CONSUMERS

Ledbury Research: Luxury Market Insight Report 2013

by

Nicola Ko

|

This is the featured image caption
Credit: This is the featured image credit

Nicola Ko, analyst at Ledbury Research, explains how luxury brands looking inwards to expand outwards

Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.

PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.

In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”

The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris

Nicola Ko, analyst at Ledbury Research, explains how luxury brands looking inwards to expand outwards

Tod’s commitment to restoring the Colosseum is cementing its ties with Italy

The Luxury Market Insights report aims to provide a single, timely and comprehensive source of insight into the global luxury industry. Published bi-annually, it includes information regarding wealth & luxury indicators, industry dynamics, strategic themes & case studies, as well as brand benchmarking.

The purpose of the report is to aid luxury executives in tracking the performance of their relevant sector and the forces that are shaping it, and to benchmark against competitors. The case studies and themes allow readers to learn best practices from other parts of the luxury sector and to discover new markets and methods.

“ Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts has warned that the global economy will remain challenging ”

Conducting the report we…

Continued to improve the content and its visual layout, based on direct feedback from a number of key luxury brands.

We analysed the activity of over 30 luxury brands, and for this edition, we summarised them into 8 key themes. This included tracking the geographic movements of brands to see where brands are opening stores, looking at the different ways brands are continuing to improve in the digital space, as well as highlighting the traction that philanthropy is gaining. We showed how these themes have evolved over the past 2 years.

In addition, the report covers wealthy consumer sentiment, CEO outlook and key industry dynamics based on the global performance of luxury brands across 12 sectors. We also explored where the most exciting emerging markets are, revealing markets beyond Asia.

“ China’s change in leadership and curb on graft has had a negative impact particularly on watch retailers ”

Un-surprisingly we confirmed…

A further decline in our CEO Outlook indicator. Burberry Chief Executive Angela Ahrendts has warned that the global economy will “remain challenging”, on the back of slowing sales growth for many brands. This is due to the economic and political instability in Europe, as well as the mixed signals in Asia.

China’s change in leadership and curb on graft has had a negative impact particularly on watch retailers, but at the same time, our expert commentator Tara Loader Wilkinson, Editor of Billionaire.com, told us, “From an on-the-ground perspective, the queues of mainland tourists outside luxury retailers in Hong Kong never went away, nor did the two month-long waiting lists at the city’s finest restaurants.”

“ The queues of mainland tourists outside luxury retailers in Hong Kong never went away ”

Most surprisingly we found…

Luxury brands looking inwards to expand outwards. Luxury branding has historically been based around provenance, but there is now a risk that luxury’s rapidly expanded global footprint has diluted this message.

We found Fendi and Tod’s to be amongst those brands that are building their domestic ties to expand their global footprint. By financing Rome’s most iconic sites, the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum respectively; they are sending out a strong signal of their link to their country. Not only are they protecting a piece of their history, they are also promoting tourism at a time when the domestic situation is weak.

Equally important, it strengthens the brands’ links to Made in Italy, which is a brand in itself. It represents traditions and skills that have been handed down over generations, which many consumers value – it conveys a sense of legitimacy and authenticity to buy from a brand’s country of origin.

We also found Loewe and Mulberry undertaking initiatives to promote their country of origin, in other creative ways.

“ Fendi & Tod’s are building their ties to Italy to expand their global footprint ”

Since the last study…

Asian countries are not dominating our HotSpots model anymore. Last edition saw a number of South East Asian countries in the Top 20, including Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam.

Focus has shifted in this edition however, to markets in other regions including the Middle East and Africa. Our top hotspot was Jordan, the 4th freest economy in the Middle East and North Africa (Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom). Others in the Top 20 include Nigeria and Morocco.

If readers remember only one thing it should be…

That while China remains at the forefront now, we expect smaller, non-Asian emerging markets to grow at a quicker pace and gain importance in the coming future.

For more information regarding the Luxury Market Insight Report please visit the following link. More detailed data and analysis is available upon request.

