Why are China's elites going for "quiet luxury"?

China's elites are rewriting the luxury playbook with "quiet luxury", or stealth wealth. CNA's East Asia Tonight host Otelli Edwards finds out what this means and whether this trend is here to stay.
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[@user-sf5sv2hk8v]

Rich men spend like poor men, and poor men spend like rich men

[@theinazmie2472]

@@user-sf5sv2hk8v today's society... 😂

[@ankur20010]

But that is keeping the capitalism running. Imagine if poor people really stop spending?

[@leosonbentley2770]

This is monstrously false. No rich man spends his money like a poor person. This is just something you made up.

[@Heman88888]

Rich man invests his money, poor man spends his money.

[@Blueblackberry-ex2xc]

Unfortunately the poor just like me has nothing at all to spend. Go China

[@coinrotator]

The portrayal of wealthy Chinese individuals mirrors the fishbowl phenomenon. Essentially, Chinese people are experiencing a phase of wealth stabilization and self-awareness similar to what Westerners have already gone through. In time, they'll become just as concerned about organic food and plastic cups as yoga moms were in the West a decade ago.

[@acethis]

The way you deliver your narration in both English and Mandarin with ease deserves 2 thumbs up 👍 👍

[@delvingoh9749]

can only say ur standard very low

[@Scambuster491]

It’s easy in Singapore.

[@csy897]

Agreed, very well written and delivered

[@hermesliteratus882]

Fair enough, she communicates effectively, though she speaks both languages with a heavy accent.

[@Scambuster491]

@@hermesliteratus882 what accent? Lol.

[@mrartdeco]

Because everyone is tired to see word BALENCIAGA and BAPE on everyones clothes

[@stonkytong]

BAPE is not even luxury 😭

[@mrartdeco]

@@stonkytong but they think it is 😭😭😭 also gucci

[@maynotbe]

because the government told them to tone down the flaunting on the media, for general public's morale

[@jofujino]

That and a lot of the "luxury" brands that slap their logo on all their merch have damaged their reputation and no longer signal luxury like they are supposed to. The other day I saw a homeless woman (admittedly she was at a homeless shelter not living on the street) with a Luis Vuitton bag. I see my co-workers who I know aren't secretly wealthy because they wouldn't be working a low paying relatively dead end job with supposedly luxury bags too. In order to differentiate themselves from the mass-market "luxury" brands the ones still trying to maintain their reputation and exclusivity are dropping their labels.

[@jameslee2935]

How am I supposed to spot Chinese tourists without them wearing Balenciaga t-shirts and sporting Chanel handbags?

[@sqinnn]

You can simply hear them miles away

[@ghexaier]

they may look wealthy outside, but the inside won't be wealthy

[@sew_gal7340]

You just watch for them spitting

[@prana888]

the squatting style

[@buggyman286]

Money cannot buy class

[@JojoJoget]

Have they ever tried no luxury if they are gonna pretend to be humble?

[@bennytn5518]

That's what I do.

[@JYYP-jz7qq]

Hahaha that’s not how it works. They still want to show off their worth. The vibe kinda like hey I’m rich but I don’t wanna show that I’m rich. But I am. But I am not actively trying to show it off. But. I am lmao

[@marimo66666]

they loud we complain, quiet also complain. can you stop kpkb?

[@sew_gal7340]

The luxury is more than just the name , it also means higher quality materials(and more fabric)...cashmere is gonna feel much nicer than unprocessed wool that scratches your skin. The future is gonna be opposite of skimpy clothing because fabric will be very expensive so the more fabric on your body: the richer you are.

[@airypotty]

There used to be a time when if you wore a tee shirt provided by a brand for free, you would be considered a walking billboard. Worst is when you pay so much to be their advertisers. Glad people are slowly waking up to their senses.😊

[@erictaylor3897]

This a trend for all rich people around the world. High quality clothing is important, ostentatious luxury is outdated.

[@happymelon7129]

Soon Chinese parents will look at their children at dinner time and say ： "If you don't study hard, you will only be able to drive a Mercedes-Benz and a BMW in the future."

[@chrismanchin]

😁

[@PlanetXenornoph]

😂😂 Awesome

[@uyu4271]

BMW and Mercedes aint luxury brands in China anymore. Every Chinese knows those German cars are so tech outdated than any Chinese EV. Buying Mercedes and Benz is kind for stupid people with too much money that they dont know what to do with it. Rich people dont drive, thats why Huawei Aito M9 is specially designed for those people who sit back with a movie on big screen

[@bennytn5518]

In fact, minimally desirable women in Shanghai have been known to skip BMW drivers for being poor. Porsche is the passing grade. If you don't own a Porsche or Bentley/Aston/Ferrari/Lambo/Rolls, you aren't even qualified for a date with these women who are above 6.

