Danish company FLOWmarket has crowds of people flocking to buy the hippest new product: nothing.
The simple market is lined with rows of different cleanly designed bottles all with the same empty contents. They all have humorous or thought-provoking labels like “Unconditional Love”, “Clean Air”, “Pause”, “Good Vibes” and “Commercial Free Space,” encouraging buyers to ponder their own relationship with consumerism.
You’d expect this type of art exhibit to be a hit in New York or Europe,
where the Emperor’s new clothes are a dime a dozen, but some of the greatest success for the company has been in its exhibition in Shanghai. This is a very new phenomenon in a country where 200 million people are still living on less than $1 a day. Even in the city, where the average yearly pay is about 8,800RMB (about $1,100, more than 3 times what rural citizens earn) the average person would have to work for 2 days just to get one bottle of FLOWmarket’s “Clean Tap Water.”
This commentary on consumerism is apt. China is on a spending spree when it comes to high-end products. Despite a luxury consumer tax increase last year, China still increased luxury imports by 27.6% this year, making it a $4.85 billion business. 75% of that was spent on foreign cars, the most popular status symbol today. China is now the world’s 3rd largest consumer of luxury goods, and is expected to become the largest in another decade.
Obviously China’s nouveau riche–the 10% that control 45% of the wealth–are spending big. But a recent survey showed that 89% of those who claim to purchase luxury items are under 30 with assets less than $25,000. In sheer numbers at least, you are the ones leading this luxury trend. These “little emperors” of China’s One-Child policy wants to flex their spending power and still look like everyone else. The luxury logo helps with both.
This is why it’s so interesting to see a project like FLOWmarket catch on. Is it an acknowledgment of the absurdity of luxury spending? Or is it just another hip product to drop money on? Between all the Louis Vuitton bags, Cartier watches and Dior perfume that line the streets of China, it’s saying that they just need a little “Unconditional Love.” If they can afford it.
- Marc Matthews
Marc is currently based in Nanjing, China and will be reporting on youth trends in the country throughout the year.
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