounts or other
commercial perks
Cultural Pioneers 26%

To coordinate Overall Consumer 22%

online/offline
activities Cultural Pioneers 17%

As we know, the Cultural Pioneer values C5. Why do you participate in / engage with these
knowledge, and we saw this fact confirmed communities? Source: New Luxury Survey July 2021|
All respondents N = 3022 (US, UK, Germany);
in this analysis too. The “desire to learn new Cultural Pioneers, N=1340
things and expand my thinking through
discussions” is one of the most pronounced
gaps in behavior between the Cultural
Pioneer and the general population across
the entire survey. The next most important
reason for the Cultural Pioneer is getting
exclusive information and access to product,
followed by being part of discussions and
bouncing ideas off others in the group.
Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0
37 Highsnobiety & BCG
 “What we’re doing in web 3.0…everyone
who has an NFT is a cofounder. Our brand
can behave as a uniter by getting into
communities and giving them the tools
and the resources and the support they’re
looking for and let them have a stake
in what we create next.”
— Erika Wykes-Sneyd,
Global Vice President, Marketing Comms
at adidas

Fig 1: Jil Sander Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0
38 Fig 2: @_octi Highsnobiety & BCG
 Older cohorts place more emphasis /attributes for a brand community
on attributes that make brand to be authentic and/or credible to you?
communities more credible…
Q: What are key requirements
37% 34%
The brand
The
offers me
38% community 31%
exclusive
is run by
discounts
40% people I can 35%
to products
relate to
/services
42% 30%

34% 34%
The brands
The subject
34% values align 31%
matter is
with my own
relevant
38% regarding social 33%
to me
justice
42% 30%

33% 28%
The brand has The brand
36% 28%
environmentally offers me
sustainable exclusive live
33% 31%
practices experiences
30% 28%
C7. What are key requirements/attributes for a brand community to be authentic and/or credible to you? C8. What are
the key actions from the brand or other community members that most impact or hurt credibility? Source: New Luxury
Survey July 2021 All respondents N = 3022 (US, UK, Germany); Cultural Pioneers, N=1340; Gen Z, N = 602

However, younger cohorts are brand or other community members

particularly sensitive to corporate that most impact or hurt credibility?
practices and false claims.
Q: What are the key actions from the
38% 35%

Greedy 33% Not listening 33%

corporate to community
pratices 34% feedback 26%

39% 27%

38% 31%
Lack
35% of action in 26%
False claims
environmental
of sustainability 33% 27%
sustainability
matters
35% 28%

35% 27%

31% 26%
False claims Inauthentic
of diversity 23% motivations 27%

30% 27%
Luxury 3.0
39 Gen-Z Younger Millennial Older Millennial Gen-X Highsnobiety & BCG
 Brand community is curated through /attributes for a brand community to
exclusivity, personalization, be authentic and/or credible to you?
and values...
Q: What are key requirements
The brand offers me Overall Consumer 40%
exclusive discounts
to products / services Cultural Pioneers 34%

Overall Consumer 38%

The subject matter
is relevant to me
Cultural Pioneers 54%

The brand has Overall Consumer 33%

environmentally
sustainable practices Cultural Pioneers 39%

Overall Consumer 32%

The community is run
by people I can relate to
Cultural Pioneers 54%

The brands values align Overall Consumer 31%

with my own regarding
social justice Cultural Pioneers 43%

The brand offers me Overall Consumer 29%

exclusive
live experiences Cultural Pioneers 25%

C7. What are key requirements/attributes for a brand community to be authentic and/or credible to you? C8. What are
the key actions from the brand or other community members that most impact or hurt credibility? Source: New Luxury
Survey July 2021 All respondents N = 3022 (US, UK, Germany); Cultural Pioneers, N=1340; Gen Z, N = 602

Luxury 3.0
40 Highsnobiety & BCG
 ...with serious negative effects brand or other community members
resulting from actions creating that most impact or hurt credibility?
distrust with consumers
Q: What are the key actions from the
Overall Consumer 36%
Greedy corporate
practices
Cultural Pioneers 64%

