Show Notes
This week, LVMH reported earnings that showed its recovery last quarter was short-lived.
Sales in its bellwether fashion and leather goods category fell 5% last quarter. Sales in Asia were also down 5%, and the company's share price has fallen by nearly 40% so far since its peak in 2023.
While LVMH is still the largest luxury conglomerate in the world, it's clear that something isn't working in the company's strategy. Other luxury brands and conglomerates have faced similar issues, like slower sales in China and disruption in the Middle East, but several aren't facing LVMH's problems. Chanel, for example, has seen double-digit growth in every region, including Asia, this year.
So what's going on at LVMH? On the Glossy Podcast this week, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi, international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff discussed some of the reasons for LVMH's declining sales.
For one, the company's brands are failing to inspire on the runway, and the lack of creative innovation is leading to a loss of desirability.
"I've looked at a lot of recent reports from resale sites like Fashionphile, Rebag and The RealReal, and in 2023, LVMH had four of the top 10 most searched brands," Manoff said, citing a recent The RealReal report. "In 2024, they had four again; in 2025, they had five of the top 10. But in 2026, they only have one of the top 10. Louis Vuitton was the only one still there. That is quite a backslide in my eyes."
Manoff also noted that executives on LVMH's earnings call on Monday talked a lot about environmental factors negatively affecting performance, but offered little in the way of planned changes to their strategy.
"At some of their brands like Bulgari, they're introducing more accessibly priced products and being more innovative," Zwieglinska said. "But at Louis Vuitton, in particular, they've been very stubborn about making any changes."
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