[@lindaliang3825]

I have a secret to tell you, a BMW and a Honda feel very much the same when you're driving it.

[@liamporter1137]

At least she knows Chinese. Some improvements.

[@gamering9465]

We have something like this in America. The bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

[@tonywei423]

Yes, I felt that when I was in China recent times, people more look for the quality of textile, comfort and tech of cloth, something as simple as no edge underwear ( the edge and label all gone because the extra skin rub discomfort from them)

[@pinkpotatoes9849]

Not the China Chinese in Australia!! Wears 'Chanel' and heels to the supermarket and shopping malls!

[@hermesliteratus882]

It's dreadful.

[@rwjh3698]

good luck Australia🤣

[@andreandree4384]

​@@rwjh3698good luck world, they are everywhere , even crossing USA borders illegally 😂😂😂

[@larryc1616]

Sexy 💋

[@griffinina]

To people in the comment who said the anchor has good Mandarin pronunciation: guys, this is Channel News Asia, a Singaporean news channel, so of course many people there have no problem with pronouncing Chinese words.

[@alanyip8416]

Singapore is a bilingual country but most of the people can speak four languages 😂

[@huangzb8060]

​@@alanyip8416Rubbish. Most Sinkies could only speak 2 languages.

[@kelvin.008]

Not forgetting money laundering 😊

[@annle9671]

China with the population of 1.5 billion has 969 billionaires is not more than US which only have 350 million people yet 691 billionaires. If you switch over to percentage.

[@mahmoudghoneim8004]

Does the percentage really matter when both are 0.0000000000 of both populations. 😂

[@macolet9711]

​@@user-ni2os1bq7v969 billionaire, 707m middle class. The rest of the 800m are poor.

[@jonwick7635]

brand is for people to look rich

[@krollpeter]

nobody can buy class

[@theinazmie2472]

​@@krollpeterIndeed...

[@KT-lp1ek]

or people who can afford them too. Goes both ways.

[@stonkytong]

brand can be quality too. its good to be rich

[@theinazmie2472]

@@stonkytong ......good to be rich... But rich doesn't mean quality

[@bensky888]

china should impose 100% tariff to these luxury brand from EU and US in retaliation to them.

[@hongqi5734]

Absolutely!

[@ondreiii]

There’s no local luxury substitute, unfortunately. Unless they’ve okay switching underwear from Calvin Klein to Cvlain Klnrei. 🌚💀🤡

[@bensky888]

@@ondreiii no need to have substitute chinese can live without luxury brand. china accounted for 30% of the world market for luxury brand. its a loss for them not china.

[@kwethew8562]

Not 100% 500% increase that reasonable.

[@larryc1616]

US?

[@GarryChoo]

Quiet luxury: Amazon Essentials= more money in your account.

[@tangina5172]

Not a fan .. this luxury is not a statement.. it’s crass .. individual style .. quiet elegance .. pleasant personality.. this is luxury

[@NeidlichesSchwert]

It speaks to a kind of emptiness they're feeling inside. Unlettered, unpracticed, unfulfilled.

[@ghexaier]

the masses would never understand that

[@stonkytong]

If you’re a multi millionaire, there’s really nothing else to spend on but branded

[@user-dt7rr4ot1b]

@@NeidlichesSchwert Speaking of education, I wonder if your students can beat Chinese students in international math or physics competitions. Oh you also want to say universal education, poor people in China can not afford to go to school, sorry, China is 9 years of compulsory education, is an individual to go to school, more than 10 million college graduates every year, let me see what country you are, look down on Chinese education

[@nylyyyn7912]

@@user-dt7rr4ot1b😂Éducation is not about « grades »

[@miguelsun5253]

Which probably explains why the top 1% is now giving up "quiet luxury" for "no luxury at all"

[@donswee914]

Maybe now they prefer quiet washing machine than loud noisy washing machine.

[@AnUrbanGypsy]

Rinse and repeat function needed.

[@starlet88sg]

Quiet luxury? lol they like to show off no? they just replaced the logo to price tag lol

[@Zed-cb8yz]

Being rich on the internet is now banned

[@tastyaffordabledelicious7391]

I get buying for quality and durability. Never understood the need to impress others. People who treat you differently because of what you have on are not worthy of your judgment, imo.

[@LAQueja]

I concur mister tad.

[@jw999]

People in China are getting smart about luxury. Singaporeans... Not quite...

[@ditsygirl5409]

You didn’t read news? Chinese government has recently banned accounts due to their ostentatious show of luxury wealth. It’s a sign that showing wealth is a no no now. 😂

[@tarawibowo]

Yes, it is the one and only "True luxury style"

[@hlwonka8783]

Personally , if you are well off thro own effort; no reason to portrait / show off your wealth. LV is for those who dont have but need to show off.

[@DT-hc4vp]

Has anyone seen the news lately that Dior sells a luxury bag at $2800 for which it pays the supplier $57? 😂

[@larryc1616]

That's all luxury purses.

