The People Who Sell Luxury Can’t Buy It

Notes on working in an industry you can't afford

In an era where we’re witnessing so many “firsts” in luxury fashion, it can be easy to believe the industry is finally moving in the right direction.

And yes, those moments matter. They should be acknowledged. But it’s getting harder to ignore the widening gap—the way luxury fashion continues to become more exclusive, more inaccessible.

You could argue that’s the point. Luxury has always been rooted in exclusivity.

But how long does the industry stay in this cycle of two steps forward, four steps back?

One moment I feel hopeful. The next, I’m shaking my head—disappointed, but not surprised.

I was talking to a close friend I used to work with in luxury retail, and we kept coming back to the same realization: the people closest to luxury are often the ones most locked out of fully participating in it.

I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

The closer you get to luxury, the less accessible it becomes.

Of course, this varies depending on the role, the brand, the company. But generally, think about the people closest to luxury goods.

Who comes to mind?

More often than not, it’s a retail salesperson, a buyer, a showroom representative trying to meet their sales goal.

Now think about what those roles actually pay. I’ll give you a hint: not enough.

The people responsible for selling, selecting, and representing some of the most recognizable brands aren’t paid enough to actually buy into them.

The industry runs on people who can’t participate in it.

Retail workers selling $3,000 bags they can’t afford.

Showroom reps with sales goals higher than their annual salary.

Buyers working with budgets bigger than they’ve ever seen.

Assistants, junior creatives, interns.

These are the people quietly keeping the industry in motion—often without the pay, access, or ownership to match the role they play in it.

“Access” is often an illusion.

Being invited doesn’t always mean belonging. I know that about as well as anyone.

And being close to something doesn’t always mean you can have it.

When a single garment costs more than you make in a day—yet you’re tasked with selling it—it creates this strange in-between.

Here, I’m worthy enough to sell these things, but not paid enough to really buy into them.

Even insiders are priced out.

On a recent episode of Let’s Get Dressed with Liv Perez, 032c’s fashion editor-at-large Brenda Weischer spoke candidly about the reality for many people within the industry.

She even acknowledged that, as an editor, she doesn’t necessarily see herself as a luxury shopper—noting just how expensive these pieces have become (even with a press discount).

“All journalists, writers, fashion commentators—we’re all now talking about things that we have nothing to do with, because it’s so unattainable…We’re supposed to be experts on the product, and we’re so far removed from that.”

Herein lies the problem. If the experts can’t afford it, then something about the system feels—quite literally—out of reach. The distance between who understands luxury and who can participate in it is only growing.

So…who is luxury actually for?

And what does it require to participate? What—and who—does it exclude by design?

I’m not sure if the answer is higher compensation, lower prices, or something in between.

But what’s clear is that there’s a system in place that isn’t working for one side of the industry.

The people tasked with keeping it afloat are, in many ways, barely staying afloat themselves.

So what needs to change? I’m still thinking about that.