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The luxury sector is weathering crosswinds at the moment: On the one hand, military conflict in the Middle East has sent high-earning consumers scattering from the region and purse strings tightening. On the other hand, the emergence of AI and weight-loss medication like GLP-1s means it\u2019s never been so easy for consumers to shop for premium brands, and they have an emerging motivation to do so. <\/p>\n
The latest Luxury Monitor from global consulting firm Bain & Co shows growth in the sector has dipped slightly (by -1%) year on year, with estimates for Q1 2026 coming in at -3% on a constant exchange rate.<\/p>\n
That said, there are green shoots: A major driver of consumption is the use of GLP-1 weight-loss medications, the report authored by Claudia D\u2019Arpizio and Federica Levato, senior partners at Bain & Co, says. The emergence of the trend \u201cis a very central question, and the macro trend in consumption of so many categories within luxury and outside of luxury, from a sociological and anthropological perspective, is the most interesting topic right now,\u201d Levato told Fortune<\/em>.<\/p>\n In the soft luxury category, like apparel and footwear, \u201cthere is, of course, the enthusiasm of having lost weight and so there is a direct correlation with \u2018Let\u2019s buy a new wardrobe,’\u201d Levato explains. \u201cThere is more enthusiasm for a shopping frenzy \u2026 and it\u2019s directly related to higher consumer confidence.\u201d <\/p>\n Levato isn\u2019t talking about consumer confidence in the sense of a brighter economic outlook. Rather, she describes the \u201cYOLO\u201d (you only live once) sentiment among consumers, inspired at first by the end of the pandemic and, since then, new options for self-confidence courtesy of drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro.<\/p>\n For brands, this raises several questions. Levato suggests the key problem facing the luxury sector is how to broaden its client base, be it by generation, region, or income level. Another effect of widespread use of GLP-1s is that more people may fit the sometimes-limited sizing options offered by luxury brands, Levato says.<\/p>\n The luxury sector has long been criticized for not being inclusive (wealth barriers aside). In the era of weight loss drugs, representation for a range of body types appears to have regressed even further. The\u00a0Vogue Business<\/em> Fall\/Winter 2026 Size Inclusivity Report, released in March, found that of the nearly 8,000 looks presented in the season, 97.6% were in so-called \u201cstraight sizes\u201d of U.S. 0-4. The \u201cmid-size\u201d category (U.S. 6-12) had representation of 2.1%, while plus-sizes (U.S. 14+) were just 0.3%.<\/p>\n That\u2019s down on last season, when mid-size looks made up 2% (which is roughly flat for the past three seasons), and plus-size looks made up 0.9%. As such, plus-size representation has dipped to the same level as FW25, the lowest level since Vogue Business<\/em>\u00a0began tracking size inclusivity three years ago.<\/p>\n Despite ethical considerations around inclusivity, GLP-1 use presents an opportunity for luxury brands, Levato points out.<\/p>\n Another consideration for the luxury sector is the emergence of affordable luxury brands, she highlights: \u201cBrands in the last two or three years they have focused primarily on top 1% [of wealth] \u2026 they are not capitalizing on the value of the market where there is the vast majority.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a huge wave of new potential customers, but it\u2019s really in the hands of the brands to realize that this is coming or not, because if they keep increasing prices, they will cut out some part of the population. Other brands, and namely U.S.-based brands, are very good at doing this \u2026 being more accessible for sizes, but also for price points, and this remains in the minds and in the hearts of the consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n The GLP-1 factor also extends to luxury experiences. Levato signals that in restaurants, for example, diners are eating less but are shifting to higher-quality dining at the same time.<\/p>\n \u201cFood brands are really doing smaller packages but with a higher intrinsic value of what they sell,\u201d Levato highlights.\u00a0\u201cSo I buy less, the price in the end is not moving, but not because the margin is higher for brands but because they put more quality into smaller portions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Bain #luxury #report #finds #consumers #GLP1s #rebuying #luxury #wardrobes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The luxury sector is weathering crosswinds at the moment: On the one hand, military conflict in the Middle East has sent high-earning consumers scattering from the region and purse strings… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6437,2933,11146,1796,3189,11052,9573,420,11148,736,11149,11147],"class_list":["post-9095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-bain","tag-consumer","tag-consumer-confidence","tag-consumers","tag-finds","tag-glp-1s","tag-glp1s","tag-luxury","tag-rebuying","tag-report","tag-wardrobes","tag-weight-loss-and-diet-control-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fintechpulse8.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\nLuxury brands are shrinking their clothing size ranges<\/h2>\n
Quality vs quantity<\/h2>\n
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