Lakeisha Goedluck writes about media, entertainment, fashion, and beauty through a lens of Black culture.

In a hyper-connected world, it feels like everything previously ‘insider’ is more available than ever: from behind-the-scenes access to the lives of public figures to travel experiences immersing people into worlds previously deemed unattainable. But while people embrace this community-based inclusivity and unprecedented access to their icons, they still yearn for touches of exclusivity to define their status.

As the age-old understanding of exclusivity is eroded, people are redefining status for themselves using a broad range of factors beyond solely economic ones. This new iteration of status is often based around increasingly niche and local signifiers – from luxury dupes to the rise of members clubs and closed-community spaces based on shared interests. Status is becoming a mode of belonging and connection with like-minded people.

People are erecting walls of their exclusive communities, relying on more subtle markers of identity. This is apparent with middle-class people fetishising working-class aesthetics, athletes turning to niche sports like padel, and social media groups organising around niche interests – spawning companies. As status-defined micro-trends on social media accelerate, brands face a challenge to keep up. If previously certain legacy items were automatically associated with exclusivity, now people are much more trusting of the UGC-defined vision of what status means. More than ever, speed, knowledge, inventiveness, and being plugged into the community determine what – and who – is in.

Insider Status

Amanda Seeley is a designer, having worked for luxury brands such as Burberry and Cecilie Bahnsen.

United States

Clothing, footwear, and accessories

Lifestyle

CNBC

Euronews

Forbes

The New York Times

Robb Report

Fast Company

Business Insider

Interview with Amanda Seeley conducted by the author

Canvas8

Mindless Mag

The Drum

Fortune

Fashion News

Gen Yers and Zers have become the primary luxury market shoppers – and many are growing tried of fast fashion and logomania. As they seek quality pieces that subtly indicate status over ostentatious displays of wealth, how is luxury outerwear brand Norwegian Wool satisfying this demand?