Luxury brands hold up well
06/03/2009
The global economic downturn is hitting all industries hard, but high-end leathergoods still appear to be performing well for many luxury brands.
After UK brand Mulberry announced positive figures for December and January, LVMH, the Paris-based holding company that is the parent of brands such as Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Loewe, Donna Karan New York, Givenchy and Kenzo, announced an overall 4% increase in sales for 2008.
While growth has slowed at LVMH, the group said that lower sales in watches and jewellery were the main reason and that sales of leathergoods had held up well.
The same happened at rival group PPR, owner of brands such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Sergio Rossi, Boucheron and Bottega Veneta. Watches and jewellery sales were slow, but thanks to good performances in leathergoods and fashion, overall sales for 2008 went up by 8.1% compared to 2007.
An interesting footnote is that PPR reported an increase in sales in China for the Gucci brand of 42% last year.
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