People used to feel they needed a Louis Vuitton to fit in. But younger girls don’t think like that anymore.

Monday 28th September, 04:52 AM JST

Izumi Hiranuma, 19. The Japanese luxury brand market, worth $15 billion to $20 billion, has been among the hardest hit by the global economic crisis, according to a report by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. (New York Times)

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5 Comments

Kronos at 02:52 PM JST - 28th September

Not because of a change of heart but a change in financial ability because of crisis methinks.
kokorocloud at 03:04 PM JST - 28th September

Though I don't know many younger Japanese girls with Louis Vuitton bags begin with (I guess I live in the wrong part of Japan, haha), I'd agree, it's probably more because they can't afford it anymore. They'll probably just find something else to make into a status icon, just like they do everywhere else in the world.
XXXXX at 03:31 PM JST - 28th September

Young girls and quality purses just don't go together anyway, it's like they're wearing diamonds before reaching a certain maturity. Tacky, very tacky.
Cos at 11:14 PM JST - 29th September

20 yrs ago, all the daigakusei had a 100 000 yen Louis Vuitton bag... like my grand-aunt. They looked stupidly kitsch (not you Auntie). Now, they all have a few 20 000 yen Coach bags. Big difference.

Well, she calls that "thinking", I call it "shopping".
womanforwomen at 11:27 PM JST - 29th September

Yeh! My favorite LV purse topic.

I wonder if even Louis Vuitton family carry those bags? I am not sure if we can allude the economy alone for the downward trend of the brand stuff. I want to think that eventually, the young girls are taught to think this way by their mothers who once thought that every woman must hav an LV purse.