When we’re shopping for premium items, most of us don’t think we’re buying into luxury lies. We think we’re getting the real thing, because that’s how it’s marketed to us. We wouldn’t have a reason to think otherwise unless someone points it out to us, which is exactly what happened to me recently.
A few weeks ago, I was casually scrolling on Instagram, as one does, and I came across a reel in which the speaker discussed luxury lies and misrepresentations. He discussed how synthetic luxuries, such as wasabi and vanilla, have become mainstream. My initial reaction was, yes, wasabi and vanilla are popular, so what? Then, as you start watching, he introduces the fact that most of what we experience as wasabi or vanilla is only a simulacra – a synthetic version of the real thing, even though they’re not presented to us as that.
The video, only about a minute long, got me wondering about the bigger picture of what luxury means today and the ever-widening gap between what’s marketed as luxury and what’s actually in the product. As it turns out, luxury can, and often does, lie.
This article is part 1 of a 3-part series in which I dive into the lies of luxury and the biggest problems in modern luxury:
- Part 1: Why you’re not getting what you think you are
- Part 2: How we got here – the cultural and economic history
- Part 3: What does it matter? The moral distinction between “affordable alternative” and “deliberate deception“
How to Define “Real Luxury”
Before we get any further, we need to define what real luxury means. The Cambridge Dictionary defines luxury as “something expensive that is pleasant to have but is not necessary.” In the same vein, Dictionary.com defines it as “a material object, service, etc., conducive to sumptuous living, usually a delicacy, elegance, or refinement of living rather than a necessity.”
Thus, what makes something so special is its scarcity, origin, and craft, and the fact that we don’t need it to survive. Real luxury is difficult to obtain, and by its very nature, can’t be sold in bulk. Using the two examples I mentioned in the introduction, wasabi is difficult to grow and naturally grows in shady, brisk mountain river valleys in Japan. True vanilla is the result of the hand-pollination of the vanilla flower, which blooms for only a day.
We will get into these examples in more depth in the next section, but for now, it’s important to understand that true luxury is rare for a reason. You can’t bring a wasabi plant to industrial farms in California or Florida and expect it to thrive. The issue is that we are often not told when something is a facsimile; I didn’t realize that the green paste on my sushi plates wasn’t real wasabi until about a year ago. I felt cheated and lied to, and it made me angry. Why can’t people be more honest? Which then led me to investigate what else isn’t really what it’s marketed as.
The Fashion Luxury Lies: What’s Really in Your Wardrobe
Cotton
Cotton is a staple and feels like a safe bet. When you think of natural fibers, you’re more than likely going to think of cotton. It’s natural, familiar, and has been a wardrobe staple for centuries. Seeing “100% cotton” on a clothing tag, though, tells you less than you’d think. You may have caught yourself thinking, “How can a 100% cotton t-shirt be $9 from Old Navy and $550 from Balenciaga?” It isn’t just the branding; it’s due to variability in cotton fiber length, origin, and processing.
Manufacturers determine cotton quality using a variety of indicators, including grade (looking at contamination, whiteness, and the presence of neps – tangled fibers), maturity, fiber length, uniformity, strength, and fineness (fiber thickness). (This article from Stylem has a detailed, informative guide to cotton and explains these indicators in-depth.)
Unless a brand uses quality cotton like Egyptian or Pima, it’s unlikely to disclose its source. Sometimes it’s not even cotton at all – fast fashion giant Shein, for example, uses synthetic fibers in 82% of its products. According to a 2025 report by Solidaridad and Good On You, which covered the top 100 fashion brands, only 29 of those shared how much cotton they use, and a mere 25 published a full material breakdown.
If you’re looking for quality cotton, you can get a lot of information just by looking and feeling. Natural cotton has a dry, porous appearance – compare that to synthetic fibers, which look coated or unnaturally smooth. To the touch, quality cotton should feel slightly cool, smooth, and soft – not too slippery, rough, or stiff. Our fingertips surprisingly convey a wealth of information about fabrics.
Leather
Good leather is something you can smell, feel, and touch. It’s a sensory experience. Unfortunately, for someone looking to buy quality leather, it can feel unbelievably frustrating to tell the real from the fake. For example, you might see a sign for “genuine leather” and, understandably, think it means good-quality, genuine leather. That term, though, is more for marketing than anything.
The item it’s referring to could be made from any grade of leather, from full-grain (the highest quality) to bonded (the lowest quality). In an excellent blog post, Silver & Riley, an Italian leather goods manufacturer, wrote that “within the leather industry, anything labeled ‘genuine leather’ is actually one of the lowest grades leather available.”
