Do you think luxury will be relevant in few years from now ?

[Minimalist_Chic]

And really, financially, a lot of those people (both the influencers and their followers) shouldn't have been spending that kind of money in the first place. There will always be people with money and there will always be status-conscious people who want to buy from luxury brands.

Brands need this. If brands only target certain people of certain wealth or financial means you risk damaging the brand. Brands will generally always have accessible products to target those new customers, leather goods, small accessories, beauty, etc.
It’s required to 1. Maintain their reputation and be desirable 2. Turn these consumers into loyal customers. There may be shift of turning to minimal brands, less logo heavy or to lesser known brands due to too much exposire, but they will just change tactics like be less logo heavy, limiting supply or trying to convince there’s scarcity.

 

[Midge Maisel]

Brands need this. If brands only target certain people of certain wealth or financial means you risk damaging the brand. Brands will generally always have accessible products to target those new customers, leather goods, small accessories, beauty, etc.
It’s required to 1. Maintain their reputation and be desirable 2. Turn these consumers into loyal customers. There may be shift of turning to minimal brands, less logo heavy or to lesser known brands due to too much exposire, but they will just change tactics like be less logo heavy, limiting supply or trying to convince there’s scarcity.

I'm not really referring to the brands and their positioning. I'm referring to the market effects of influencers either being less influential (which, realistically, they will be at some point) and/or luxury brands moving away from extensive influencer marketing (and if the former happens, the latter will happen as well). And when that does happen, people will move to more reasonably-priced brands. Which, while less than ideal for the brands, is better for the consumer if that person is living beyond their means or overspending because it's trendy to own [insert trendy luxury good here].

At the same time, there are brands who target wealthier customers (to be fair, I'm mostly thinking about watch brands and hospitality brands), and that hasn't stopped them from being desirable. They're just less easily attained.

 

[onlyk]

I disagree. I don’t see any segments disappearing, but rather brands evolving. I don’t see the market contacting but rather growing.
Think make up, luxury brands like Chanel, Hermès and Dior being more exclusive and high end And easily accessible for make up but inaccessible in their RTW or leather goods,
Other areas where other brands becoming top tier brands e.g. Gucci, Prada, Valentino, etc and other brands entering other lines of business to tap into luxury market e.g. Polene, Marc Jacobs, Burberry doing make up, etc. Luxury is still relevant, whether it is beauty, households items, luggage, jewelry and so on. I disagree it will be relevant to certain population. This is the main reason brands go into other lines of business, it’s so they can tap into each segment of luxury. It also means they are less immune to economic conditions From one segment.

What we know today e.g. Dior and Chanel becoming harder for regular people to get hold off, but brands like Gucci and Polene raising up the ranks amongst luxury as they build their reputation and heritage.

p.s. these names are examples to make a point. Not all brands will survive.

Market is horrible right now, almost nothing sells, except few lucky sellers and a few top sellers; most of things sold for 1/3-1/5 of its purchased price. And many don’t sell no matter how low prices they are at. Many of the brand names you mentioned don’t sell as much as they used to be like a year or two ago.

every month seems worse than last month since the Spring of 2022

 

[2cello]

Market is horrible right now, almost nothing sells, except few lucky sellers and a few top sellers; most of things sold for 1/3-1/5 of its purchased price. And many don’t sell no matter how low prices they are at. Many of the brand names you mentioned don’t sell as much as they used to be like a year or two ago.

every month seems worse than last month since the Spring of 2022

this sounds like things reverting back to normal. Imo, the last few years were an anomaly.

Luxury will always be relevant but maybe if it reverts back to normal, luxury will be something most of us partake in occasionally and not daily.

 

[onlyk]

this sounds like things reverting back to normal. Imo, the last few years were an anomaly.

Luxury will always be relevant but maybe if it reverts back to normal, luxury will be something most of us partake in occasionally and not daily.

agree with you the last few years were an anomaly, before the boom of 2019, market was steadily growing, everyone gets a piece of pie, almost all brands (even non luxury brands or non brands) were selling, and not just handbags, everything was selling, clothing, accessories etc, right now it's worse than 2012 that's furthest I have recollection on market developing, maybe it could be count as back to normal.

Possibly in history of luxury, 10, 20, 30 years of downturn is nothing, except it will effect people who live from right now to the next 10, 20, 30 years, a bit scary.

 

[Vintage Leather]

I am old enough to remember when the average ceo made 40x the average employee… vs 398x of today.

When I joined this forum, US median salary was $50k, a 30 clemence Birkin was $8100, a medium Chanel classic Flap was $1995 and a speedy 25 was $540. Oh, and one year of college tuition and fees was $5900. A college student could work part time at a minimum wage job, pay their tuition and still buy a Speedy. A Chanel flap if they worked 32 hours over the summer.