Overall Consumer 35%

False claims
of sustainability
Cultural Pioneers 59%

Overall Consumer 30%

False claims
of diversity
Cultural Pioneers 61%

Not listening Overall Consumer 30%

to community
feedback Cultural Pioneers 57%

Lack of action Overall Consumer 28%

in environmental
sustainability matters Cultural Pioneers 37%

Overall Consumer 27%

Inauthentic
motivations
Cultural Pioneers 58%

C7. What are key requirements/attributes for a brand community to be authentic and/or credible to you? C8. What are
the key actions from the brand or other community members that most impact or hurt credibility? Source: New Luxury
Survey July 2021 All respondents N = 3022 (US, UK, Germany); Cultural Pioneers, N=1340; Gen Z, N = 602

Luxury 3.0
41 Highsnobiety & BCG
 On the flipside, brands also need to
understand potential detractors that might
negatively impact the community. The most
significant community detractor across age
groups are greedy corporate practices.
Across the board, Gen-Z luxury consumers
are much more sensitive to this than prior
generations, ranking higher or tying equal
on every reason that would hurt a brand’s
credibility. But when it comes to not losing
credibility, brands can’t cherry pick or focus
on only one reason. At the end of the day,
it takes years to build a credible brand but
mere hours to tarnish it.
“Communities don’t exist in a vacuum.
That’s an important point. Communities
don’t belong to brands. Communities exist
independently of brands. Communities don’t
need brands. Brands need communities.
To begin with, communities exist around
interests. It’s up to the brands to bridge the
gap between their values and their actions
by meeting these interests.”
— Céline Semaan, Founder
at Slow Factory Foundation
42
Being so driven by cultural credibility,
it’s unsurprising that the Cultural Pioneer is
even more sensitive to credibility detractors.
But the gap between the Cultural Pioneer and
the general population is seismic. Whereas
on average each reason was only cited
by 31% of the general luxury consumer as
a detractor of credibility, each reason was
cited by an average of 56% of Cultural
Pioneers as a detractor.
Above all else, the new luxury consumer
wants a brand community that doesn’t get
treated like it exists at the behest of brands.
Rather, this new generation of shoppers want
a participatory and collaborative relationship.
Instead of shying away from this accounta-
bility, brands need to embrace this new rela-
tionship, treating their consumers as an
equal partner in the relationship.
Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0
Highsnobiety & BCG
 1

Fig 1: Moncler + Dingyun Zhang Spring/Summer 2022 Collection, Courtesy of Moncler Communities Over Crowds Luxury 3.0
43 Fig 2: Dior Womenswear Fall/Winter 2022, Peter White / Getty Images
Fig 3: Bianca Saunders Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety
Highsnobiety & BCG
 KNOWING
IS THE NEW
OWNING

Knowledge has become a crucial part

of the luxury experience and drives
cultural credibility for the new luxury
consumer. Knowing has become the new
owning, with consumers looking towards
brands to create communities and worlds
with storytelling.

Knowing is the New Owning Luxury 3.0

44 Highsnobiety & BCG
 “The amount of lore is directly relative
to a brand’s potential enterprise value.”

— Chris Paik,
General Partner at Pace Capital

If cultural credibility is the name of the

game, then knowledge is the currency by
which it is valued, traded, and exchanged.

Having in-depth knowledge of a brand’s lore

and the story behind iconic collections and
pieces is more important than ever, with
knowledge being used to establish one’s
credibility in the community. This dynamic
stems from the rise of streetwear culture,
where intel on the most coveted and rare
grails makes you a more credible member
of the community. These dynamics have
also long-existed in communities of luxury
watch brand loyalists.

TL;DR: Knowledge has become a crucial part of the luxury experience and drives
cultural credibility for the new luxury consumer. Knowing has become the new owning,
with consumers looking towards brands to create communities and worlds
with storytelling.

