Are luxury brands losing popularity?

[EbonyWood]

I’m reading the news of Farfetch being sold, Matches looking likely to be acquired to some degree and reading people’s comments and reactions.

Most people are saying that luxury Ecom is dead, they don’t care to buy luxury fashion anymore and they want to buy less.

Everywhere I see, luxury companies are closing stores, seem to be struggling, discounting a lot. What’s happening? I know lots of people are really struggling right now. But, the rich always seem to stay rich and be able to afford luxury items.

Is everyone just done with buying stuff, luxury or not?

The friends I had at uni who went on to work for big fashion brands now work for sustainable fashion brands / sustainable living start ups and the like!

Seems like the quality is also noticeably less than it used to be- so spending on luxury brands when the finishes are not so good does not seem worthwhile.

Yeah quiet luxury is in. Loud branding is not selling as well. The super wealthy are still buying though and hermes is still doing good business.

Interestingly the crazy price increases we had seen with handbags at chanel seems to have eased this year. I may be wrong but I don't think the usual 10% increase happened this Yr (yet!). rtw remains eye wateringly expensive. Maybe people r no longer willing to play the game anymore.

Agree with lots that have been written and especially this. The luxury market seem increasingly to lie more in lifestyle and less in clothing. I think fashion has much less cultural capital than it did even a decade or two ago, as a part of a general shift towards conspicuous production rather than conspicuous consumption as elite status marker. Even though some luxury brands are trying to tap into this with increasing emphasis on artisanal provenance workmanship blah blah, ultimately they're defined by the decoupling of price from value so that approach isn't particularly sustainable. Not to mention the real issue of certain specialised skills literally dying out.

Absolutely they are still being bought - just not as in trend as they once were and people are buying into less logos more timeless pieces!

Yes!

Gucci, LV, YSL has so many (quite good!) fakes. When I went to Turkey once, I was told a member of a royal family shopped in one of the more premium fake stores (can that be a thing?!) in town also.

But there’s always a cycle of logo’s, in your face brands being ultra popular & then less so.

It’s likely influenced by the economy, during lean times it’s gauche to be logo bashing & the customer who can still afford to shop luxury is likely older & wants to be more discreet. Logo mania will return again at some point.

I get emails from Matches every day and I never find anything that I really want to buy. They also have sample sales a few times a year so I guess they have a lot of stock to get rid of. I buy with longevity in mind and I want pieces that I will be wearing for years . I may buy 3 things yearly and I don't mind spending £££ in Hermes , Goyard , Loro Piana . I also like pieces from The Row but I have yet to take the plunge. I have no interest in buying anything from Gucci, YSL ,LV , Prada etc...been there done that!

I did read Cartier no longer authenticate Love Bracelets as the copies are so good.

Perhaps people have seen through them in an Emperor's New Clothes sense. Many of them purveying poor quality and just expecting customers to pay for a name. No actual luxury at all.

I agree, some of the luxury brands the quality is actually poor.

I also think technology and smart phones has a big part in it too…. With smart phones being your wallet, phone and watch so many people no longer carry handbags. Therefore people aren’t going in too the luxury stores at all.

Recently I went on a girls trip with four other ladies in our 40s only one person had a handbag on them each night as she still used a wallet.

I’m looking at a splurge Christmas present for myself and keep thinking a new handbag but it would never be used I either use a nappy bag/ kisds backpack or just my keys and phone in my dress pocket, therefore I never look at the luxury brands

Can I mention perfume specifically?
I've noticed a rise in the luxury brands that have stopped doing 30ml. Presumably there's some reason for this, but I think it's a bad move. Although it's a false economy, you would have been able to justify buying a 30ml fairly regularly. But they hiked up prices and cut the 30ml for some lines, so you're now looking at a pretty hefty price tag for a big bottle.

Don't even get me started on the move towards "special" ranges (like Chanel Exclusifs, think guerlain has one now, etc): it doesn't matter how beautiful your perfume is and how much I might want it, I'm not paying £200 for it. I might have paid £120 for it.

I think luxury used to be bought by wealthy westerners who had an inherited sense of these legacy brands being special. But now the wealthy emerging classes elsewhere in the world don't have that same attachment to the brands narratives. They might want "a" Hermes bag but they're not going to be regular loyal customers. And the brands have decided to try and recreate that sense of privileged exclusivity by choosing to alienate the people in the middle, who could never afford a Hermes bag, but could once afford a Hermes perfume, or a Chanel lipstick. That was a dumb move IMO, and so people in the middle are looking at smaller more ethical brands that make them feel valued, while the ultra wealthy further east dip in and out of western luxury without properly supporting it.

