Open Secrets

Luxury used to feel distant. It existed behind the velvet ropes, on private planes, in glossy magazines, and arrived months after the shows in stores that intimidated you before you even stepped a foot inside. Desire was created through scarcity, not just of products, but of access and information. This world felt unreachable on purpose. 

Then came social media.

Suddenly, nothing in the world was distant anymore, you do not have to get out of ur bed to eat food from your favourite restaurant, there is swiggy, you do not have to go to a social event to find yourself a partner, there is tinder, most importantly you do not read magazines on magazines to find out more about birkins, you have reels that are curated into perfect loops. Runways that were once belonged to editors and buyers, are now live streamed for anyone with wi-fi and an instagram account.

A teenager in Mumbai, a student from Nairobi, or a fashion lover in a small town can experience the met gala in real time, analyse it, andddd critique it. Designers no longer spoke through press releases that happen once in six months, they spoke through stories, tiktoks, behind the scenes videos and comment sections. You can learn about craftsmanship, understand brand history, watch ateliers at work, and all through a screen. 

That is what makes social media so damn powerful, it has brought your desires so close to you that you forget it was a desire. You don’t need to be wealthy, connected, or for that matter physically present to feel close to your desires. 

But here is the paradox. 

As luxury becomes accessible visually, the aura it holds fades away. Let me put it in simple words, the more we see something, the less it feels like a fantasy or a desire. Slowly, the desire to own is shifting to desire to witness. We scroll, we save, and we admire, but the magic of scarcity just vanished into thin air. 

When everything is visible, nothing is rare.

And perhaps that's the price of being seen.