- Chinese millennials are redefining luxury status symbols by refocusing on quiet luxury and personal style.
- Solo travel, pre-loved luxury fashion, and fine dining are also gaining popularity.
- As this cohort approaches big life milestones, here's how their approach to luxury differs from their parents.
Millennials, aged between their late 20s and early 40s, are approaching the age for major life milestones: they've gained some ground in their careers, some are thinking about settling down with a family, and others have enough disposable income to splash on designer goods.
For the wealthiest among them, luxury status symbols can be a way to showcase your success to others. Rich millennials in the US have been known to splash out on their pets, new laundry rooms, and expensive coffee machines.
And over in China, rich millennials have their own ideas of what counts as a luxury status symbol. They've followed suit in embracing quiet luxury — expensive goods that aren't clocked by the untrained eye — and some are opting to have fewer kids to focus on their careers and are traveling solo.
Here are 11 luxury status symbols for Chinese millennials:
1. They've moved past allegiance with specific brands
Garish Gucci prints and flashy Louis Vuitton logos are no longer a top priority for luxury customers looking to display their style as a status symbol. These millennials are less loyal to specific brands than their parent's generation.
They "seek products and experiences that not only reflect their personal style and aspirations but also resonate with their cultural identity and values," Daniel Langer, a Pepperdine University luxury professor and CEO of the luxury strategy firm Équité, told Business Insider.
Customers want more personal items that reflect their values over a generic symbol of spending power.
It's more about an "inward feeling rather than an outward projection," said Amrita Banta, managing director of luxury insights firm Agility Research & Strategy.
2. Less loud luxury, more quiet luxury
Those who buy from designer brands are doing so more subtly. "Laoqianfeng" — a concept similar to the Western old-money aesthetic — has become a favorite of rich millennials in China. It refers to looking put together in an effortless way.
"This younger cohort is inclined to convey their elevated societal standing in understated ways," Elisa Harca, CEO of consultancy firm Red Ant Asia, told Business Insider.
Harca points to brands like The Row, which exemplify this style. The brand, founded by former child stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, prioritizes an anti-trendiness, focusing instead on simplicity, style, and comfort.
Even though the clothes may look understated, the key is in the details. Wealthy customers still want a high standard of customer service through talking one-on-one to sales assistance or being in contact with brands over WeChat to hear about exclusive products, Harca said.
Expect to see these rich millennials mixing luxury casual wear like T-shirts and sneakers with traditional luxury brands, Banta told BI.
3. Group travel is out, solo travel is in
Travel has also changed for today's rich millennials compared to their parents.
When their parts were growing up, China's world tourism was still in its infancy, which meant that organized tour groups were the travel option of choice for those with money. They were attracted to the safety and accessibility of traveling in a big group, said Harca.
But now younger Chinese people, especially those already well-traveled or have studied abroad, are opting for solo travel or traveling with small groups of friends.
Adventurous and immersive experiences to one-of-a-kind destinations are top of the travel list for this cohort — think glamping safaris and trips to Antarctica or Iceland, Banta told BI.
4. Pre-Loved Luxury Fashion
Pre-loved luxury fashion has taken off in the West as a more sustainable way to shop for designer brands. And many rich millennials in China are following suit.
For one, it's more sustainable. Reflecting your values in your purchases is becoming more important for customers, and as such, the environmental impact of the textile industry is a great concern for those buying clothes, said Olivia Plotnick, founder of Wai Social, a Shanghai-based social media agency.
So, luxury consumers are turning to secondhand clothes using platforms like Vestiaire Collective, The RealReal, and Mercari.
For some Chinese people, secondhand clothing items are associated with superstitions of bad luck and negative energy. But these beliefs hold less weight for younger generations, Harca told BI.
An added bonus of vintage and secondhand clothes is that they can be more individual than clothes found on the rack. Finding unique pre-loved clothes is a way to express individuality through fashion choices, Harca said. These items can have a more personal story behind them.
5. Buying products that come with an experience
Social media and the internet have made it easier to identify highly coveted items, so for luxury consumers, these brands are becoming too conspicuous.