Knowing is the New Owning Luxury 3.0

45 Highsnobiety & BCG
 1

Fig 1: Y/Project Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Knowing is the New Owning Luxury 3.0
46 Fig 2: @_magda__ Highsnobiety & BCG
 In our Gaming White Paper “Select
Your Character: Gamified Luxury”
released earlier this year, we found that
66% of Cultural Pioneers believe that the
products someone wears indicates whether
they are culturally knowledgeable. Beyond
signaling your status as a real fan and not
just chasing after the hype, it also plays
a significant role in establishing yourself
within specific social contexts.

Our survey data tells us that customers are

spending more time on research — i.e., the
acquisition of knowledge. This trend is even
more pronounced for the Cultural Pioneer,
who spent 19% more time than the general
luxury consumer on the research phase.

“The public is growing from a passive

public to a more active public. An active
public that is deeply involved in building
the future that they want, understanding
what is going on out there and what brands
are really about–including the actions that
said companies are actually taking behind
the scenes. Audiences want to learn,
to connect, to share knowledge.”

— Céline Semaan,
Founder at Slow Factory Foundation
Knowing is the New Owning Luxury 3.0
47 Highsnobiety & BCG
 1

Fig 1: Rick Owens Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Knowing is the New Owning Luxury 3.0
48 Highsnobiety & BCG
 This process of researching is more
than just for making purchase decisions,
it’s about building cultural affiliations.
This should come as no surprise as brands
are directly fueling this behavioral shift by
increasingly thinking and acting like media
publishers, putting out a constant stream
of content online and off.
This trend is even more pronounced for
the Cultural Pioneer, with 56% needing to
do more research after being inspired com-
pared to 29% for the general population.
We expect to see the broader new luxury
consumer becoming increasingly discerning
over time as more time is spent on the
research phase.

The growing time spent on research

is also indicative of a larger generational
skepticism with brands themselves. The
new luxury consumer is increasingly harder
to convince during the pre-purchase phase.
In our survey, 29% of general luxury
consumers felt they needed to do more
research before making a purchase
after being inspired. This sentiment applies
even more for younger consumers, with
Gen-Z being 7% less likely than their Millen-
nial counterparts to decide “I’m definitely
buying this” during the inspiration phase.
This generational gap is more pronounced
in the United States, with an 11% gap
between the two groups

L7. Choose the best description of your experience: a) While finding inspiration, I decided “I'm definitely buying this”
b) I was inspired, but needed to do some research before deciding "I'm definitely buying this"
Source: New Luxury Survey July 2021 All respondents N = 3022; Gen Z, N = 602; Younger Millennial, N = 629;
Older Millennial, N = 659; Gen X, N = 1132

% of responses

Change Change Change Change

vs. 2019 vs. 2019 vs. 2019 vs. 2019

26% +5% 26% +4%

33% -2% 32% +2%

56%

74% -5% 74% -4%

67% +2% 68% -2%

44%

Cultural Younger Older

Gen-Z Gen-X
Pioneers Millennials Millennials

I was inspired, but needed to do some research

before deciding “I’m definitely buying this”
While finding some information, I decided
“I’m definitely buying this”
Cultural Pioneers less inclined to buy
an item during the inspiration phase,
preferring to do some research
beforehand

Knowing is the New Owning Luxury 3.0

49 Highsnobiety & BCG
 % of consumers who decided "I'm definitely buying this"
during inspiration phase

Gen-Z -x% -x% Change vs. 2019

Younger Millennials

Older Millennials

Gen-X

+6% +7%
+5% +4%
+4%
-13% -6%
-2% +2% -8%
-8%
-7%
81% 81%
74% 74% 73% 73% 71%
70% 70%
67% 68% 68% 68%
65% 65%
64%

All Countries US UK Germany

L7. Choose the best description of your experience: Selected While finding inspiration, I decided "I'm definitely buying
this". All % below above % of respondents who selected "While finding inspiration, I decided "I'm definitely buying this"
as an option Source: New Luxury Survey July 2019 All respondents N = 6805 (US, Japan, UK, China, France, Italy);
Gen Z, N = 1266 Source: New Luxury Survey July 2021 All respondents N = 3022 (US, UK, Germany);
Gen Z, N = 602; Cultural Pioneers, N=1340

Fig 1: Givenchy Fall/Winter 2022, Stephane Cardinale - Knowing is the New Owning Luxury 3.0
50 Corbis / Getty Images Highsnobiety & BCG
1

“Giving control away is very difficult because

we’ve always been told as marketers that
your brand guidelines are the holy grail…
you’re never to change your logo, you’re
never to change design elements… when
we entered Web 3.0, we purposely broke our
own brand rules to send a message.”

