The dark truth about Love Luxury, their glamorous Dubai life and the viral videos selling discount designer handbags. Insiders tell MOLLY CLAYTON what’s really going on – and all about the glossy couple behind it

If you spend as much time as I do on social media, you’ve probably come across designer retailer brand Love Luxury.

In recent months, the brand has become famous not for its high-end products but for its offbeat social media posts.

The format of Love Luxury’s flashy TikTok and Instagram videos sounds familiar: a well-dressed ‘shopper’ walks into one of the brand’s boutiques (there’s one in Knightsbridge in central London and one in Dubai) and announces his intention to buy. Then a salesperson prepares a parade of eye-wateringly expensive, pre-loved bags.

In a video viewed more than seven million times on TikTok, a female customer shops with a sales assistant before her husband reveals they have purchased five Hermes bags costing a total of £130,000.

In another, a handsome male customer drops £22,000 on a coveted Hermes Birkin bag for his girlfriend.

As with all of Love Luxury’s videos, both clips play perfectly for social media audiences; short and choppy, with all the hallmarks of a rehearsed script rather than an organic change.

And now, a new job posting posted by the brand on LinkedIn suggests that these carefully selected videos are indeed being produced.

For Love Luxury advertises a ‘Reality TV Writer/Story Producer’, not a sales assistant or luxury authenticator.

The summary is self-explanatory. Applicants must have experience working on ‘polished, drama-focused shows like The Kardashians, The Osbournes, The Real Housewives and Selling Sunset’ that are built around augmented reality and manufactured moments.

The job posting reads: ‘This role requires an individual who can take real life and transform it into structured, engaging story arcs while maintaining originality and pace.’

This can give the brand’s followers the impression that what they see on social media is a calculated advertising technique, not real interactions where casual shoppers drop six-figure sums without hesitation.

It definitely worked.

Founders Adam and Emily Abraham, a brilliant Instagram couple, opened their first boutique in Knightsbridge in 2021, followed by their second boutique in Dubai last year, rapidly expanding the brand and positioning themselves as key players in the highly competitive world of high-end resale.

Business is based on privilege, expertise and most importantly, trust. The brand maintains that it is among a select group of experts in Hermes resale and that each product undergoes stringent authentication against the label’s exacting standards.

Adam and Emily publicly present a united front at the heart of the brand. Privately, however, sources suggest there is a more fragmented reality, with Adam spending significant time in Dubai while his London operation runs parallel. Meanwhile, the couple’s 13-year-old daughter Maali, known online as Moo, has already been positioned as the new generation face of the brand. With a sizeable TikTok following of 160,000 followers, she regularly appears in a variety of content, from Dubai Fashion Week appearances to in-store authentication clips.

In one video, she shops with a £20,000 Birkin on her arm. In another, it is stated that her outfit cost £200,000 in total. He wears a £50,000 Audemars Piguet watch bought for him by his father.

Again, this is all part of the same structured narrative presented on Love Luxury’s social media pages, presented as both aspirational and attainable.

Maali, known online as Moo alongside her mother Emily, has already been positioned as the next-generation face of the brand.

When I reached Abrahams yesterday they told me the new job posting was merely a response to external interest in the brand rather than social retail content. The man claimed that his role as a screenwriter was related to a potential Netflix project, not scripting social media content.

But sources tell me that many of the brand’s viral videos are not as sincere as Adam and Emily insist.

The high-stakes luxury transactions that viewers are led to believe are far from spontaneous, according to people familiar with the operation who say much of the content is scripted.

‘Their content is a Hermes soap opera,’ the source said. ‘Even if there is a real customer, the purchase usually takes place in advance. They will then ask them to recreate the movie for filming. And in most cases “customers” are employees or people they know.’

The fleeting access to extraordinary wealth is starting to look more like a stylized production. And it’s a language that borrows heavily from the language of reality television.

Of course, none of this is to suggest that the business itself is illegitimate.

But the world built around transactions, customers, conversations, and so-called spontaneity is starting to look less like a documentary and more like a performance.

Because in the luxury market, perception is everything. Once the perception of originality begins to unravel, restoring it is much more difficult than any designer handbag could ever be.

