Personal Luxury Goods

Personal luxury goods include high-end apparel, leather goods, accessories, watches, jewelry, perfume, beauty products and other high-end goods for personal use. Today’s market size shows the total global sales of personal luxury goods for 2018 and projected for 2025.1 Top companies in this sector, ranked by 2018 sales, include LVMH ($53.66 billion), EssilorLuxottica ($18.57 billion), Richemont ($16.05 billion), Kering ($15.71 billion), Swatch ($8.71 billion), Chow Tai Fook ($8.71 billion), Hermés ($6.88 billion), Ralph Lauren ($6.42 billion), Tapestry ($5.96 billion), and Capri Holdings ($5.38 billion).2

Traditionally consumers who wanted to purchase personal luxury goods shopped at specialty boutiques or high-end department stores such as Nordstroms, Bergdorf Goodman, or Saks Fifth Avenue. But, just as other brick-and-mortar retail establishments have been affected negatively by online retailers, so too have personal luxury goods retailers. Several online sites such as Net-a-Porter offer multiple brands of high-end merchandise for sale, free shipping and the convenience of shopping from home. Overall, in-store traffic decreased by 30% from 2012 to 2018. Still, according to EY Advisory, although more than 70% of purchases are influenced by online channels, nearly 90% of purchases are made in store.

Increasingly, many shoppers in their 20s through 40s who can afford high-end merchandise do not want to pay full price for their purchases. In addition, while many Millennials and Generation Z consumers want to be seen in new styles often, they are also concerned about sustainability. They see clothing resale and reuse as a way to conserve resources while also satisfying their want of a new wardrobe. Overall, 26% of luxury shoppers also buy secondhand. While wealthy consumers are unlikely to shop at places such as Goodwill or other thrift stores, they are shopping online at sites such as Fashionphile and TheRealReal which allow consumers to buy, sell and consign used luxury clothing and accessories and at sites such as Rent the Runway which allows consumers to rent high-end clothing for a monthly fee. Millennial and Generation Z consumers made a third of luxury purchases worldwide in 2018 according to Bain & Co. Purchases made by consumers in these two generations combined contributed to nearly all of the growth in the luxury goods sector in 2018.

Some luxury brands such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton have been opening boutique stores and expanding their website offerings in order to control their exclusivity while at the same time their merchandise is discounted at resale sites. Some luxury retailers are focusing on experiences and services to compete with online retail, resale, and rental sites by offering customers champagne and hors d’oeurves while they shop, having cafés and beverage bars in store, and hiring style advisors to help customers. Nordstrom partnered with Rent the Runway to offer customers the ability to drop off their Rent the Runway fashion items at their store. After learning that half their customers also buy or sell used merchandise, Neiman Marcus invested in a minority share of Fashionphile, however, they do not plan to sell secondhand merchandise in their stores or on their website.3 They may want to rethink that strategy, however. In ThredUp’s 2019 Resale Report, GlobalData, a retail analytics firm, found that 33% of consumers would buy more from luxury retailers if they offered secondhand clothing.

1 For the projected 2025 data, the source mentions the “luxury goods market.” The article in which this appears reports only on personal luxury goods, therefore, our editors assumed that this figure was for personal luxury goods only.
2 The source reports sales figures in euros. Our editors used the December 31, 2018 conversion rate of 1 Euro = 1.1466 U.S. dollars given on the Market Insider website here to convert the sales figures to U.S. dollars. Rankings do not include cosmetics companies. If they did the following companies would be in the top 10: L’Oréal ($30.84 billion), Estée Lauder ($13.99 billion) and Beiersdorf ($8.26 billion). Cosmetics sales include products at all price points.
3 Through the partnership with Fashionphile, Neiman Marcus has designated a few of their stores as drop-off points for customers who want to sell their merchandise on Fashionphile. Sellers receive an immediate quote from Fashionphile for their merchandise and immediate payment if they choose to sell. Neiman Marcus is hoping that customers will then want to use that payment to buy merchandise in their stores.

Note: Any mention of brands or companies in this post does not constitute an endorsement.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2018 and 2025
Market size: $286.53 billion and $445 billion, respectively
Sources: Anne D’Innocenzio, “Luxury Stores Adapt to Changing Shoppers,” The Denver Post, December 29, 2019, pp. 1K, 6K; Florine Eppe Beauloye, “The 15 Most Popular Luxury Brands Online in 2019,” Luxe Digital, April 20, 2019 available online here; “Tailoring the Luxury Experience: The Luxury and Cosmetics Financial Factbook 2019 Edition,” EY Advisory S.p.A., 2019 available online here; ThredUp 2019 Resale Report, March 2019 available online here; Tom Ryan, “Are Secondhand Sales the Right Branding Move for Neiman Marcus?” RetailWire, April 23, 2019 available online here.
Original source: Bain & Co.
Image source: FranckinJapan, “bag-luxury-accessories-japan-ginza-2060110,” Pixabay, February 13, 2017 available online here. Use of image does not constitute an endorsement.

Leggings

Woman wearing leggingsWhat’s old is new again. This can be said for leggings, the current and sometimes controversial fashion trend. Leggings, in some form, have been around for centuries. Originally leggings referred to leg coverings of various sorts, not necessarily pants. In the past, some Native Americans wore leggings that looked like high-top moccasins or boots. They were made out of deer, elk, and other game animals. This clothing protected the legs and ankles from plants and animals. It also served to cover women’s ankles for proper etiquette at the time.