— Erika Wykes-Sneyd,
Global Vice President,
Marketing Comms at adidas
Fig 1: SUPERGUCCI NFT by Gucci & SUPERPLASTIC, Knowing is the New Owning Luxury 3.0
51 Courtesy of Gucci Highsnobiety & BCG
 As a whole, luxury consumers across age
groups have become less susceptible to
impulse purchases, with 42% of the general
luxury population agreeing that their most
recent luxury purchase was an impulse one.
For the Cultural Pioneer it’s only 26%
– underscoring just how methodical and
well-researched the new luxury consumer
has become.
This may all seem paradoxical, given how
many luxury brands are moving towards
a quick-strike, drop-driven product release
schedule to create a heightened sense of
urgency around buying the latest collection.
However, brands are also releasing
information about upcoming collections
earlier and earlier in the communication
cycle to create advance awareness and
anticipation. Consumers have the months
needed to make an informed decision well
before the release date.
Individuals are engaging with brands even
earlier in their customer lifetime journey
via social media, following the brand long
before making their first purchase, some-
times even years before the first transaction.
This means that “knowledge” is not just
Fig 1: Gucci Fall/Winter 2022, Daniele Venturelli
52 / Gucci / Getty Images
about research (which can often make us
think of researching a purchase). Knowledge
is seeing, hearing, and being inspired
by engaging and unexpected stories and
initiatives a brand is deploying. It’s about
being able to say to your friend “did you
see that thing Balenciaga did today?”. In this
way, marketing has become a product to be
consumed, and brands like Gucci, Bottega
Veneta, Dior, and Balenciaga are leading
the way in building out creative universes
and creating a conversation that never ends
so that you can become a fan long before
you ever buy anything. The stories, lore,
and experiences that brands generate,
create a wider brand world for consumers
to take part in. Thisis why brands like
Moncler have had so much success by
regularly collaborating with other fashion
designers, or retailers like Kith have such
a dedicated following, by extending their
brand into other categories like treats.
Stories empower consumers to demons-
trate their credibility within the community,
and for brands to show they stand for
something more meaningful than just
product.Research is more than just a means
to the end. Knowledge has become the
product.
Knowing is the New Owning Luxury 3.0
Highsnobiety & BCG
 42% OF THE GENERAL LUXURY
1

POPULATION AGREEING THAT THEIR

MOST RECENT LUXURY PURCHASE
WAS AN IMPULSE ONE.

Fig 1: Acne Studios Fall/Winter 2022, Eva Al Desnudo / Highsnobiety Knowing is the New Owning Luxury 3.0
53 Highsnobiety & BCG
 CONCLUSION:
WHAT IS LUXURY 3.0?

“Authenticity has almost become a cheap

word to use when talking about brands. Now,
this may be a radical statement: but authenti-
city is somehow deeply linked to resistance.
Resistance to market dynamics is part of the
definition of authenticity as we understand
it today. That’s not what capitalism wants to
hear. It always wants to feel there is a way
to take intimacy and blow it up to scale. But
when cultural currency is created without
slavish kowtowing to the profit motive, that’s
what drives a huge amount of brand value. ”
— Lucas Zwirner,
Head of Content at David Zwirner
Fig 1: @antonitudisco & @glider Conclusion: Luxury 3.0
54 What is Luxury 3.0? Highsnobiety & BCG
 All the trends we’ve captured through
our global consumer survey point to the rise
of a new relationship to luxury. We call this
new paradigm Luxury 3.0.

