Dentsu’s Arindam Bhattacharyya and Sonya David: How Southeast Asia is reclaiming luxury
Arindam Bhattacharyya, Chief Strategy Officer, dentsu Indonesia, and Sonya David, Head of Strategy, Media, dentsu Singapore explore how Southeast Asia is reshaping the definition of luxury.
For decades, luxury has spoken with a European accent. Paris, Milan, and Geneva dictated what prestige looked like. But in Southeast Asia today, a new language of luxury is being written, and it does not need validation from the Rue Saint-Honoré.
Southeast Asia’s luxury scene is entering a defining moment: the market is projected to reach nearly US$2 billion by 2025, over 100 million consumers expected to join its ranks in the next few years(1).
Its relationship with luxury is undergoing a quiet but confident transformation. While big-name maisons still hold cultural cachet, younger consumers are increasingly drawn to brands that reflect their local identity, heritage and values. The era of head-to-toe global branding is giving way to something more grounded: A celebration of homegrown excellence.
Consumers here are rejecting the idea that true luxury must be imported. They are turning away from logos and monograms, and toward identity, craft, and cultural pride. The next billion-dollar luxury stories will not be exported into this region, they will be authored here.
The New Luxury Consumer
Traditional luxury thrived on scarcity, status, and European heritage. But Southeast Asian consumers, especially Millennials and Gen Zs, are no longer satisfied with borrowing someone else’s story. They want luxury that speaks to their culture, their lineage, their values. They seek cultural identity, experiential engagement, and meaningful self-reward.
Today’s luxury buyers are also both highly brand-aware and highly intentional. They care about quality, exclusivity, and sustainability, and they expect personalisation and value-driven storytelling. That is why a monogrammed bag no longer says “success”, instead, increasingly, it says “conformity.” The new signal of taste is intentionality: who made this, how was it crafted, and why does it matter to me?
In luxury watches, for instance, mesmerising horological pieces from MING by Ming Thein and the one-of-a-kind designs of Singapore-founded, Swiss-made, Azimuth, have earned global recognition for craftsmanship and creativity. Their rise has been fueled by sophisticated younger buyers and affluent collectors across the region who value both artistry and authenticity.
Similarly, in Indonesia, the luxury mood is shifting from loud labels to living heritage. Status is no longer stamped on a monogram; it is woven into craft, provenance, and cultural meaning. The new signal of taste is local mastery. What many call Vastra (wastra): the breadth of Indonesian textiles and dress traditions that go far beyond batik – tenun ikat (West Nusa Tenggara), songket (Sumatera), endek (Bali), lurik (Yogjakarta & Central Java), ulos (North Sumatera), sasirangan (South Kalimantan), and more, each rooted in its own geography, technique, and ritual. See Ikat Kelana Wastra 2024 by Didiet Maulana here.
Consumers are rediscovering these lineages and choosing them not for logos but for identity, intention, and craftsmanship; valuing the density of a weave, the use of natural dyes, hand-finished edges, or a maker’s signature.
In this landscape, the new status language whispers time, touch, and lineage. Local luxury is reviving because it feels more authentic.
The forces redefining the new luxury order in Southeast Asia
1. Personal Over Prestigious
The story behind a piece—who made it, how, and where—outweighs a visible brand stamp. The prestige once stamped on a brand name is now stitched into provenance and craft as consumers want to be seen as thoughtful curators of culture.
From Jakarta’s revival of wastra in streetwear to Singaporean designers blending traditional craftsmanship with modern cuts, consumers are choosing pieces that resonate personally.
Nowhere else is this more evident than in jewelry, where the rising value of gold has reinforced traditional interest in the allure of traditional metal. But rather than defaulting the large symbolic pieces that see the light of day only on special occasions, jewelry brands have shifted to designs with a more contemporary sensibility and emotional resonance.
Singaporean brand Truly Madly, for instance, crafts custom pieces woven with personal stories while Hong Kong’s Qeelin reinterprets auspicious symbols into modern, whimsical designs.
2. Legacy Dressing Is Back (And It’s Cool Again)
With over 60% of Gen Zs in Southeast Asia choosing brands that reflect their culture or values, what is considered “premium” is no longer imported, but meaningful.
Luxury that merely borrows from heritage without understanding it is now exposed for what it is “appropriation”. The brands winning today are those that treat culture as craft, not as costume. They do not simply slap a batik print on a runway piece, they collaborate with artisans and communities to bring living traditions into modern relevance.
Indonesia illustrates this powerfully with the new status symbol being not just a monogram but mastery of wastra. Each textile carries lineage, geography, and ritual. Consumers now prize the density of a weave, the use of natural dyes, or a maker’s signature. Heritage silhouettes like kebaya or kain are being reimagined in contemporary tailoring—not as nostalgia but as coded elegance that is both modern and unmistakably local.
Across the region, homegrown luxury brands are leaning in to ‘slow fashion’ through deliberately small batches, unique designs, low-impact material and traditional production methods. This enables them to hero respect for the craft and sustainable practices alongside modern styling trends as they create the aura of exclusivity around their brands.
3. Hyper-Local Creators as Tastemakers
Luxury today is shaped not only by what is bought, but how it is styled,
shared, and narrated.
Across Southeast Asia, fashion and lifestyle creators are blending global aesthetics with local nuance, pairing batik with Balenciaga, kebaya with Comme des Garçons, or styling sarongs for Soho House. Their eclectic personal brands on social media are pushing hybrid expressions of luxury from niche communities into the mainstream, and in the process, rewriting what “aspirational” looks like.
This has opened space for platforms that champion regional talent. Dover Street Market Singapore now showcases emerging Asian designers alongside global names, while Thai label Stolen Stores builds its “It Girl” identity through capsule collections that have caught the attention of Ariana Grande, Lalisa, and Sabrina Carpenter. In horology, The Hour Glass’s “IAMWATCH” event gives independent watchmakers a stage to connect with collectors.
These tastemakers amplify regional pride and give lesser-known brands global visibility.
The Future of Luxury Speaks in Our Own Tongue
Luxury has always thrived on aspiration. The question is: aspiration to what? Luxury in Southeast Asia is evolving from logos to lineage, prestige to pride. Desire for status now coexists with a deeper desire for identity, heritage, and self-expression.
For global luxury brands, this is not a regional curiosity, it is an existential test. The next chapter will not only be written in the ateliers of Paris or Milan, instead, it will be shaped on the streets of Penang, in the boutiques of Jogja, and in the creativity of a new generation proudly turning inward for inspiration.