Inside the privileged world of a luxury London student members' club

When you think of student life, you probably don’t immediately think luxury.

Perhaps cheap alcohol, meal deals, and crippling debt spring to mind, but it’s doubtful that you think of free-flowing champagne, private shopping experiences at Burberry, and virtual personal assistants.

Indeed, students are rarely considered VIP clientele, which is why The Luxury Student is such a fascinating business concept. A concierge service and private members’ club for students in London, it aims to offer “a truly unique service for those who seek the finer things in life”.

Founder, 26-year-old Aileen Gilani studied hospitality at Oxford Brookes, and described her frustrations with her own university experience: “I was fed up with this impression that brands have that we are on a budget or that we knew nothing about luxury brands. There was a part of my student experience where I absolutely hated the cliché 'nights out with cheap drinks and only student venues'.”

The concept for The Luxury Student was born from her desire to “encourage students to go to venues, bars, restaurants and all luxury places where they could be treated like 'powerful customers' not 'budget customers'.” 

And when she began her postgraduate degree in law at the University of Law in Bloomsbury, Gilani found she was surrounded by wealthy - often international - students with expensive tastes. Having realised her target market, Gilani decided to launch a service to help those students receive “a VIP experience everywhere they go”, she dropped out of university and in 2017 turned her blog The Luxury Student, into a business.

What exactly does the “VIP experience” actually entail? Well, the Standard Luxury Lifestyle Membership costs £50 a month and buys you:

• A free Nespresso Machine as a welcome gift
• A virtual P.A service, that can help you with everything from organising parties to proof-reading university assignments
• A birthday treatment from Salon64 
• A complimentary service and offers from Quintessentially Travel, a “luxury lifestyle travel management company”
• Complimentary access to members-only apps such as the invitation-only “VIP lifestyle app” Urbanologie 
• Access to Albert's Club, a private member’s club in South Kensington
• Membership to Quaglino’s restaurant in Mayfair
• Access to The London Guest List (a concierge service for night clubs/tables/free passes) 
• Invitations to events at The Chess Club, a private members’ club in Mayfair
• Surprise luxury gifts

The Luxury Student now also offers a £20 Events Membership, which Gilani introduced after realising a lot of students only wanted to attend the luxury social events: “Some of our members (believe it or not) already have a personal assistant and a Nespresso Machine”.

Gilani added that while they have had “some members request free hotels and holidays, or free private jet seats” The Luxury Student doesn’t offer any of these free of charge. “Our membership isn't about getting 'free stuff' - we want to introduce our members to luxury brands and create a loyal relationship between them.”

Of the 500 plus members, Gilani says that the majority are “international students — they like to spend more on luxury”. She also admits that a significant portion of their members are bloggers and Instagram influencers who “use our member benefits to create content on their social media. It's a win-win situation since no member has to beg for collaboration or a connection with luxury brands, they simply receive it with our membership”. 

Gilani is keen to dispel accusations of elitism and emphasise that “membership is open to ALL students from any background and any budget who enjoy and appreciate the luxury industry”. 

But with UK university fees at £9,000 a year and the average graduate debt at more than £50,000 according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, can students afford the luxury they may desire? The latest Student Money Survey revealed that 84 per cent of students worry about making ends meet and actively budget. And 70 per cent of the average student monthly spend of £821 goes towards essentials (rent, bills and food), with only eight per cent funding their social lives.

Those with luxury tastes then must be willing to fork out a little more for their VIP experience. Meera Mawkin, 20, a second-year neuroscience student at King's College London who pays £50 a month for her membership, told Refinery29 that she doesn’t think The Luxury Student is that expensive: “Bear in mind that a student might spend over £50 on average a month on alcohol, and £80 on gym memberships, so this price isn't elitist.” 

Meera said: “I actually think the membership joins together the people who can afford luxury and those who might not be able to afford luxury,” although she admits that not many of her university friends are members.

The Luxury Student may not be for the masses, and the average student may not have a spare £50 to upgrade their student experience, but there’s no doubt that Gilani’s target market of wealthy international students, bloggers and influencers does exist.

They have money to spend on VIP events, personal styling, and private shopping experiences with luxury brands, and they are more than willing to fork out for the luxury student lifestyle.