Today, median salary is $56,900, the Birkin is $11,600, a Chanel flap is $10,200 and that Speedy will set you back $1490. And that tuition is $12,900. That same college student, working that same job could pay their tuition, and have $100 left over. If they worked extra hours over the summer, they could buy the cheapest Speedy.

Over the last 15 years, luxury has become less attainable and more identifiable. This has changed the idea of “investment dressing” from “I don’t need to buy multiple bags because I already have an amazing one” to “and when I get bored, I’ll be able to recoup or make a tidy profit” in other words, an investment into the commodities market.

Not so luxurious, when you have to work for the bag, instead of the bag reducing your work.

 

[Minimalist_Chic]

Market is horrible right now, almost nothing sells, except few lucky sellers and a few top sellers; most of things sold for 1/3-1/5 of its purchased price. And many don’t sell no matter how low prices they are at. Many of the brand names you mentioned don’t sell as much as they used to be like a year or two ago.

every month seems worse than last month since the Spring of 2022

You’re referring to resale market. Resale market only gained popularity in recent years, I think it’s levellong

Market is horrible right now, almost nothing sells, except few lucky sellers and a few top sellers; most of things sold for 1/3-1/5 of its purchased price. And many don’t sell no matter how low prices they are at. Many of the brand names you mentioned don’t sell as much as they used to be like a year or two ago.

every month seems worse than last month since the Spring of 2022

You’re referring to resale market. Resale market is leveling off from its peak. But I also see more products available than previous years, collaborations and partnerships with brands. The popularity of resale growing as consumers become more price conscious, mindful on their environmental and sustainability efforts. Due to the growth, I see high supply and buyers with greater bargaining power in current conditions. Its very few brands that can retain close to their value in the resale market despite how popular the brands are or whether their sales is growing. It’s even more damaging in worse economic conditions as clothing, accessories and handbags are likely to be first thing consumers cut back on when things are tough.

 

[Minimalist_Chic]

I'm not really referring to the brands and their positioning. I'm referring to the market effects of influencers either being less influential (which, realistically, they will be at some point) and/or luxury brands moving away from extensive influencer marketing (and if the former happens, the latter will happen as well). And when that does happen, people will move to more reasonably-priced brands. Which, while less than ideal for the brands, is better for the consumer if that person is living beyond their means or overspending because it's trendy to own [insert trendy luxury good here].

At the same time, there are brands who target wealthier customers (to be fair, I'm mostly thinking about watch brands and hospitality brands), and that hasn't stopped them from being desirable. They're just less easily attained.

I’m not so sure about that. Brands change and adapt their marketing tactics and will do what they can to be relevant. If influencer marketing doesn’t work then they may revert back to celebrity marketing or try and be more exclusive or advertise more on their sustainability efforts or whatever. I don’t see consumers just turning to reasonably priced items because influencers are less influential. They will just turn to other brands that are lesser known or more niche. It’s a cycle, if influencer marketing doesn’t work and consumers start going to other brands, brands will adapt as well and then that becomes the marketing tactic. Price and influencers are not the only factors that determine brand loyalty or luxury spending. The way I see is it is luxury market is leveling off from peak but is still growing. During the pandemic people couldn’t travel so they spent more on luxury, had more time on social media, growth in pay later schemes, attitude towards home ownership for young people has also influenced their habits to save, the increased desire to keep up with social media trends, etc.

I get what you’re trying to say and agree that it is better people don’t spend above their means and buy luxury if they can’t afford to. There will just be other forms of luxury that people turn or other brands which are not associated with influencers. I think we saw on over satuated way of marketing from influencers and brands using influencers in the last few years that I think consumer attitude towards this has lately changed, there’s now deinfluencing, etc, there are other factors that still determine luxury spending, you now have the likes of other low key luxury brands becoming more popular, etc.

 

[ctimec]

Luxury will always be relevant. As long as there is wealth, there will be luxury.

It follows that aspirational people who look up to symbols of wealth will always crave luxury. The trends may change, but people don’t.

 

[CrazyCool01]

this sounds like things reverting back to normal. Imo, the last few years were an anomaly.

Luxury will always be relevant but maybe if it reverts back to normal, luxury will be something most of us partake in occasionally and not daily.

I cannot agree more ! I sold few Chanel slgs at around 1/3 price recently. I got scared If I wont get even 1/3 in future.

It takes forever to sell or very bad low ball offers.

 

[ParisBound]

This thread is fascinating with such smart comments. I have been feeling "blah" about purchasing luxury handbags for a while now. Got caught up in the pre-covid through post-covid luxury boom (though have been buying luxury handbags since the 90's..hello Prada my first bag), but now am feeling like it's almost embarrassing and boring to have the same items everyone else has or wants. Add to that seeing so many people on social media always asking about resale value before buying or only wanting a B/K/C and asking what the "pre-spend" is. Then there is Chanel and their ridiculous price increases, I can't even with them at this point. I could never give them $10K for a bag that was half that just a few years ago. My long point is, I think others are feeling this way too as I have seen comments on other threads alluding to being somewhat over the whole luxury game too. So do I think luxury will be relevant in a few years from now, yes, but as many of you so intelligently pointed out, it will be different, and thank goodness for that because right now it's a bit of a mess IMHO.

