Will Luxury's Winning Streak Continue?
This week, everyone will be talking about quarterly results from LVMH, Kering and Moncler, Instagram's experiment with hiding 'likes,' and how the UK's new leader will change the Brexit outlook. Read our BoF Professional Cheat Sheet.
- LVMH and Moncler report results July 24, Kering July 25; shares in all three companies are at or near record highs.
- Louis Vuitton CEO Michael Burke in June highlighted “unheard of growth rates” for the label in China
- Richemont, the first major luxury group to release quarterly results, reported a surprise drop in watch sales last week
This week we'll get our quarterly snapshot of the luxury industry. LVMH has signalled that its run of booming sales of leather goods — particularly in China — is nowhere near an end. Barring any surprises on those fronts (not impossible, Richemont did indicate the Hong Kong protests dented watch sales), watch for an indication of how Rihanna's new Fenty ready-to-wear line is performing, and an update on the LVMH's acquisition strategy in the wake of its investment in Stella McCartney. Though still growing fast, Kering faces more pressing questions, including offsetting slowing growth at Gucci and the potential end of the “dad sneaker” craze that supercharged sales at Triple S maker Balenciaga. The answer may lie with struggling Bottega Veneta, where Daniel Lee’s first collection is entering stores. Will he repeat Riccardo Tisci’s strong performance at Burberry?
The Bottom Line: Outside of the big two, Moncler’s results are also worth parsing next week. If the outerwear brand reports another stellar quarter for its strategy of monthly drops, then we can expect more brands to join Tod’s and Calvin Kleinon the list of “Genius” copycats.