Career change for Karen

Professional dancer Karen Hauer, 44, is thrust into a new spotlight by swapping the ballroom for a vlogging camera just weeks after her sudden exit from Strictly Come Dancing.

A month after leaving the BBC prime time show after a 13-year absence, the programme’s longest-serving female professional is reinventing herself online.

Professional dancer Karen Hauer, formerly Strictly Come Dancing’s longest-running female professional, is thrust into a new spotlight

With his new YouTube channel reaching 7,600 subscribers, Hauer embraces a more personal, unfiltered style in his vlog content

With his new YouTube channel reaching 7,600 subscribers, Hauer is moving away from the workout videos he previously shared and adopting a more personal, unfiltered style.

“This is my first vlog… it’s a good day for change,” he told viewers in a candid clip he filmed at home as he captured the emotional aftermath of his departure. Admitting that he felt ‘grateful and nervous’, the actor explained that he avoided looking at his phone after announcing the news.

Her weekly uploads now show daily life, from yoga sessions to quieter moments spent with boyfriend, former rugby player Simon Davidson.

And alongside his digital pivot, he’s returning to the stage with comedy stage show Stepping Out, a new chapter both on and off screen.

Emma lived up to expectations

From filming chaotic ‘mukbang’ cooking videos with James Charles to showcasing fashion’s most exclusive red carpets, I think 24-year-old Emma Chamberlain has pulled off one of the most striking rebrands of the digital age.

Once the poster girl for Gen Z relatability, she’s now a fixture at the Met Gala, where she’s transformed from internet sensation to one of the best-dressed names on the carpet.

At the Met on Monday (May 4), Emma Chamberlain chronicles her meteoric rise from original YouTube influencer origins to elite fame

Chamberlain’s rise began in 2017, when, disillusioned with high school, she started a YouTube channel chronicling her daily life in search of something more meaningful. This followed very quickly; 12 million subscribers were drawn to his real, honest content that felt authentic in a world full of glossy, high-production videos.

Now she interviews celebrities for Vogue, launches her own coffee brand, and on promotional covers like Vogue Portugal, she’s bridged the once awkward gap between the influencer and the industry insider.

Add in her close friendships with Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber, and the change seems complete. I don’t think this is a reinvention but more of an upgrade.

A snapshot of influencers rising or falling this week based on follower shifts, engagement spikes, or newly announced brand deals.

ABOVE

Olivia Neill just got her first ‘proper’ office job!

The influencer has been named ASOS’s first Out of Office Director. The online retailer cleared its Instagram account for Tuesday’s announcement to launch its summer campaign.

Olivia is in all the ‘cool girl’ circles; This is a great marketing tactic by ASOS.

Olivia Neill stars as ASOS’ new ‘Out of Office Director’ in a promotional campaign to launch the online retailer’s summer stock

DOWN

New York-based influencer Audrey Peters shares her daily routine, where she orders every meal from the food delivery service DoorDash.

Some may see this as aspirational, but most of the internet, including me, is unconvincing. What is framed as effortless city living means that, for many people, reading is performative and very wasteful.

Yes, life in New York is busy and kitchens are small. But are we constantly turning home delivery into a status symbol? In my opinion, this is where the backlash begins.

Interesting scenes at the third Top Influencer Awards held in Newcastle. Katie Price and Peter Andre’s children took center stage: Junior took over hosting duties alongside his girlfriend Jasmine Orr, while Princess walked away the winner on the night. Some couldn’t help but wonder if all of this could be translated aptly into his upcoming TV series. Despite the bold name, there was one glaring omission: very few of the industry’s true ‘top’ influencers were in attendance.

During my fake tan days, the Skinny Tan brand was my favorite. But for obvious reasons, the brand name was perhaps a bit problematic. They’ve undergone a major rebrand, now called Skin & Tan, and hosted an impressive dinner at Brooklands by Claude Bosi in The Peninsula Hotel, now one of London’s hottest restaurants. It seems that the brand change, supported by famous names such as Helen Flanagan and Christine McGuinness, is working.

Email me – molly.clayton@dailymail.co.uk

Instagram – @mollyroseclayton

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