Status migrates to the invitation once the object stops conferring it.

principle — attributed to Brian Feit

Luxury goods lost some of their power to confer status once buyers learned how cheaply they are actually made. Feit's read is that status did not disappear, it moved, and it moved to the thing that resists being copied: the invitation. Being at the right dinner, in the right suite, next to the right athlete, is the credential that cannot be manufactured at scale. Social media completes the mechanism, because an invitation only carries weight if it can be seen. The strategic implication is specific: build for the visible experience nobody else can duplicate, because that is the actual asset.

For brands still investing status-building budget in the object rather than the access around it.

access, luxury, status, scarcity