The Rise in Luxury

The want for luxury goods is on the rise, surprisingly to me seeing as we're still stuck in a recession, so I decided to do some cheeky research into the topic. (In saying this, in the current Sunday Times Fashion rich List, guess who tops it? None other than the Weston family that own.. PRIMARK! Yes, I was surprised too.)

A lot of the luxury brands come under conglomerates such a PPR (newly named Kering) and LVMH. LVMH, owned by Bernard Arnault, is worth 18 billion (2013) compared to its 16 billion in 2012 and ranks 15th on the top 50 richest in the world. But why has there been such an increase in luxury goods? It seems the biggest consumers in the luxury goods market is China, as many brands are now opening up flagship stores there. One of the latest is Vera Wangs bridal boutique. She even wanted to charge a fee of 3,000 Yuan (£320) just to browse and try on dresses in the new Shanghai store which is absolutely crazy! But this shows that she's taking advantage of the spending over there, but even the Chinese didn't want to pay that. This however has now been scrapped because of the lack of store traffic as Chinese brides-to-be refuse to fork out, understandably. 

However, according to The Wall Street Journal (Feb 2013), The US has got a taste for luxury goods again as their unemployment figures have decreased and the stock market is seeing record highs, so more people are spending, and spending big by the looks of things. Hermes and LVMH, the parent brands of Louis Vuitton, Moet et Chandon champagne and the Sephora cosmetics chain, said the US was its strongest region in 2012 as sales rose by 12%, outstripping the 10% in Asia.

I think what puts Europe on the map in terms of luxury consumerism, is when Asian tourist come to visit things such as Bicester Village where they literally arrive, get a coach down there, shop, and fly home all in the same day! That's how desperate they are for their designer fix. For me, I've never been to Bicester but have heard great things.

I'm not entirely sure how this directly affects me, but in studying fashion it intrigues me to know who the main consumers are in the industry I'm venturing into, as before starting my degree, I had no clue.