Luxury 3.0 is characterized by increasing de-

centralization in the consumer landscape
and journey. Instead of a top-down driven
brand narrative for a singular consumer
archetype, luxury is increasingly being
fragmented across many cultural
sub-groups. As part of this evolution,
the intangible aspects of the luxury
experience such as knowledge and
community become a core part of the
value proposition. More than ever, luxury
is about belonging, identity and stories.

What Is Luxury 3.0? • Consuming, contributing, and sharing

• Luxury 3.0 is characterized by increasing
decentralization in the consumer landscape
and journey. Instead of a top-down driven
brand narrative for a singular consumer
archetype, luxury is increasingly being
fragmented across many cultural
sub-groups.
knowledge are key movers of cultural
currency in Luxury 3.0. The lore and
stories underlying the product are
becoming almost as crucial as the
physical goods themselves. In order to
succeed, fashion houses will need to create
more opportunities to make their brand
world more open and participatory.

• Luxury 3.0 consumers expect their brands
to stand for something and to be able to
speak to them authentically through pro-
duct, marketing, collaborations and
experiences in a more hyper-specific
cultural content.
• Luxury more than ever is more about
belonging and identity. Brand communities
allow like-minded fans to share knowledge,
exchange ideas, and network with each
other. The brand exists as more than
just a distributor of physical goods, but
a meeting point for different fan groups
to meet and interact.
• Luxury 3.0 also refers to the increasing
digitization of the luxury experience.
Digital goods will become an increasingly
relevant aspect of luxury fashion: with
online avatars, limited edition skins, NFTs,
sticker packs, AR clothing, digital
trophies/vanities and other digital products
becoming a growing part of a luxury
consumer's annual spend as well as
how they are influenced to develop
brand affinities.

Conclusion: Luxury 3.0

55 What is Luxury 3.0? Highsnobiety & BCG
IN ORDER TO SUCCEED, FASHION HOUSES
WILL NEED TO CREATE MORE
OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE THEIR BRAND
WORLD MORE OPEN AND PARTICIPATORY

Fig 1: Moncler + Dingyun Zhang Spring/Summer 2022 Collection, Conclusion: Luxury 3.0
56 Courtesy of Moncler What is Luxury 3.0? Highsnobiety & BCG
1

Fig 1: Dialogues: Prada Spring/Summer 2021 Campagin, Courtesy of Prada Conclusion: Luxury 3.0
57 Fig 2: Flavio Coelho / Getty Images What is Luxury 3.0? Highsnobiety & BCG
 Luxury 3.0 customers want a longer-term
sense of brand purpose and a deeper
narrative of what a brand is all about.
At the same time, they want this purpose
to be more relevant and applicable to their
cultural contexts and affiliations. In parallel,
audiences increasingly want to immerse
themselves in narrative worlds – whether
it’s through an entertainment franchise like
the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a new
crypto token, a video game like Roblox,
or a streetwear brand. These narrative
worlds are essentially stories that fans
can consume, discuss, and participate in.
THESE SHIFTS ARE A CULMINATION OF
TECHNOLOGICAL, GENERATIONAL
AND SOCIAL CHANGES
1 2
Fig 1: Julien Tell / Highsnobiety
58 Fig 2: Vanni Bassetti / Getty Images
Luxury brands cannot be too democratic
or else they will risk their aspirational
positioning. But accessibility does not
preclude exclusivity. Take for example
Prada’s Spring/Summer 2021 runway show
entitled Prada Dialogues, which featured
an “Ask Me Anything” style post-show ques-
tion and answer session that the public was
invited to participate in. Or Matchesfashion’s
2021 Korea campaign entitled
(or Matchesfashion Auditions) which
invites the public to audition to become
part of the campaign itself. Brands are
increasingly questioning the traditional
fashion campaign model, using them less
as an exercise in top-down communication
and more as an invitation for public
participation.
Conclusion: Luxury 3.0
What is Luxury 3.0? Highsnobiety & BCG
 “Community building is more gardening
than it is architecture. It's about creating
this general framework that allows our
community members to come together and
to find their own language. How do you
create the conditions for these things to
happen? You may not have anticipated
a specific project emerging, but you know
projects like this will emerge because of
the way that you're framing and building
the community.”

