But what’s the current scenario? In 2021, the personal luxury market is expected to grow 1 percent compared to 2019 and 29 percent compared to 2020. After its darkest moment in history — in the second quarter of 2020, the sector was down 50 percent compared to the same period the previous year — the sector is experiencing a strong rebound, determined also by the shift from experiences to goods, caused by the travel and social restrictions across the globe.
“Brands should think in terms of touchpoint ecosystem, where each channel has a different role in influencing the consumer’s journey,” said Levato, highlighting that online and the monobrand stores are actually boosting the business of luxury brands.almost doubled in size. If in 2019 online in the luxury segment accounted for 12 percent of revenues, in 2021, it accounts for 22 percent of the business, totaling 62 billion euros.
“In the wholesale arena, we except that the specialty store that will survive will retain a role of opinion leaders dictating fashion trends,” Levato said. “In the department stores’ business, the American ones are going through a reorganization and they are generating strong performances, while the European ones are suffering from the lack of international tourists.”
In this perspective, the traditional pyramid model is replaced by what the report defines as a “new cycle of desire,” where icons and hero products come before the brands themselves and the logo is not a status symbol to display one’s wealth but is a badge of self expression and values, such as sustainability, diversity and inclusion.