MANILA, Philippines—The “It” bag will become a source of embarrassment, a luxury industry analyst and consultant predicted in a luxury conference in London in November.

Not only will it signify that “you don’t have your own view of fashion.” The analyst, according to Women’s Wear Daily, also referred to a phenomenon called “luxury fatigue” and consumers’ growing fear of incurring debt.

Soon enough, the New York Times reported covert buying by New York City’s affluent consumers. Lugging multiple shopping bags when the economy is in a slump was now deemed—even by the rich— vulgar.

No one wanted to appear flippant, of course, but this was the upper crust. And shop they still must, especially in the run-up to the holidays.

However, conspicuous consumption had given way to discreet spending. They probably still plunked the same six figures on a mink stole, but The Times report said New York’s rich have thwarted the established high-end shops and turned to by-invitation shopping events in the homes of their friends, or in hotel suites and private showrooms.

A consumer psychologist interviewed by The Times referred to these private soirees as “the high-end equivalent of a Tupperware party,” where invitees air-kissed with equally well-heeled guests, sipped champagne and pawed pavé diamond pet collars.

Some of these affairs even bannered an altruistic spin, turning the shopping sorties into charity events.

These luxury pop-ups have given a boost to private dealers, to the detriment of established luxury merchants, already battered by the recession. Some online sellers have also benefited from this development, according to the report, as the Internet has become an alternative to stealth spending.

Karl Lagerfeld, the designer of Chanel, staunchly defends this elitist consumerism. He told BBC: “I can be interested in a $20-million diamond I will never buy, without desiring the diamond. If you want only things you can afford, it’s boring, too.

“It’s great to see things you may not buy—because you don’t have the money—but it is very ugly to think they shouldn’t exist because you cannot buy them.”

Chanel cut 200 jobs or 10 percent of its workforce. Lagerfeld said the downturn was necessary. “I see it like a cleaning up—it was too rotten anyway—so it had to be cleaned up... I see it like a healthy thing—horrible but healthy, like some miracle treatment of the world.”

And what now of his thousand-dollar handbags that many women dream and aspire for? The designer remains optimistic of the luxury business.

“If you have no dreams, or if you don’t try to improve [the] real life of everybody, people would ask why they get up in the morning.

“People have different kinds of dreams. After all, people need a handbag. There are cheaper handbags. But if you can buy a beautiful one and if that’s your dream to buy, why not?”