— Alex Zhang,
CEO of Friends with Benefits (FWB)
The brands that will win tomorrow are those
who invite their audience in to contribute
and play an active role. In some instances,
communities can overtake their brands,
especially when they feel the brand
has veered off-mission or betrayed the
community in some way. In this sense,
communities are accountability drivers,
calling brands out when the gap between
their rhetoric and action is too wide.
It is worth noting that most online commu-
nities are primarily driven by volunteers
– Reddit, Wikipedia, and Discord build the
tool, but staying for the network requires
the community itself to put work into
creating the content and managing the
group. Savvy brands will understand that
meta-communities, even if brand-controlled,
will rely on the fans to also help run and
manage the group. Even savvier brands
will also offer meaningful, material
incentives and rewards to such users.
Luxury 3.0 refers not just to the
communities surrounding luxury, but to
the digitization of the luxury experience
itself. In prior phases of luxury’s evolution,
this digitization might refer to the growth
of e-commerce platforms and online sales.
However, at the end of the day, e-commerce
is about scaling sales and distribution of
a physical good. Luxury 3.0 has digital
products and stories at the end,
not the means.
With Luxury 3.0, digital-native goods and
services are becoming increasingly relevant
to the luxury experience. While still nascent,
digital communities that currently surround
physical fashion are setting the table for
this shift.

Conclusion: Luxury 3.0

59 What is Luxury 3.0? Highsnobiety & BCG
 Luxury 3.0 is not a short-term strategy.
It is a long-term strategic paradigm shift
that responds to a fundamental change
in the new luxury consumer’s relationship
to luxury. These shifts are a culmination
of technological, generational and social
changes that we’ve seen accelerated by
the pandemic, and require companies to
approach brand-building from a new way
of thinking.

Fig 1: Area Spring 2022, Courtesy of Area Conclusion: Luxury 3.0

60 Fig 2: @yahtusaabe What is Luxury 3.0? Highsnobiety & BCG
 CREDITS

Experts Background

Amber Atherton Head of Strategic Communities at Discord

Mike Ferris VP Brand Marketing at The North Face
Chris Paik General Partner at Pace Capital
Remo Ruffini CEO at Moncler
Celine Semaan Founder of Slow Factory
Neda Whitney SVP Brand Marketing at Christie’s
Erika Wykes-Sneyd Global Vice President, Marketing Comms at Adidas
Alex Zhang CEO at Friends With Benefits (FWB)
Lucas Zwirner Head of Content at David Zwirner
Bettina Fetzer Vice President Communications & Marketing at Mercedes-Benz AG
Dexter Darbouze WW Head of Integrated Media at Bottega Veneta

Fig 1: AG Club, Aidan Cullen Credits Luxury 3.0

61 Highsnobiety & BCG
 Insights & Research in collaboration with Editor-in-Chief:
Boston Consulting Group: Thom Bettridge

Managing Director & Partner VP, New Business & Thought Leadership:
Sarah Willersdorf Edward Campbell

Managing Director & Partner Author:

Pierre Dupreelle Tony Wang
From the Office of Applied Strategy
Partner & Associate Director
Felix Krueger Contributing Editor:
Christopher Morency
Managing Director & Partner
Beatrice Lemucchi Publishing Director:
Megan Wray Schertler
Principal
Nicolas Llinas Design Director:
Chloé Techoueyres
Managing Director & Partner
Marc Schelenz Design:
Lucie de Bréchard
Managing Director & Partner
Joël Hazan Senior Visual Editor:
Manus Browne

Associate Visual Editor:

Callum Leyden

Copy Editor:
Jake Indiana

Director, Research & Insight:

Mike Nallan

Research Manager:
Tattiana Lamas

Associate Strategy Director:

Alex Rakestraw

Credits Luxury 3.0

62 Highsnobiety & BCG