How does access to luxury fashion challenge self-identity? Exploring women's practices of joint and non-ownership

Abstract

This paper examines how the practices of access, borrowing, and sharing (including shared purchase) influence women's self-identity in the world of luxury clothing and accessories. In the context of joint- or non-ownership, using 28 semi-structured interviews across three age groups, this qualitative research explores and contrasts the various practices of access, borrowing, and sharing (including shared purchase) with regard to the self–object relationship. The results underline the identification and appropriation process at stake in access to luxury fashion, which runs counter to prior research on access-based consumption. The research shows the liquid transformation of self-identity inherent in access, borrowing, and sharing practices (but not present in shared purchase), as well as the positive contamination of the owner's image in the case of borrowing, sharing, and making shared purchases – but not in the case of access.