That's just my perhaps misguided take as someone who has no knowledge of the luxury industry or retail sector 😁

This is a really interesting conversation.
I was on a flight recently. Woman beside me had a YSL handbag and a Chloe grip bag. Or did she? They could have been really good fakes. So what's the point of shelling out thousands for the real thing now? I think the real brands have increased prices so much they have killed their own sales.

Me too, looks like Mr Ashley is sniffing around it, so that will be bad news all round.

I have been in the market for a fab quality leather designer handbag for 2 years !
Mulberry have gone stupid colours and ridiculously expensive
Its 660 euro for an anthony now which id pay but a tote etc over 1300 euro.
All i want is a lovely luxurious leather bag and marks have some real leather nice ones.
At this stage top whack is top top whack so once its real leather im happy

This is such an interesting conversation! I think that the style and beauty boards have some interesting , thoughtful people.
I love good quality things, but they are understated. It helps that I live in NZ which has a much better market. It’s rare to see a Chanel bag here although LV are more common. We tend to have brands people love but they are a small percentage of the cost of a Chanel etc…here we love Deadly Ponies and Yu Mei for bags and loom at Juliette Hogan clothes.
too much branding actually looks cheap…as if you cannot think for yourself.
Styling is always about flare.. loving clothes and appreciating the way they make you feel.

As for Marc Jacobs the tote. Who is buying them. They are poor quality tat which I wouldnt spend 50 quid never mind 200 on !!so easy to fake. Who are they kidding ??? Every second shop here in ireland have copies.
I am looking for a lovely leather slouchy hobo and they just arent in it .
Marc jacobs wont be able to flog those totes for peanuts

I haven't bought a designer bag in years. You can get excellent quality handmade bags for a good price. I was in Paris recently and I bought this bag from Guibert made in Spain with French leather.

I’m not a luxury expert or anything like that but I do have an interest in all things fashion. I think people are still interested in luxury items which has an element of subjectivity to it dependent on things such as how much money you earn. I think that with the rise of people wanting sustainable fashion then some people are choosing second hand and with that goes a story which is arguably more interesting than I popped in to x store and bought it. I have seen the videos on You Tube when people take you along as they buy X and Y luxury items but prefer the videos where people have scored a find second hand at a charity shop or thrift store.

Agree with Uncertain that luxury for me has never been about branding and showing off. Luxury is an up close thing for me, and has a very strong sensorial aspect, it's the things that are in your hands and on your body every day and they do feel noticeable different. Think how an acrylic jumper feels in comparison to cashmere on your skin. But even cashmere feels different depending on manufacturer, it tends to have a crisper almost dry quality from the Scotland mills, slinkier and less dull from the Italian mills while the made in China stuff that you find at the more affordable price points often has a sort of artificial softness that shouldn't be there until it's had many wears and washes.

Fakes noticeably feel different, I can usually spot them just visually but in feeling them you absolutely know. The attitude towards fakes is definitely different than it used to be, the taboo aspect and being caught out isn't consequential anymore, dupe culture is massive. People seem to not care how and under what conditions these are made either. As much as luxury brands have always complained about it, it's never had a huge effect on them as it's not targeting their customer base. And often people start with fakes and at some point will take the plunge with a real one. There has and always will be a market for the heavily branded to show off with.

A thing I haven't seen mentioned yet about luxury spaces, the lines outside of doors, it's obviously deliberate (post COVID) as it's only ever at the usual suspects who treat customers like they're lucky to be allowed the privilege to shop at them and it does my head in. How is standing in line (often in the rain) luxury?

^^ This x100. I’m not queuing to be allowed the pleasure of potentially buying your products.
I just went to London for the weekend- entered not a single shop. That would have been unheard of a few years ago. The shopping experience isn’t what it was pre Covid and it’s a real turn off.

That’s your spontaneous purchases disappearing luxury retailers!

I definitely buy less designer items including clothes than I used to.

I sold a few designer bags this year (gifts and stuff purchases) which I never used.

I do get fakes (kill me now!) sometimes but from a local shop and also vintage.

Definitely agreed with logo. I’ve never liked them and go for minimal or no logos on bags etc. why should I pay to advertise their brand?! Or show off?!