That’s how Singaporean influencer Grace Glaze started a TikTok video in which she unboxes the entire contents of Dior’s new luxury gift set, “La Malle des Rêves Holiday 2025.”
Right after this first sentence, she adds the sound effect of a slap – indicating what many viewers may be thinking: “Uh, by mistake? How stupid can you be?”
But the influencer knows exactly what she’s doing: you’ve been tricked. Now you will join the millions of people who have seen him go through the 24 drawers of this “trunk of dreams”.
Spoiler alert: It’s filled with various Dior perfumes, a snow globe, a designer scarf, and paper ornaments.
Objectively speaking, there are certainly better ways to spend $11,000 (although, to be fair, that amount is actually in Singapore dollars; the luxury calendar’s official price in US dollars is $8,200; it was listed in Europe at €7,500).
But that’s the world we live in, the 120 units of this highly exclusive and limited-edition collector’s item quickly sold out. Now there is a waiting list.
Origin of the Advent Calendar
This luxury set is a far cry from the advent calendar’s humble origins.
The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word “adventus,” meaning “arrival” or “coming.” It is a time of anticipation before Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Jesus.
Many of the Advent traditions marking this countdown were the result of a major change initiated by the Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546).
By the 16th century, children received gifts for the holiday on St. Nicholas Day, December 6. But for Luther, this was equivalent to worshiping a saint, which is why he established that gifts should be given on Christmas Eve. The new gift bringer will be the “Christkind” or Christ Child.
Since children had to wait longer for their gifts, Protestants came up with various customs to mark the countdown to Christmas, such as drawing 24 chalk lines on a door, erasing one of them each day, or slowly burning 24 marked candles throughout the month of December. In families that were not very poor, each day was sweetened with cooked dishes.
Catholics also found the concept attractive and the tradition quickly spread to German-speaking countries.
In the early 1900s, the first printed editions of calendars began to appear, including pictures or Bible verses.
With the rise of consumer culture after World War II, chocolate companies realized that advent calendars were an ideal format for daily micro-gifts.
In the 2000s, beauty and skin care brands also began releasing their own calendars. The boxed set provided an ideal marketing tool to allow customers to discover their products through 24 mini-samples.
From there, wine and beverage companies emerged, as well as almost any brand that could fit 24 items in a box.
Adults adopted an “adult” version of a childhood tradition. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a new surprise every day?
‘Unboxing’ luxury set driven by social media style
There are countless videos like Glazy’s for all the box sets produced by the world’s top designer brands. Indeed, an entire ‘Advent calendar unboxing’ genre emerged in the 2010s through social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube, and then TikTok.
In 2021, the viral potential of videos focusing on luxury advent calendars reached new heights. That year, Chanel released its first Advent calendar, celebrating the 100th anniversary of its iconic Chanel No. 5 perfume.
The most viral take on the channel’s offering was created by TikToker Alice Harmon, whose unboxing revealed that the set’s contents clearly weren’t worth the $825 retail price. In addition to miniature samples, it included stickers, a flip book, a drawstring bag, and various trinkets.
The reaction was widely covered by the media; It was described as a PR disaster for the channel. The channel’s social media platforms were flooded with abusive comments, the articles said.
But, to be fair, all of the contents of the calendar were already featured on the website where the gift sets were promoted and sold, so the channel was very transparent about its scam. Nevertheless, the company promised to perform better in the future.
But was the scandalous audience really the target market for such luxury calendars?
But was the scandalous audience really the target market for such luxury calendars? If some people believe their products are too expensive, or don’t live up to their deluxe promise, Chanel won’t care.
For designer brand influencers, who are now unboxing a different luxury advent calendar every day of December, and sharing their “$11,000 mishaps,” it’s a winning strategy for getting attention.
After all, without their video content creating a desire for more extravagance, would such sets ever have been designed in the first place?
Edited by: Sarah Huckle
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