“Cultural Baggage”
Naomi Klein of her book No Logo believes that Western society is experiencing an 'etherialization of capitalism'. It's believed that it has drained the concept of production from the market and filled the vacuum with images, signs, symbols and branding, producing a semi-religious aura which expands to fill the public space (Seabrook, 2004:34). These symbols and logos have become attached to products, distorting how the consumer values the actual product. Skeggs explores this concept of the production of items being no longer created for their immediate use by the producer, but for their market use (Skeggs, 2005:56). Society has come to comparatively value its commodities on the social and cultural benefits rather than just the use value. This issue is further developed as the exchange value of products differs so dramatically from the use value that it must possess other qualities to be accepted by the consumer as of reasonable worth. The Louis Vuitton designer wears are a prime example of such culturally charged objects. With luggage price at thousands of dollars the distance between cost of labour hours and exchange rate differ dramatically. Through Skeggs theory of 'Propertising Culture' this essay will explore how the Louis Vuitton brand successfully acquires such high exchange value of its products, and what properties their products possess for consumers to believe the price is an inherent quality.
