Quiet Luxury on TikTok:

Anthropological Reflections on Appearing Wealthy

Abstract

This paper analyzes consumption from an anthropological perspective, focusing on manifestations related to quiet luxury on TikTok, a social media platform. Employing the tools of virtual ethnography, the general objective of this paper is to comprehend how quiet luxury is constructed and disseminated on TikTok. For this purpose, observational and “wandering” procedures within digital contexts were followed, along with the monitoring of selected mediators. The specific objectives include: (1) understand quiet luxury as an analytical category of consumption; (2) conduct observations and “wanderings” within contexts related to quiet luxury, particularly on TikTok; and (3) reflect on quiet luxury from the perspective of the anthropology of consumption. The findings indicate that the concept has been promoted globally over the past five years and that quiet luxury reveals a cultural paradox centered on the significance of appearance, once it attempts to transcend class and power dynamics by materializing a visual aesthetic primarily aimed at “looking wealthy” through imitation practices.