The New Versailles: Influencers, Luxury, and Consumer Culture

In 18th century France, the Palace of Versailles was a hub of luxury and authority that thrived in an era where the common people could barely afford to eat. As nobles lived in a utopia of festivities and indulgence, they could not even begin to comprehend the immense suffering that existed beyond their gates, and the people, for a time, watched in fascinated resentment before eventually burning it all down. Scroll through your TikTok feed on a given day and ask yourself: how different are we now, in the present, from pre-revolutionary France?

With rising gas prices, the threat of AI to every profession, and an increasing cost of living, the average American is drowning. Yet, the life of the influencer paints a different picture: brand trips, 'get ready with me’ videos, and haul content don't exist within that dull environment, rather, they thrive because of it. Companies exploit this contrast for profit through influencers, tempting the general public and consumers with the illusion of a lavish lifestyle.

Brand trips are the most obvious expression of this divide. They are created by skincare and makeup brands such as Rhode and Rare Beauty in order to promote their products by flying countless stars out to ski chalets and summer villas. They don't do this in order to sell a product, they do it to curate the desirable lifestyle that they want associated with their brand. That lifestyle can't be average, it has to be just as popular, exclusive, and fabulous as the thing that they are selling. Companies have to do this in order to make their products stand out because, other than that, none of what they are retailing is much different from anything else on the market. 

These trips aren't as far off from the Palace of Versailles as one might think. The palace was an engineered space designed to concentrate immense cultural influence in one location — so what is the difference between that and, say, Tarte Cosmetics' trips to Turks and Caicos or Dubai? They both seek to harvest jealousy in the heart of the ‘outsider’; the only difference is that, now, the strugglers can ease their insecurities by buying a twenty-two dollar lip treatment. 

Rhode and Reale Actives are the two best examples of this. Both companies are some of the most prominent makeup and skincare lines available right now. Although their followers may tell you otherwise, it’s not like either of them have some revolutionary technology that makes them stand out from the rest. The truth is that consumers are buying the ‘it girl’ lifestyle of the faces behind them.You are purchasing the ‘Rhode Pocket Blush,’ but you're also purchasing the essence of somebody like Hailey Bieber, and the endless ‘cool girl’ energy that she radiates. 

This habit isn't anything new, throughout the history of the US, citizens have made a habit of supporting the big businesses, which build off of their monopolies and brand names to make incomprehensible gains. Now, in the new age of social media, we have given those companies a face and follower count. By granting the biggest platforms to the people who already have privileged backgrounds, aren’t remotely relatable, and live lives far removed from the average person, we are repeating the patterns that have allowed the rich to get richer for centuries. 

Buying into these brands not only says something about our society, but also us as individuals. Even though influencers capitalize on their viewers, how much can we blame them if it is the audience that is buying into it? Consumers actively choosing to feed the cycle of capitalism because they don't want to reject the status quo is the exact reason why these unremarkable companies are so successful. Their ability to profit is built on the foundation of people's complacency, and we have to recognize that it is on us, as the customers, to stop it. As we move forward, in this time of uncertainty, it is of the utmost importance to question the people we support, and how their values reflect on us. 

Although we may not have an uprising quite as fiery as 18th century France, we shouldn't become accepting of this growing division. The peasants outside Versailles didn't change history by watching—and neither will we.