Then there’s the issue of fake leather, which I have strong feelings about and have written about before. I’ve seen countless signs that say “vegan leather.” You see the word vegan and think, “Oh, that must be a sustainable choice.” In reality, many of these vegan leathers are made from petrochemicals that harm the environment, such as polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). On the flip side, some innovative designers are making vegan leathers from cork or pineapple leaves. How would you know which one is which if the retailer doesn’t specify?
To identify good-quality leather, the simplest step is to look for a stamp on its underside. This stamp should say full-grain, top-grain, split-grain, or genuine. Full-grain is the highest level of quality and the one you should look for; avoid any “genuine” leather. If you can’t find a stamp or the item doesn’t have any labeling, and you’re not sure whether it’s real leather or vegan leather, you can smell and/or touch it. Real leather smells animal-like; fake leather smells like chemicals. Similarly, real leather should be warm and supple; fake leather feels cold.
Cashmere
Cashmere, also known as cashmere wool, is a fiber that grows naturally on the undercoat of cashmere goats (I wonder where they got that name), pashmina goats, and a few other types of goats. China, Mongolia, and Afghanistan are the primary manufacturers of the fiber, which is desirable because it helps regulate the body’s temperature by keeping it warm in winter and cool in summer.
The key to quality cashmere products is in their processing: producers sort high-quality cashmere to exclude coarse hairs or other impurities. The best cashmere comes from people who hand-comb the goats during shedding season.
Because quality cashmere is intensely labor-intensive, it’s susceptible to luxury lies. Some clothing marketed as having cashmere fiber has been found to contain little to no cashmere. For example, the Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute pursued legal action against Etsy in 2022, finding that products advertised as “100% cashmere” were actually made of polyester, acrylic, and other synthetic blends. The case was settled out of court in 2023.
When shopping for cashmere, it’s best to know what to look for. The website Cashmere.org suggests checking the tag carefully. You want to look for an item with a high percentage of cashmere fiber; if there’s no percentage, that’s a red flag, as that violates the law in every country.
The Food Luxury Lies: What’s Really on Your Plate
Wasabi
I already talked a bit about wasabi at the start of this article, but this is the luxury that surprised me the most. What we’re served on our plates at sushi restaurants isn’t wasabi at all; it’s horseradish, mustard, and green food coloring. I have not seen any restaurant be transparent about this, and I’m not sure why they aren’t. I wouldn’t care if it’s horseradish, I just don’t want to be lied to! I should mention, though, that the flavors of hot mustard or horseradish and wasabi are similar, so the fake wasabi isn’t an outright lie, just not the truth.
The wasabi plant grows naturally in Japan, the eastern parts of Russia, and the Korean peninsula. Conditions have to be just right for the plant to thrive, which is why it is such a delicacy. It is relatively easy to tell what is real wasabi and what isn’t: in all likelihood, if you’re not in Japan or an extremely high-end restaurant, you’re not getting real wasabi. Also, wasabi is not as green as its artificial counterpart. Just two weeks ago, I stumbled upon a jar of real wasabi (pictured) and was surprised at its color.
I know that the horseradish mixture restaurants serve us is similar, and I also understand why real wasabi is a luxury, but it would be nice to know what the real thing is and what is only trying to be.
Vanilla
I love vanilla, and you can pry an iced vanilla latte from my cold dead hands (I’m writing this while sipping one actually). However, I learned only a few years ago that much of what we experience as vanilla, whether that’s beverages, baked goods, or scents, is actually synthetic vanillin, an alternative to vanilla extract. It is made from a single chemical compound derived from petrochemicals or lignin, a byproduct of the wood and paper industries.
Synthetic vanillin is incredibly cheap, which is why it’s everywhere. And understandably so when you consider how labor-intensive true vanilla is. It originates from a vanilla orchid, which flowers only once a year. Natural pollinators of the flower don’t exist outside of Central America, so every single bean grown elsewhere has to be hand-pollinated by workers using a small stick that transfers the pollen from one flower into the stigma of another. This includes Madagascar, which consistently produces the most vanilla globally. After pollination, the beans take months to cure, dry, and develop their flavor. It’s the seeds of these beans that we consume.
In this context, we can understand the prevalence of synthetic vanilla, which mimics vanilla’s primary flavor note but lacks complexity, much as in our comparison of the feel of imitation vs. real leather. And just like leather, labeling becomes an issue: when you see “vanilla extract” on something, that means you’re getting true vanilla. However, when you see “vanilla flavor” or “natural flavor” on a label, you can assume it contains synthetic vanilla. Most people wouldn’t know the difference, and brands typically aren’t in a rush to explain the nuance.
