Global Powers of Luxury 2026
ContentsGlobal Powers of Luxury 2026 | Contents02Foreword 03Executive Summary 052026 Luxury outlook 06Consumer trends shaping luxury 06Luxury outlook 09Companies’ expectations 12Top priorities 14Top growth opportunities 16Major financial investments 17GenAI adoption in Luxury: poised between assessment and implementation 20Areas with greatest potential of AI implementation 23Focus on India 25Next 5 years trends and growth prospects 26Major transformative impacts 26Future growth levers: from transaction to relationship 29Sustainability 32Methodology 35Contacts 36Endnotes 37
ForewordFor ten editions, the Global Powers of Luxury report has mapped the industry through the lens of financial statements, an essential compass to understand who performed, where, and why. But financial statements, by definition, tell us what happened. This year, we felt the need to innovate and decided that a different lens could add more value for leaders by helping them sense the moment, not just audit the past.We have therefore changed the methodology and moved to a forward-looking study grounded in a survey involving 420 C-suite and senior executives across ten countries. All respondents were directly responsible for or exerted significant influence on major strategic initiatives within their organizations spanning key Luxury sectors: Apparel and footwear, Bags and accessories, Jewelry, Watches, Beauty and Hospitality. Their perspectives, on consumers, growth, risk, technology advancements, sustainability, form the backbone of this edition. We also broadened the study scope to include hospitality as luxury today lives as much in the experience as in the product. The boundaries between personal goods, places, and platforms are dissolving; value is often created where they meet. Luxury has long been about more than products. It is about connection: between brands and people, craft and technology, heritage and reinvention. In a world that feels faster and more demanding, luxury is being asked to do something harder than ever: create intimacy and build significance, not just scale.The past few quarters have been complicated. After the post-pandemic surge, the industry has navigated a pullback of aspirational consumers under cost-of-living pressures and a series of headwinds: normalizing tourist flows, global tensions and tariff impacts shaping supply chains, tightening regulation, and uneven demand in China.Against this backdrop, the executive interviews highlight a new phase for luxury: stabilization. The months ahead are expected to be about rebuilding stability and trust with consumers, favoring productivity, loyalty, and durable value over short-term volume.Luxury’s future is anticipated to be won by being truer: clearer in purpose, sharper in execution, closer to the people you serve.Global Powers of Luxury 2026 | Foreword03Ida PalombellaGlobal Fashion & Lu...