Opinion | Luxury fashion brands like Chanel and Dior need to evolve. Here’s how it could start
- Luxury brands dealing with the fallout from the coronavirus need to find alternatives to unsustainable business models
- One way is looking to the less trend-driven segment of hard luxury, namely jewellery and watches
The impact of the coronavirus outbreak has been catastrophic for the luxury industry.
Months of store closures, disruptions to supply chains, a dramatic plunge in traveller numbers and a series of lay-offs have ended a decade of growth and optimism for luxury groups such as LVMH, Kering and Richemont.
While recovery is on the horizon – industry watchers point to the last quarter of 2020 as the beginning of a turnaround – things will never be the same. That’s why this is a good time to take stock and look at a new way forward for a fashion industry that even before this recent development was in need of a big readjustment.
Thanks to growing middle classes in countries such as China, where millennials have made conspicuous consumption their favourite pastime, the fashion industry has experienced a decade of excess. More collections, more events, more brands, more far-flung cruise shows, more “drops” and more “activations” have been needed to feed this seemingly insatiable beast, regardless of issues such as overproduction and a relentless pace that has taken its toll on industry professionals.
As high-end labels start to plan ahead for a post-coronavirus reality, they might do well to look to a sector close to home: the less trend-driven sector of hard luxury, namely jewellery and watches.
