Date : 26/05/2025, Par Deborah Marino
From GPT to GLP - a chemical revolution
A few letters have been at the core of our conversations lately. Like AI or GPT. But what if the real acronym that contains a full revolution is GLP-1, code name for the semaglutide-based drugs originally aimed to fight T2 diabetes, on the verge to become the "magic wand" for weight loss? The so-called "obesity-drugs" reached 6 billion in sales in 2023. Morgan Stanley has evaluated the market to reach 139 billion in 2030. Yet it is not just the story of a blockbuster destiny in the health field – GLP may be the name of a new era for luxury as we know it.
First level impact – the new thinness luxury
Numbers make us numb - GLP-1 drugs were approved for type 2 diabetes in 2005 and for weight management in 2014. Since 2018, the Ozempic prescriptions have grown by more than 5000%, up to around 20 million in the US in 2023 only - with a special emphasis among female teenagers. Interest surged when it became the secret weapon of celebrities – always on a duty for beauty: The Kardashian clan, Elon Musk, Oprah and more, sharing their experience on social media. Hundred millions of dollars invested in advertising later, Ozempic, Wegowy and their alternatives (4000 active ad campaigns mentioning semaglutides on air last year in the US) are reshaping the health market, but also retail, fashion and even culture.
The Ozempic impact on health, wellness and body image is already visible, counting its victims as Weight Watchers, (filing for bankruptcy) or the body positivism – already disappearing from fashion shows and trends (hello back Y2K, heroin-chic-chicks and smaller clothing sizes). The Vogue business Size Inclusivity report 2025 shows a clear decline in the representation of mid and plus-size models, emphasizing the idea of control on curves. But what sounds like a massive wave of reduced portions, rise of tiny and petite sizes, or growth of activewear (and a plus-size resale market growing 25% annually to purge oversized wardrobes) is far from being a universal right to thinness. Ozempic is becoming the name of a new avatar of distinction: "Even if thinness itself becomes more accessible, aspirational thinness — with youthful, tight skin and sculpted curves in just the right places — will remain the domain of the elite. The beauty standard will always stay just out of reach, requiring ongoing investment to maintain." Luxury has found a new arena to reinforce its codes of conduct. Losing weight, controlling one's body, being healthier will not become a mere commodity, but the dream of the even-more-perfect body. A luxury by itself.
Second round – changing the dopamine dance
Despite medication-assisted weight management becoming mainstream, luxury seems to be at ease within this new cultural panorama. The moderation of food consumption will lead to a taste for premium or highly nutritive food, a pivot toward experiential pleasures and confidence-driven purchase. Just fine for the nearly 20% of obese Americans users Morgan Stanley predicts for GLP-1 by 2030. Yet, beyond moderation, Ozempic and its avatars play another type of desire management to control our appetite. The most well-known effects of semaglutides is based on the capacity to increase insulin secretion, reduce glucagon and gastric emptying – in simple words, it reduces appetite. But beyond stomach and pancreas, the playground of GLP-1 drugs is higher, with a unique ability to reduce the brain "reward noise". In other words, Ozempic could reduce dopamine release during pleasurable activities, blunting the sugar high or the nicotine craving. Research shown an impact not only on food, but on a wide variety of activities inducing addictive behaviours – from alcohol drinking to opioid relapse, gambling, shopping… Like a universal craving killer.
Rewiring reward pathway, those drugs seem to quiet the noise of craving – but they may as well put desire on a diet. Interesting fact when it comes to luxury, always on a balance between rational investment and frenzy need for what's next. In an Ozempic-led world, no more it-bags, no more dumb-scrolling on social media, neither shopping revenge. The "Mine!" and "Do-it-again" buttons would out of order. In this new luxury realm, desire will be no more a key driver, immediate pleasure will not be the right lever either, whereas wise funding, wealth management and social image will reign supreme. Working on insecurities, envy or rationality would be the new mechanics – the dark side of the will. In this new hierarchy of luxury criteria, no doubt that the price will become the undisputed golden standard, quality will trump aesthetic, culture becoming an asset more than an emotion. The creativity of Boucheron will be less enticing than capitalizing on a Patek-Philippe. The poetry of Hermès will become less relevant than its resale value. But is it really that important for the industry, when all efforts will be put into body image transformation, quest for perfection and health management.
The "freedom vs boredom" dilemma
Some analysts have been comparing the GLP-1 effect to the Buddhist vision of Nirvâna – escaping from the mundane Samsara, as an ability to get rid of the sufferance of desire. An optimist take on the scenario of dopamine control, seen differently by science fiction, depicting the effect of the Prozium in "Equilibrium", where happiness is linked to the abandon of desire and free will or the crime of love in "Equals". Stories that tell a future of certainty and boredom, where everything is under control, from disorder to pulsion.
Science will may give us the choice or offer us a new kind of Ozempic-addiction.