The report is available to Luxury Society members at the exclusive price of £895.50 (discounted from £995). To order a copy, please email [email protected]

Nicola Ko
Nicola Ko

Senior Luxury Analyst

Bio Not Found

CONSUMERS

Ledbury Research: Luxury Market Insight Report 2013

by

Nicola Ko

|

This is the featured image caption
Credit : This is the featured image credit

Nicola Ko, analyst at Ledbury Research, explains how luxury brands looking inwards to expand outwards

Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.

PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.

In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”

The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris

Nicola Ko, analyst at Ledbury Research, explains how luxury brands looking inwards to expand outwards

Tod’s commitment to restoring the Colosseum is cementing its ties with Italy

The Luxury Market Insights report aims to provide a single, timely and comprehensive source of insight into the global luxury industry. Published bi-annually, it includes information regarding wealth & luxury indicators, industry dynamics, strategic themes & case studies, as well as brand benchmarking.

The purpose of the report is to aid luxury executives in tracking the performance of their relevant sector and the forces that are shaping it, and to benchmark against competitors. The case studies and themes allow readers to learn best practices from other parts of the luxury sector and to discover new markets and methods.

“ Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts has warned that the global economy will remain challenging ”

Conducting the report we…

Continued to improve the content and its visual layout, based on direct feedback from a number of key luxury brands.

We analysed the activity of over 30 luxury brands, and for this edition, we summarised them into 8 key themes. This included tracking the geographic movements of brands to see where brands are opening stores, looking at the different ways brands are continuing to improve in the digital space, as well as highlighting the traction that philanthropy is gaining. We showed how these themes have evolved over the past 2 years.

In addition, the report covers wealthy consumer sentiment, CEO outlook and key industry dynamics based on the global performance of luxury brands across 12 sectors. We also explored where the most exciting emerging markets are, revealing markets beyond Asia.

“ China’s change in leadership and curb on graft has had a negative impact particularly on watch retailers ”

Un-surprisingly we confirmed…

A further decline in our CEO Outlook indicator. Burberry Chief Executive Angela Ahrendts has warned that the global economy will “remain challenging”, on the back of slowing sales growth for many brands. This is due to the economic and political instability in Europe, as well as the mixed signals in Asia.

China’s change in leadership and curb on graft has had a negative impact particularly on watch retailers, but at the same time, our expert commentator Tara Loader Wilkinson, Editor of Billionaire.com, told us, “From an on-the-ground perspective, the queues of mainland tourists outside luxury retailers in Hong Kong never went away, nor did the two month-long waiting lists at the city’s finest restaurants.”

“ The queues of mainland tourists outside luxury retailers in Hong Kong never went away ”

Most surprisingly we found…

Luxury brands looking inwards to expand outwards. Luxury branding has historically been based around provenance, but there is now a risk that luxury’s rapidly expanded global footprint has diluted this message.

We found Fendi and Tod’s to be amongst those brands that are building their domestic ties to expand their global footprint. By financing Rome’s most iconic sites, the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum respectively; they are sending out a strong signal of their link to their country. Not only are they protecting a piece of their history, they are also promoting tourism at a time when the domestic situation is weak.

Equally important, it strengthens the brands’ links to Made in Italy, which is a brand in itself. It represents traditions and skills that have been handed down over generations, which many consumers value – it conveys a sense of legitimacy and authenticity to buy from a brand’s country of origin.

We also found Loewe and Mulberry undertaking initiatives to promote their country of origin, in other creative ways.

“ Fendi & Tod’s are building their ties to Italy to expand their global footprint ”

Since the last study…

Asian countries are not dominating our HotSpots model anymore. Last edition saw a number of South East Asian countries in the Top 20, including Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam.

Focus has shifted in this edition however, to markets in other regions including the Middle East and Africa. Our top hotspot was Jordan, the 4th freest economy in the Middle East and North Africa (Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom). Others in the Top 20 include Nigeria and Morocco.

If readers remember only one thing it should be…

That while China remains at the forefront now, we expect smaller, non-Asian emerging markets to grow at a quicker pace and gain importance in the coming future.

For more information regarding the Luxury Market Insight Report please visit the following link. More detailed data and analysis is available upon request.

The report is available to Luxury Society members at the exclusive price of £895.50 (discounted from £995). To order a copy, please email [email protected]

Nicola Ko
Nicola Ko

Senior Luxury Analyst

Bio Not Found

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