The Tamesis
In the months following Spring/Summer 2026, we’ve seen major brands welcome a slew of new hires to their communications, marketing and design departments. Our new series, Fashion’s Real Reset Starts Now, looks at all of these changes and how they will redefine the fashion industry in the coming years.
At the end of last year, 72% of Gen Z luxury consumers said fashion business They would rather have a “Wirkin” bag from Walmart than a Birkin bag from Hermès. It’s a sign of the times: Young shoppers view luxury goods differently, partly because they can’t afford them, but also because they find spending so much money on a single product distasteful.
McKinsey senior partner Colleen Baum said industry growth over the past four years has been driven primarily by rising prices. Last year, the problem came to a head. Discussions on social media about the mismatch between price and quality have gained traction, with “greedy inflation” emerging as a key factor in the slowdown in the luxury goods industry, and executives realizing that luxury prices may have climbed too far beyond what people can afford.
In late 2024, Frédéric Grangié, president of Chanel’s watches and fine jewelry division, told a Swiss newspaper time The slowdown in the luxury goods industry will continue due to consumer fatigue. “Customers are tired of being overwhelmed by luxury goods,” he said. Despite this, prices continued to surge until 2025. Meanwhile, Kering CEO Luca de Meo reportedly said in an internal memo in November 2025 that the group needed to rethink its pricing and product range.
“In 2025, we understand that luxury goods are likely to be constrained, with very few exceptions being immune to this pricing headwind,” said luxury goods consultant Robert Burke. “Whether it’s unstable economic conditions, uncertainty, tariffs — we could go on a long list of things — it’s going to cause consumers to stop and think twice. We’re seeing people starting to ask questions they never questioned before.”
Maurizio Catellani, chief executive of price and market intelligence platform Competitoor, said price increases have slowed as a result. “Handbags in particular saw smaller gains in our monthly price analysis [last] Federica Levato, a senior partner at Bain & Company, said the post-pandemic “era of rising prices” is coming to an end.
For example, the average price of a Burberry handbag will fall by 12-18% year-on-year in the UK in 2025, while the price of a Kensington windbreaker will increase by 1-4% during the same period. “This strategy allows brands to protect their most coveted items while increasing sales with more aggressive pricing in other categories,” said Krista Corrigan, senior retail analyst at trend intelligence platform EDITED.
