Subcultural ostensive luxury as a creative and mimetic process: The case of the Sapeurs Parisiens

Abstract

Luxury brands use an authoritarian discourse. It governs the ostentatious and conformist consumption that lays down social distances. Some subcultures are adopting luxury brands for ostensive practices that blur social distinctions. Such consumption can be problematic for luxury brands, which lose control over their discourse and have to satisfy both their traditional clients and this new clientele. The purpose of this research is to understand the practices, processes and individual and collective effects of subcultural ostensive use of luxury brands and the mimetic mechanisms found therein. An empirical study was carried out on the Sapeurs Parisiens, a subculture of African dandies. An interpretive analysis was carried out on interviews as well as photographic, videographic and netnographic observations. This enables us to understand this subculture as an individuating practice involving luxury items which takes place through a process of hybridisation and creates a specific grotesque genre. This research contributes to the distinction between ostentatious and ostensive luxury and a better understanding of creative mimetic processes. Ostensive luxury is an interesting source of co-creativity and raises questions about the risks facing brands.