In the space of a few days this month, luxury fashion delivered three stories that, read together, say a great deal about the state of luxury brand marketing. Anthony Vaccarello left Saint Laurent after ten years. Kim Jones announced a label under his own name, to be sold first through his own website and a single Hong Kong flagship. And LVMH reported that sales at its fashion and leather goods division had fallen again. Behind all three sits the same problem: after years of rising prices, the industry is having to work much harder to keep its wealthiest clients interested.

The end of an era at Saint Laurent

Vaccarello's departure was confirmed by parent company Kering without a stated reason, according to AFP's report in The National. The Belgian designer took over from Hedi Slimane in 2016 and staged his final show in Paris on 29 September.

His tenure is a case study in how creative direction drives commercial value. Under Vaccarello, Saint Laurent's revenue roughly tripled to €3.3bn, helped by spectacular shows beneath the Eiffel Tower and, from 2023, the house's own film-production arm. But sales slipped to €2.6bn in 2025 as the wider luxury market slowed. Kering, now in the middle of an 18-month overhaul under chief executive Luca de Meo, wants to push further into menswear and jewellery. Chemena Kamali, currently at Chloé, has been mentioned as a possible successor.

The point for anyone outside fashion is simple. When growth stalls, luxury houses reach first for the creative lever: a new voice, a new story, a reason for existing clients to look again.

Kim Jones goes direct

If Saint Laurent shows the old model of renewal, Kim Jones' new label hints at a different one. Announced on 12 October, it follows his exits from Fendi in October 2024 and Dior Men in January 2025, after earlier spells at Louis Vuitton menswear and Dunhill.

The structure is worth looking at closely:

  • Ownership: Jones and his long-time collaborator Lucy Beeden hold a majority stake, alongside an undisclosed investor.
  • Distribution: the first collection, for autumn/winter 2027, will be sold through the brand's own e-commerce site from mid-2027, with retail partnerships across Asia and further afield to follow.
  • Product: designed in London, made mainly in Japan, with leather goods produced in Italy. Wallpaper* reports that pricing will be "considered".
  • Flagship: a store of roughly 4,000 sq ft over two levels at Central Yards, Henderson Land's new development overlooking Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. The Standard describes it as one of five duplex "concept maisons" there, with open terraces and internal staircases.

That combination of owning the customer relationship online, opening one carefully designed physical space and keeping prices measured is a direct response to the problems the big houses now face.

Why wealthy clients cooled

The numbers explain the urgency. LVMH's third-quarter sales came to €18.5bn, Euronews reported, with organic growth of 1%, down from 3% in the second quarter. Fashion and leather goods fell 5% organically, much worse than the roughly 2% decline analysts had expected, and only a quarter after the division had posted its first organic gain in two years. China was weak; the United States, Europe and Japan grew. Elsewhere in the group, watches and jewellery, wines and spirits and Sephora all rose between 6% and 8%. LVMH shares have fallen nearly 40% since January.

The longer-term diagnosis came from Bain last November. As Reuters reported, the number of people buying luxury goods shrank from 400 million in 2022 to about 340 million in 2025, with another 20 to 30 million at risk. High spenders now account for 46 to 47% of a personal luxury goods market worth about €358bn, which is why so many brands have concentrated on their top clients. Yet Bain warned that even this group was growing frustrated with repeated price rises. Its partner Federica Levato put it bluntly: "You cannot target only the top customers."

Concentrating on the wealthiest clients works only as long as they feel they are getting something in return.

Bain's advice was to offer more creativity at existing price points rather than keep raising them, and Kering's chief executive acknowledged at the time that pricing needed a rethink.

Luxury brand marketing lessons for anyone selling to the wealthy

None of this is unique to handbags. Developers, jet operators, private banks and wine merchants face the same tension between serving their biggest clients and keeping a pipeline of new ones. A few lessons stand out.

1. Price increases need a story. Wealthy buyers can afford a higher price; what they resent is paying more for the same thing. If you raise prices, show what has changed: craft, service, access, scarcity. Bain's call for more creativity at the current price is a useful discipline for any premium brand.

2. Don't build the whole business on a handful of clients. Top clients matter enormously, but a brand that ignores the people who will become top clients in five years is borrowing from its future. Keep an entry point, and a reason to step up.

3. Own the relationship. Jones's decision to launch through his own website before widening distribution is a reminder that first-party data and direct contact are assets. For a property developer or charter operator, that means knowing clients personally rather than relying entirely on intermediaries.

4. Make the physical space count. One well-chosen flagship, designed more like a residence than a shop, can do more for a brand than a dozen ordinary outlets. Viewing suites, private lounges and hosted events serve the same purpose in other sectors.

5. Treat creative leadership as a commercial decision. Saint Laurent's growth under Vaccarello shows how much value a clear point of view can create. Whoever sets the tone for your brand, whether a designer, an architect or an editorial voice, is part of the sales strategy.

What to watch

Saint Laurent has yet to confirm a successor, and the new designer's first collection will show whether the house chooses continuity or a reset. Kim Jones' label will not reach customers until mid-2027, so for now it is a statement of intent rather than a result. In the meantime, the quarterly numbers suggest wealthy shoppers are still spending, but more selectively, and on watches, jewellery and wine as readily as on fashion. The brands that do best will be those that give their best clients a reason to come back, not just a bigger bill.

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