Back in the day, purple wasn’t just a color, it was a status symbol.

The world’s most coveted shade, known today as Tyrian purple, came from the pigment of thousands of incredibly rare sea snails found in only a small region of the Mediterranean. Producing enough dye for a single garment required an unimaginable amount of labor, making purple something only royalty, emperors, and the wealthiest families could afford.

Purple wasn’t valuable because it was beautiful.

It was valuable because almost no one could have it.

Eventually, everything changed.

Artificial dyes were invented, allowing anyone to recreate what was once reserved for kings and queens. Overnight, the color lost the exclusivity that had defined it for centuries. The same shade that once represented the highest level of power could suddenly be found anywhere, on anyone, in every market.

The color didn’t change.

Its rarity did.

And with it, our perception of its value.

I think luxury works the same way.

At one point, Gucci represented the pinnacle of fashion. It wasn’t simply a logo, it was a symbol of access. Then came replicas, knockoffs, counterfeit markets, and endless imitation. A print that once signified exclusivity became something anyone could buy, copy, or recreate.

The brand didn’t suddenly become less beautiful.

It became less rare.

And when rarity disappears, people don’t stop chasing luxury, they simply move on to whatever feels unattainable next.

The upper echelon rarely stays where everyone else has arrived. They seek what still feels difficult to obtain, personal to them, and untouched by mass adoption. As seen done with lobster, oysters, caviar. Luxury has never been about the object itself.

It’s about access.

It’s about scarcity.

It’s about the feeling that not everyone can have it.

Maybe that’s why history keeps repeating itself.

Purple was once the most exclusive color on Earth.

Gucci was once the fashion house everyone aspired to own.

Both became victims of replication.

So if value can disappear the moment something becomes accessible to everyone…

What is truly valuable?

Maybe it isn’t the object at all.

Maybe the most valuable things in life are the ones that can never be mass produced.