Exclusivity returns to European leathergoods as dollar slide continues
The impact of the slide of the US dollar on the price of luxury imports is all too evident in the latest round of figures from the US Commerce Department. But for the luxury goods sector, there is at least one small crumb of consolation.
In the past 12 months, the average price of goods imported from the European Union has increased 6.5% while the price of all exports, excluding oil, was up by only 2.4%. At today’s prices, a dollar converts to only Eur0.87, 20% less than what is was worth a year ago. As one would expect, sales of 'big ticket' items such as leather goods, jewellery and perfumes have been the hardest hit.
But on the plus side, the exclusive new price tags at least mean that branded leather goods are once again being viewed as the luxury items that they are, not the staple goods they were in danger of becoming.