Instead, they're looking for ways to make these things more individual.
An exec at drinks conglomerate Diageo told BI about how the company is trying to appeal to this type of consumer as its Asian whisky market grows. It's doing so by investing in reopening distilleries like Port Ellen off the coast of Scotland to offer premium whisky tours.
"It's not enough to just say this is 45-year-old Port Ellen cask. They want to say they journeyed to Scotland, tested all these different whiskies, and to tell you about the experiences they had," said Ewan Andrew, Diageo president of global supply chain & procurement.
There are two main reasons customers are drawn to these experiential goods, according to Langer.
First, some people are attracted to brands that make them feel like part of an exclusive club and find their egos satisfied by VIP experiences. Another group finds more satisfaction in the authenticity and individuality of these experiences over overt displays of wealth.
6. Fine dining in Michelin-starred and Black Pearl-rated restaurants
Another emerging hobby among this affluent group is enjoying the burgeoning fine dining industry.
The Michelin Guide, which entered China in 2016, attracted some criticism for being too Western-centric, according to the South China Morning Post. That's where the Black Pearl guide comes in: it was set up in 2018 by Meituan, a Chinese food delivery giant, to appeal to Chinese consumers from a Chinese perspective.
But both guides are still popular with luxury consumers, according to Banta. These customers like to tick off highly rated restaurants in their own city and wherever they travel.
7. Choosing not to have kids
There's also been a cultural shift in societal attitudes toward marriage and parenthood, changing how wealthy millennials approach life milestones.
Some see having kids as a bad investment. Instead, this generation is more inclined to prioritize personal freedom, career development, and individual pursuits over starting a family, according to Harca.
8. Those who want kids are keen to maintain a level of luxury after giving birth
Luxury postnatal retreats have become popular with wealthy millennials, and some can cost over 200,000 yuan ($28,000) a month, Banta told BI.
Some new mothers in China have been flocking to these luxury post-natal retreats in Singapore, Bloomberg reported. The centers offer around-the-clock care for new parents including lactation consultants, nannies, and chefs.
The custom of staying inside your home for a month to recuperate after childbirth has been documented as early as 960 in China.
Modern iterations of these retreats are taking the concept to new, luxurious heights.
Some of these retreats in Singapore, like Clover Suites, offer month-long trips for new mothers, which include aesthetics clinics, herbal baths, and in-house physiotherapy centers. At Clover Suites, new mothers can expect restaurant-style meals and can enjoy some rest while nurses or nannies take care of their children.
And when they come back home, they're sure to spend on expensive luxury cots too, Banta added.
9. Splashing out on luxury home decor
Chinese millennials are investing their money in luxury home décor to elevate their living spaces and enhance their quality of life, Plotnick told BI.
She added that brands like Tom Dixon and Muuto are popular choices for furniture, lighting, and home accessories in China.
"They are designing every room with painstaking detail," according to Banta.
10. Splurging on wellness
Luxury wellness and self-care products, such as skincare, beauty, and wellness supplements, are all gaining popularity among health-conscious Chinese millennials, Potnick told BI.
Potnick pointed to one popular brand, mesoestetic, which offers aesthetic treatments like peels and facial needling.
The pandemic spurred the wellness trend, particularly for Gen Z and millennials.
Post COVID, people became more interested in wellness supplements to aid diet and improve health, Gabriella Tegen, cofounder and CEO of e-commerce subscription platform Smartrr, previously told BI. And getting regular aesthetic treatments has become a top priority for affluent millennials, Banta told BI.
McKinsey 2024 wellness report showed that 85% of its survey participants from China had purchased more in the longevity and healthy-aging category in the past year than in prior years, with Gen Z and millennials leading the charge over older generations.
11. Brands that stand for something
This cohort of wealthy millennials in China is more concerned about shopping from sustainable brands.
Eco-friendly materials and sustainable production are an increasingly important consideration for luxury purchases, Plotnick said.
Independent luxury brands that offer more authentic products and those that draw on cultural heritage are also highly in demand, she said.