A MUM has revealed that her 11-year-old son demanded a Chanel handbag as a gift because he is “obsessed with designer labels”.
According to experts at Good Housekeeping, most pre-teens would be thrilled to receive electronic piggy banks, card games and puzzles – but not this young lad.
The mum said that he is “obsessed” with luxury fashion despite not coming from “a designer label family”.
She took to Mumsnet to share the story.
“We are not a designer label family,” she clarified.
“My 11-year-old son wanted a Chanel handbag for Christmas.
“I laughed for about three weeks and wandered around chuntering to myself about ‘bloody kids’.
“Where do they get these ideas?”
But the mum soon came to realise she has “no room to talk” about her son’s extravagant fashion taste.
“My mum reminded me I spent most of my teenage years in a transparent vest top with a German army shirt open over the top,” she said.
Due to the rise of influencer culture and immediate access to celebrity wardrobes on social media, children are quickly recognising designer items as status symbols.
This is creating a desire for similar items among young demographics.
Furthermore, children may feel pressure from their peers to own certain designer items to fit in or be perceived as fashionable.
The 11-year-old boy’s demands are in line with more children wanting to use anti-ageing skincare products after seeing them heavily marketed on apps like TikTok.
At the start of the year, leading dermatologists said that children as young as 10 are putting pressure on their parents to buy them pricey anti-ageing potions.
But they warned that these strong products will cause damage to their sensitive skin.
“Most have been heavily influenced by social media (TikTok in particular) and influencers who are showing their in-depth routines,” Dr Anjali Mahto, a consultant dermatologist at Self London, told The Guardian.
“Most often accompanied by luxury skincare brands.
“There is often an unhealthy focus on anti-ageing too, despite their young age.
“There is also a degree of keeping up with their friends, as well as frequently chopping and changing their skincare to fix their acne, when what they really need is medical intervention.”
