Luxury shoppers around the world have found very different ways to shop in the recession this year. In the U.S., the ultra-rich have developed “stealth wealth“: they buy designer goods without flashy logos, and ask for plain shopping bags to carry them in. Walking down the street with Hermès and Dior shopping bags, once a casual statement of class, is now considered an embarrassing display of wealth– and tactlessness.

Meanwhile, in Japan, it’s just the opposite. Young women in the middle class have driven up demand for designer shopping bags, which are now used in place of grocery “eco-bags”, backpacks and even handbags. This trend emerged in the 1980s as a status marker amongst teens. Now, it’s been adopted by female Tokyoites who want to savor the memory of a past shopping experience they might not be able to afford now.