 

[Kevinaxx]

I am old enough to remember when the average ceo made 40x the average employee… vs 398x of today.

When I joined this forum, US median salary was $50k, a 30 clemence Birkin was $8100, a medium Chanel classic Flap was $1995 and a speedy 25 was $540. Oh, and one year of college tuition and fees was $5900. A college student could work part time at a minimum wage job, pay their tuition and still buy a Speedy. A Chanel flap if they worked 32 hours over the summer.

Today, median salary is $56,900, the Birkin is $11,600, a Chanel flap is $10,200 and that Speedy will set you back $1490. And that tuition is $12,900. That same college student, working that same job could pay their tuition, and have $100 left over. If they worked extra hours over the summer, they could buy the cheapest Speedy.

Over the last 15 years, luxury has become less attainable and more identifiable. This has changed the idea of “investment dressing” from “I don’t need to buy multiple bags because I already have an amazing one” to “and when I get bored, I’ll be able to recoup or make a tidy profit” in other words, an investment into the commodities market.

Not so luxurious, when you have to work for the bag, instead of the bag reducing your work.

This is an interesting take.

I will say, I graduated in 2020.

My college tuition was less than $5k a semester and even prior to graduating from college (bachelors), I was lucky enough to land a job that paid shy of $100k a year (ot and side hustle not included).

I would never take on tuition where I felt the ROI wasn’t there. Others may feel otherwise and they’re welcome to pay for those who attend private or ivy for degree(s) but come out earning $30-50k plus or minus a few thousand.

I agree there is a widening of pay, I’ve never held any supervisor or management role much less a ceo type of role, but what I will say is there’s also a budding group of people who expect pay for little work. And there are people paid handsomely for little work, because of connections and the right name. And there are people who know this and feel they should receive the same.

The question is not if it’s happening but what can be done to course correct.

The bigger issue is those who feel they should have the same access to “luxury” goods as well as those who need to sell, create return for shareholders, and essentially sell fast fashion as “luxury”.

 

[opensesame]

-A significant portion of growth in the luxury sector comes from middle- and low-income shoppers. Americans with a household income of less than $50K make up for 27% of regular luxury goods consumers according to GlobalData, which is almost as big a group as shoppers in the bracket up from them with incomes of up to $150K.

-While Americans of all income groups were buying more luxury apparel during the pandemic, purchases by individuals making $40K or less rose 365% higher at the end of 2021 than they were in January 2020, before lockdowns began in the US.

What??? I didn’t even know we could afford luxury items at that income level. I remember suffering to pay rent, gas, & other basic needs.

 

[Kevinaxx]

What??? I didn’t even know we could afford luxury items at that income level. I remember suffering to pay rent, gas, & other basic needs.

Prime example but not glaringly obvious (for some) is an apple iPhone or Samsung equivalent.

I can’t tell you how many posts I see where folks say their phone bill is $150 give or take and it’s for one person. Most friends of mine that are in late twenties early thirties just got off of their family’s plan where it’s $20 bucks per extra line.

T-Mobile is $70/$75 flat. Cricket is around $20.

It’s clear they're financing their phone and that is a luxury. I remember when my phone got stolen, my friend lent me their old cell phone until I could save for another.

Same with cars, housing, etc.

The good news is there are people who would budget/allocate responsibly. Some live at home, others get rent cheap through connections and some will share a room (to keep housing costs $500-600 in one of the most expensive cities in US) so they can afford other luxuries like a ps5. No debt and decent savings.

The bad news is there are more folks who would live paycheck to paycheck and often go into the red because it’s hard to be on a rice and beans diet when everyone else is throwing up “insert flavor of the month here”.

 

[Vintage Leather]

This thread has been preying on my mind for a while, and I think I finally figured out why.

Luxury and designer are not synonymous.

According to the lovely lexicographers of Oxford, luxury is “the enjoyment of special and expensive things,” or “a thing that is not essential.” Designer just means that something is the work of a notable person.

A luxury is something that adds pleasure or ease to your life. The minute someone says, “how do I score a Birkin,” it stops being a luxury and starts being work.

Wearing a Rolex might feel luxurious, but with them moving to a disposable model (no service after 30 years), the watch will be a lot more work than an Omega or Patek.

Will luxury still be relevant?
Definitely. We are not a society of ascetics, and I don’t see any major trends that indicates that this will shift.

Will designer purses still be luxurious?
I haven’t found them to be luxurious over the last three years. The lines outside of stores, the desperation of shoppers, the odd tides of the resale market, the fear of theft/assault and judgmental comments from strangers have reduced my pleasure. Your mileage may vary. I am not a vip shopper, my SAs have retired and managing a collection while being a responsible consumer adds to my stress