[@lmc333]

So they finally realized flashy loud luxury is stupid...

[@asj685]

The Kardashians will never learn

[@momoc9068]

genuine old rich is a cultivated attitude, not superficial brands with or without label.

[@ThickBanana]

"How dare people show that they've been successful?" - CCP

[@devildevil2271]

It's another word for 5 Cs

[@arcencielc2065]

Oh, Otelli can speak Mandarin? She says those 3 Chinese terms in proper pronunciation.

[@ymhktravel]

She actually came from a SAP school.

[@fromtheoutside37]

"quiet luxury" ? shouldn't you and I be ignorant of this trend ?

[@larryc1616]

If you're poor

[@dianamsw245]

It’s call being modest and reshaping the culture of money.

[@Rapture77]

Avoiding logo overload and brand fatigue? Or just avoiding political scrutiny by the 'common prosperity' police ?

[@Danderman888]

Hahahaha... It's not just the Chinese who are trending that way. It should be made a norm rather than a trend. Loud luxury is more than ugly. It is downright socially disruptive.

[@phoenix5054]

Imagine paying 20x for boring pieces you can buy literally everywhere else.

[@eddios9018]

Don't spend on Luxury item because you only give more money for only a small quality

[@thee_others]

The talk about quiet luxury and art/luxury collectibles are totally 2 different concepts. I do not mix these 2 together. The motivation to obtain these are not the same. If I spend money on quiet luxury items, I treat it as sunk cost.

[@lamentate07]

Asians seem more clueless about this distinction than westerners in my experience, especially the Chinese. Quiet luxury is an exaggerated 'trend' anyway.

[@Jianfa88Tsai]

Billion dollar insight. People buy luxury that they can wear to feel good when showing off. It’s hard to tell the difference between real and fakes unless with specialist equipment or trained professional eyes. Pivotal. How do you wear land or property deed titles or tell others you own this land or that property so they know at a glance that you are ultra rich and not pretend rich?

[@theman8447]

And why are they doing that?

[@arveedibira2454]

Just doing the "quiet" ... for now 😂😂😂

[@jcc1889]

Reminds me of the laundering of 1mdb money on those auctions

[@alphaTrader.oo1]

Mentality still new money if you talk about US China

[@stephenwonghongweng4298]

The US is steadily moving towards Hugo Boss for style if you get what I mean.

[@MasterLeong888]

green dragon lets go

[@lingy74]

Then eventually no one will wear brands because everyone will want people to think that they’re all into quiet luxury and the rich will start being flashy again ad infinitum 😂 It’s like how British upper class stopped using spices when it became cheap but hoarded it when it was rare and expensive. People are such silly beans.

[@millionmiles3792]

thats good for society

[@terencetong4896]

If i am billionaire. I would try to dress normal like everyone else and keep low key

[@user-gj2fz4nt1n]

#being pretender person-liar

[@Jianfa88Tsai]

After I bought a $10 million luxury item and I want to resell the same undamaged “second hand” item the next day, people only buy it for less than $5 million dollars, don’t I make a loss of $5 million+? Luxury cars and luxury retail items are known since ancient times not to give birth to future new or more money.

[@stellacheng6023]

Finally, comfortable with their $.

[@Tan92lfc]

stealth wealth to items Collection is off topic

[@silversurfergw]

My luxury is missing.

[@tom23245]

Rich people are mortal, too.

[@eferlinindonesia1910]

Well the answer to the question in this video title is that the Chinese government fined those people who flaunt their wealth

[@V1C70R7ZE]

for those tycoons no place to spent then spend at luxury item, they treat $10000 as $10 for own self, but treat for others $10 like $10000.. lol

[@tomr164]

And all from Europe...

[@wsiak340]

The interviews completely got sidetracked from the original point of topic. Not only were the wrong people interviewed, no further discussions about the quiet luxury trend were ever asked. Very bad and confusing journalism.

[@tangt4860]

Corrupt monies must of course be kept out of tge radar.

[@Bunny.8i]

because you don't want the government to take an interest in you.

[@galahad6001]

Yes because they are being watched

[@havencat9337]

very good change! the gov did great to curb crazy flaunting and worship of some names...

[@lshj82]

Talk talk talk.

[@jinari4820]

It’s still conspicuous consumption

[@Branch7ShuZhi]

Luxury items as investment 🤣?! More than just recession prove! It allows money to and fro ......

[@brentjordan856]

Lol always coming up with new trends will take a long time to replace. 😅

[@kennethguinto4862]

and they paid for this... ironic.

[@Toshi8305]

Real quiet luxury is being 42 walking down Wukang Road in Shanghai and having social media vloggers stop you for interviews due to your bulging delts and visible 6 pack through a shirt that cost 30 rmb on Taobao.