Honey
The last of our luxury lies is honey, which is one of the most adulterated foods on the planet, and the data confirms this. A 2023 European Commission investigation tested 320 honey shipments imported from 20 countries and found that 46% were suspected of being adulterated with cheap plant syrups such as rice, wheat, or sugar beet.
This practice even has its own name: “honey laundering,” which describes the act of shipping cheap, syrup-diluted honey through a third country, relabeling it with a new origin, and exporting it to avoid trade penalties. (I previously wrote about made-in labels and their murky reality. It’s worth a read!)
Like with our other luxury lies, there’s a significant market for a cheaper alternative because honey is labor-intensive. Bees, the populations of which have been consistently declining in North America, must visit millions of flowers. On top of that, genuine monofloral honeys like Mānuka from New Zealand or Acacia from Hungary are scarce and expensive. Thus, what we often see in grocery stores is a syrup-diluted product.
To find good-quality honey, look for terms like “raw,” “unfiltered,” or “no added ingredients” on the label. Also, you’re more likely to find good honey at farmers’ markets where the sellers maintain their own beehives.
How Did Modern Luxury Get To This Point?
I did a much deeper analysis of how we got here in part 2 of this series.
If you’re anything like me, you may be feeling frustrated or even betrayed after learning the truth about some of these items. I know I would be less upset about these luxury lies if brands and sellers were more transparent about what their items contain – or don’t contain. But alas, we live in an era of mass production, globalization, cost-cutting, and unprecedented consumer demand for affordable luxury, so sellers are less motivated to be transparent with us, the consumers. The shift happened over time, starting with the post-war era of mass production. It gained speed with the rise of online retailers like Amazon, whose marketplace has fundamentally changed what people expect to pay for premium products.
From my perspective, social media and the ultra-fast nature of modern trends have only exacerbated the desire for affordable luxury. We see influencers and celebrities enjoying luxuries that 70 years ago the average person would’ve never had exposure to. It creates a desire for you to experience that too, and rightfully so. I don’t think people should have to suffer just because they aren’t attending Coachella or influencer events, but we also have a right to know what we’re consuming.
How to Tell the Real Things From the Luxury Lies
Instead of waiting for the day when brands wake up and become more transparent with us, there are practical steps we can take to stay informed about the authenticity of the things we want to buy. Under each of the luxuries I talked about above, I outlined ways to identify what is authentic for that specific item; however, there are many other products I didn’t have space to write about that can be victims of inauthentic marketing practices. These include items such as wool, Parmesan cheese, and truffle products.
I don’t share these examples to scare you or make you feel like everything is fake; instead, I want you to be equipped with the tools to know exactly what you’re buying with your money. With that said, it pays to read labels carefully and educate yourself on the certifications to look for. For example,
- Look for labels designating the origin: Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in the European Union or Geographical Indications (GI) in the US. These labels on food products are legally regulated and meaningful
- For textiles, look for certifications like the Responsible Wool Standard or the Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute seal
- When in doubt, buy closer to the source. Smaller producers, specialty retailers, or direct from origin have less incentive to mislabel
Price is often a signal as well: a lower price means it’s more likely the item has cheaper ingredients or fibers mixed in.
I recognize that it takes more time and effort to identify the authentic items from the more synthetic ones, which raises the question: is it really worth it to go through all this trouble? I would strongly argue that, yes, it is. Knowing what you’re actually buying is the difference between being a conscious consumer and an unwitting one.
Why Does It Matter if Luxury Lies?
I will explore this question in-depth in part 3 of this series.
As I’ve pondered the topic of luxuries and their authenticity, I’ve realized that brands make it clear when the items they sell are authentic and/or high-quality. If you go into a high-end clothing store that sells wool, you will see information – whether on the walls, the website, or on the clothing tags – about where the wool comes from and how it made its way to you.
This observation made me wonder: should we assume that if brands don’t specify, then their items are inauthentic? Is the absence of clear communication indicative of something being less real? It feels like the question of whether the presence of a lie is worse than the absence of the truth, the answer to which I don’t have. All I know is that I would prefer to have the full information before making a choice.
When you see tags like “genuine leather” or “vanilla flavor,” you should rightfully assume that those things are what they say they are. But communication is tricky; technically, those descriptions legally describe the lowest quality of leather and synthetic vanillin. But just because they’re legally ok doesn’t mean it is just.
It’s important to know that luxury can deceive and manipulate, just like it’s important to be a conscious consumer. You deserve to know what you’re buying, especially as the gap between what’s marketed as luxury and what’s actually in the product continues to grow.
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