Louis Vuitton is painting boarded up windows its signature orange shade, revealing a dystopian new reality prior to a historic election

With income inequality reaching record highs in recent years, addressing the divisions between the rich and poor in the US emerged as one of the biggest topics of the election. In February 2019, Insider's Eliza Relman reported that taxation and inequality were the center of the 2020 race.

"Class war is the only war that's necessary and apparently the only one conservatives wouldn't support waging for two decades without end," Sean McElwee, a progressive activist and cofounder of Data for Progress, told Relman at the time.

Some experts say that the US could see a "K-shaped" recovery from the pandemic, as wealthy professionals recover but those working low-paying jobs do not. Former Vice President Joe Biden has repeatedly referenced the concept while campaigning.

"Billionaires have made another $300 billion because of his profligate tax proposal, and he only focused on the market," Biden said in the first presidential debate. "But you folks at home, you folks living in Scranton and Claymont and all the small towns and working class towns in America, how well are you doing?"

Louis Vuitton, like many luxury retailers, were forced to close stores around the world because of the pandemic.

Parent company LVMH reported in October that the fashion brand's sales have recovered from the early pandemic. The company reported revenues of 11.96 billion euros, equivalent to $13.99 billion, in the third quarter, The Wall Street Journal announced.

Louis Vuitton faced pushback when the brand did not immediately speak out in the days following the death of George Floyd, as other companies made statements condemning police brutality and white supremacy.

Backlash grew after designer Virgil Abloh publicly criticized people looting shops, followed by a donation of just $50 to a bail fund. (Abloh and Vuitton released a video in support of Black Lives Matter in late May.)

Louis Vuitton is far from the only brand boarding up windows and taking precautions, both during the protests over the summer and before the election.

Axios reports that protests cost more than $1 billion in damages across the US in a 13-day period from May 26 to June 8.

Acclimating to the "new normal," for the sake of executives, investors, and even employees, makes sense. But, it can also feel dystopian, a queasy attempt to force something from another time to function even when things have changed for the worse.

The orange-tinted barriers feel like a ramped-up version of brands co-opting the hellish nature of 2020 in ad campaigns. It's two things that feel inherently at odds — 2020 being horrible, the need to advertise — and cobbling them together into a twisted version of normalcy.

Stores need protection. But, luxury brands rely on their aesthetic to be able to charge $3,000 for a handbag. So, we have orange plywood barriers outside Louis Vuittons across the US.

There is a reason why populists on both sides of the aisle have found support, even as some of the right argue that Democrats like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fan the flames of class warfare. Major businesses and wealthy Americans have flourished in recent years, enjoying the success that is at odds with reality for most people in the country.

Income has basically stagnated for most workers when adjusted for inflation, but net productivity has been growing by 70% since the early '70s. In the pandemic, private jet travel skyrocketed as millions of people lost their jobs. Small businesses are struggling to survive, but shares of the largest companies in the nation are set to explode.

Louis Vuitton did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on its barriers, which are ultimately pretty harmless. But, they do show just how dystopian this year can be.

Even as the country prepares for vote-counting delays, riots, and a continuing pandemic, absolutely nothing will stop brands from trying to sell people things in the "new normal."