[@tridentmaple]

Talking nothing about quiet luxury at all!

[@JRKZT]

China late to the QL party

[@KKGoh5125]

quiet luxury r Uniqlo and H&M

[@KT-lp1ek]

I always mix and match. I'll wear a Louis Vuitton sweater $4000 with pair of jeans from Levis that was purchased on sale $29.99. I bought my first and only Rolex watch when I was 24....now 57, I still wear the same watch. And I have never bought any other watch, not even an Apple watch. I like designer clothes but also shop discounted items too.

[@johntoh6552]

Yay! She said Gen "Zed" instead of Gen "Zee", at about 1:22.👍👏😀

[@ajarnchristian]

That’s how like many non-Americans say “Z” including the UK and Australia

[@johntoh6552]

@@ajarnchristian Yairs... the UK should be safe - for now - but I notice that some TV personalities in Oz are using the American "zee"... Well, you can't stop change: when was the last time you heard someone say "wireless" instead of "radio"? Once upon a time, we'd say, "Let's meet Sid at the pub! " Nowadays, we probably follow the Yanks and say, "Let's meet up with Sid at the pub! "

[@vanesapang2648]

Aren't they a little late to the party?

[@luxi2701]

Chinese Gen Z don’t wanna be in the snobbish club anyway, they prefer purchasing Chinese traditional clothes such as Hanfu.

[@brentjordan856]

Defeats the purpose in the story narration of a quiet luxury story. 😅

[@idrisow9791]

Current China drought and flood, foreign business exits, PMS below 50 not ever mentioned.

[@directxxxx71]

PMS??????😂😂😂

[@BeelP.]

China is doing fine, thank you. The official PMI covers a lot of 4th rung areas and semi rural industries as well, and these have been in decline since forever as people migrated to the coastal and larger interior cities. The Caixin index's strength is a reflection of that. China's GDP is almost certainly growing faster than the country you are from, still.

[@lwmtx6156]

U obviously only know China from western media.

[@vegamoonlight]

Certain parts of the US are wrecked by new typhoons. But the way their media reporting them is like it's new normal.

[@vicentvanmole]

US said China economy is in trouble & collapsing, government need helps from them !

[@bluemarlin9110]

this sara talk for two minutes and did not address the question of the interviewer

[@graceantonio3573]

❤😊❤ WHY NOT? IT MAKES SENSE. BEAUTIFUL... SIMPLICITY IS BEAUTY. QUIET SOPHISTICATION & HUMBLE LIVING. NOT FLASHY INDEED.

[@animatrix7218]

glad that these billionaire are following my trend

[@youtubeattacker]

Don’t forget the sourgrapes, cynical community too. They are everywhere especially in the comment sections. They couldn’t mind their own business most of the time. 😂

[@knoxtan325]

😢😢😢

[@melodychan2765]

Wedding gifts and engagement gifts

[@ariesalcaide7768]

As of 2024, China has 814 billionaires and the US is following closely with 800 billionaires.

[@Zed-cb8yz]

And china got 1.5 billion people

[@nftyninja]

Per capita debt ratio would be interesting lol.

[@SIR_RR]

The gap between rich and poor in china are the largest gap on any Asian countries, the romanticism of this situation is just disgusting.

[@handymathph6053]

Silent Grabbing of Islands and territory😅

[@surmaaktar-q2g]

I know wealthy women who carry replicas. The main reason they gave is that they just understand the value of money and don't want to spend too much money on bags..so more people choose fashionable ex-Luxcon bags. However, they do spend a lot of money on fine jewelry and other things niceshopx

[@whatnameshouldichoose854]

老前鋒 (Lao Qian Feng) means old striker like 37 year old Cristiano Ronaldo. 新前鋒 (Xin Qian Feng) means new/young striker like Erling Haaland.

[@juliusdelacruz7549]

Alice Guo no wonder ❤

[@wymanspace4173]

Sounds disgusting.

[@bruceyung70]

Billionaire 🎉wow😂

[@Autonomous19]

You are definitely wrong. Fake news. There are many mainlanders here in Singapore. There average income per capital is less than 1k. Don't send fake news.

[@terencetong4896]

If you wear luxury, people know you are trying to pretend to be rich . This is a new label for being poor

[@madmax8318]

Money laundering.

[@NoneofyourBusiness-ii1ps]

at least slightly less tasteless I will give you that

[@Brighton-qd3md]

ASIANS will always go for LUXURY BRAND!

[@Kaiwann1]

Lmao, Chinese people aren't quiet at all.

[@pikaqgg2129]

People who can't afford their mortgage thumbs up

[@Kevin-xz4jq]

CNA running cover for the fact that Chinese disposable income and spending is plummeting. "Chinese are not broke. They're just intentionally buying less luxury goods". Lol..sure

[@sps6]

Have money to buy?😂