Luxury Brands Need to Get Over Their Youth Fixation to Offset Drag From Trump’s Tariffs
Courting consumers 55 and older should be a priority for purveyors of high-end goods in 2025, say experts.
Chanel storefront in Monaco.
Photographer: Alamy
By all accounts 2024 was one of the worst years for luxury in more than a decade. Among the culprits: tough straits for Chinese consumers, who in recent years have accounted for as much as one-fifth of global luxury spending, and shoppers’ pushback against exorbitant price increases enacted by many of high-end brands. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, far and away the biggest of all the publicly traded luxury companies, saw its market value shrink by more than 13% last year.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House is casting another shadow over the industry, which has much to lose from a ramp-up in the trade wars. To counteract the potential drag on their business from higher tariffs, say experts, purveyors of luxury products should devote more attention to a customer demographic they’ve neglected in recent years: the so-called silver generation.