Luxury poppies may fear their prestige from criminal gangs. Immigrant gang members like to wear expensive, branded clothes and watches, but the more these goods are associated with criminals, the more they are devalued in the eyes of other groups in society, warns a researcher.
Rolex watches, as well as clothes and accessories from Gucci, Canada Goose, Louis Vuitton and other prestigious brands, are increasingly popular among criminal gangs with an immigrant background, because the more logos on their clothes, the better they can show that they make serious money - through crime writes .
However, since these branded products are increasingly appearing on serious criminals, the prestige of the brands among other wealthy groups has decreased, draws attention to the Swedish news portal Samnytt. As they write, those who buy these expensive branded products indicate that they have a lot of money, good taste and belong to an exclusive social class.
However, all this is turned upside down when the products become fashionable even among the worst criminals in society.
– For many people, a brand is a cultural symbol, something that shows their identity and what they stand for. PhD and brand researcher at the Stockholm School of Economics, told the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
It has been pointed out that when a society like Sweden's erodes, and heavy criminals can compete with law-abiding, successful citizens for the most money, the prestige of exclusive goods that previously only law-abiding, successful people could afford erodes. .
Department stores and stores selling such branded goods are apparently worried about this development, because in the long term, high-status brands may become low-status brands in the eyes of the majority of society. They risk losing their traditional customers, and only criminals will buy from them, who after a while will also realize that the brands have lost their status and leave them for others. And this can easily mean bankruptcy.
Refusal to accept cash
Now, some luxury stores are trying to prevent criminals from buying from them by refusing to accept cash. They turned to this solution after that
Recently, an assassin, having just executed another criminal, went straight to the luxury department store Nordiska Kompaniet to buy designer clothes with the money he received for the murder.
How effective this method is at keeping criminals at bay is yet to be seen, but inaction is even worse.
"If certain brands are associated with gangs, crime and drugs, it can lead to your real target audience choosing other brands, because people don't want others to associate them with crime, " explained Eva Ossiansson.
At the same time, representatives of these manufacturers do not want to talk to the media about the problems. They fear that this would only draw more attention to the phenomenon and further accelerate the depreciation of their products.
Cover photo: Alexander Mahmoud / dn.se / X
