Answer extracted from the Beyond Luxury podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How do brand symbols shape consumer identity and belonging from a working-class perspective?
For working-class communities, brands served as truthful status symbols of identity and instant community recognition—a Vision Streetwear skateboard t-shirt meant you were genuinely part of skate culture, a Metallica shirt signaled real musical commitment. Today, this authentic connection has eroded; the symbols remain, but the genuine link between the brand and the actual subculture has dissolved.
In the 1980s and 1990s, subculture brands functioned differently than they do today. A working-class kid wearing Vision Streetwear wasn't making a fashion statement disconnected from reality—they were broadcasting a membership card to an actual community. The shirt wasn't ironic or aspirational; it was evidence of participation.
As Pascal Monfort explains in the Beyond Luxury episode, these symbols represented something deeper than product branding. They were cultural markers that required genuine engagement with the subculture itself. A Metallica t-shirt meant you listened to metal; wearing it implied real knowledge and taste, not just aesthetic preference.
The erosion of authenticity has become visible in contemporary culture. Some contemporary rappers wear black metal shirts without understanding the genre, demonstrating how brand symbols have been stripped of their cultural foundation. The visual code remains recognizable, but the truthfulness has vanished.
"Brands that endure are the ones that see what others miss. It's all in the evolving human system."
Pascal Monfort — Chief Creative Officer at Le Coq Sportif and Founder of REC Trends Marketing. Monfort spent nearly a decade at Nike as Consumer Culture and Innovation Director, leading qualitative research connecting trends, fashion, and the sports universe before founding REC, a strategic foresight agency advising luxury and sportswear brands globally including Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Lacoste.
The working-class perspective is particularly revealing here because it highlights the difference between authentic adoption and aesthetic consumption. When a subculture naturally claims a brand—as the Lacosteiros did with Lacoste in São Paulo—it creates a living cultural symbol. The Lacosteiros wore Lacoste and Oakley exclusively, got crocodile tattoos, and created a genuine ecosystem around the brand. This wasn't marketing; it was real belonging.
Understanding this distinction matters for any brand hoping to maintain cultural relevance. As explored further in this discussion on subculture strategy, the brands that survive are those that recognize when a community authentically claims them, rather than those that try to engineer adoption through visibility alone.
From Subcultural Symbol to Commodified Image
The shift from authentic subcultural adoption to detached consumption represents a fundamental change in how brands operate. What once required genuine participation—you had to actually skateboard to credibly wear Vision Streetwear—now requires only the ability to purchase the aesthetic.
This matters because it reveals something about how mass visibility has replaced authentic gatekeeping. Early subcultures were small, geographically concentrated, and self-policing. You couldn't fake belonging without being known in your community. Today, global digital distribution means anyone can signal membership in a subculture without ever engaging with its core practices or values.
For working-class kids in the 1980s, a brand symbol was a compressed statement of identity: who you were, what you valued, where you belonged. The symbol worked because it was backed by real knowledge and real participation. That compression of meaning is what's been lost, leaving the symbol intact but hollow.
See also
What insights emerged from studying Lacoste subcultures across different global regions for the brand's 90th anniversary campaign?
In São Paulo, the Lacosteiros subculture wore Lacoste and Oakley exclusively, getting crocodile tattoos and haircuts, dancing with vintage Lacoste items at parties and events.
How can luxury brands distinguish between creating culture versus merely achieving cultural visibility?
The distinction depends on the brand's foundation and leadership. Brands with deep cultural links—such as Prada, which is rooted in literature through its collaborations—create genuine culture rather than chasing visibility.
What methodology does a cultural strategist use to identify early adopter communities and emerging subcultures for luxury brands?
Pascal Monfort uses a three-step REC methodology: Research (deep desk research on markets, benchmarks, and behaviors), Expert consultation (recruiting specialists), and Consumer studies (typically 10 to 24 consumers per project).