In Europe and Colonial America, leggings referred to something resembling thick stockings. In the 18th century, in order to keep their legs warm men wore leggings that covered the leg from a few inches above the knee down to the top of the foot. These were made of wool, linen or leather. Military leggings of various forms were worn by soldiers from the late 19th century until the first part of World War II in order to prevent dirt, sand, and mud from getting into soldiers’ shoes. They also provided ankle support. In 1943 field boots replaced leggings in the U.S. Army. However, other branches of the military continued to use military leggings until the 1960s.

During World War II, due to the high demand for rubber, chemical companies were trying to invent a rubber alternative. In the process, DuPont chemist Joseph Shivers invented Lycra, also known as spandex, in 1959. In the 1960s more women were wearing pants and casual dress was trending. Fashion designers started using this new fabric in their pant designs. Leggings became “tight-fitting trousers made of a stretch fabric, worn especially by women and girls,” according to the 1970s version of the Oxford Dictionaries. Modern leggings are made of cotton, polyester, spandex, nylon, or leather.

After waning in popularity, leggings became popular in the 1980s again, this time as part of the gym-wear-as-fashion trend influenced by Jane Fonda and the aerobics craze. According to anthropologist Kaori O’Connor, leggings “became closely associated with workout culture and youth.”1 In the 2000s, leggings, or yoga pants, became popular with all ages of women and not just to wear to the yoga studio. Leggings are now worn at the gym, as casual wear around town, and in dressier situations, including at the office. In 2007 at the Marni Men’s show during Fall 2007 Fashion Week leggings designed for men were introduced, but this never caught on with the wider public.

Today’s market size shows the expected revenue earned from the worldwide sale of leggings in 2018 and projected for 2023. In 2017, the United States imported more women’s elastic knit pants than women’s blue jeans according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Since 2010 the sale of women’s blue jeans has been declining by 3.9% annually in the United States. Sales of elastic knit pants grew 25.7% per year on average during this same time period. In response to customer preferences, some blue jeans companies are adding stretch and moisture-wicking properties to their denim. Who manufactures leggings? Traditional athletic wear companies, such as Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas; high-fashion labels such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein; and even traditional lingerie brands such as Victoria’s Secret, just to name a few.

1 Olivia B. Waxman and Melissa Chan, “How Leggings Became the Most Controversial Pants,” Time, March 27, 2017

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2018 and 2023
Market size: $23.17 billion and $30.87 billion
Sources: Stephan Marwa, “Global Leggings Market Size to Worth USD 30.87 Billion by 2023,” Healthcare Journal Press Release, April 9, 2018 available online here; Olivia B. Waxman and Melissa Chan, “How Leggings Became the Most Controversial Pants,” Time, March 27, 2017 available online here; “Leggings,” Wikipedia, April 17, 2018 available online here; David Yanofsky, “The US is Now Buying More Stretchy Pants Than Blue Jeans,” Quartz, March 1, 2018 available online here; and Audie Cornish, “Denim Companies Stretch to Compete With Leggings,” All Things Considered on NPR, April 9, 2018 available online here.
Image source: By Nicole.elocin [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons

Apparel Consumption

Clothes, we all wear them and yet for the apparel industry what matters is fashion. It is through changing fashions that people are most often lured into buying more clothes than are strictly necessary. For many, of course, clothes buying is an entertainment.

Per capita spending on apparel in the United States peaked for the first decade of the new century in 2005 and then fell, gaining downward momentum with the onset of the recession and the financial crisis that followed. Complicating the downward spiral is the fact that apparel companies were caught somewhat off guard by the sharp decline in spending which led to excess inventories. As these were liquidated, overall apparel prices declined.

Today’s market size is a measure of the apparel industry based on per capita spending in the United States.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2005 and 2010
Market size: Annual, per capita spending of $1,276 and $1,136 respectively
Source: “Table 3. Age of Reference Person: Average Annual Expenditures and Characteristics,” Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2005 and 2010, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, available here
Original source: U.S. Labor Department
Posted on March 21, 2012

Clothing Stores

The sale of clothing in the United States is done through a variety of retail outlets, only a portion of which are stores dedicated primarily to the sale of clothes. Today’s market size is the value of all sales made through clothing stores in 2010. Of the total, family clothing stores had the largest share, accounting for 54% of the sales. The other clothing store segments, with their share of total clothing store sales, are as follows: women’s clothing (23%), men’s clothing (4.9%) and all other clothing stores (7.2%).

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: $158.8 billion
Source: “Estimates of Monthly Retail and Food Services Sales by Kind of Business: 2010,” Monthly Retail Trade Report, available online here.
Original source: U.S. Census Bureau
Posted on January 9, 2012

The Business of Weddings

Today’s market size is an estimate of the size of the entire wedding industry in the United States—we take some license in using the word “industry” here. The things included in measuring the size of the wedding industry are many, from planning, apparel and jewelry through the ceremony, flowers, food, reception and honeymoon.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2010
Market size: $47.2 billion
Source: Toon Van Beeck and George Van Horn, “Wedding Bells are Ringing,” The RMA Journal, December 2010-January 2011, page 22-27, available online here.
Original source: IBISWorld
Posted on October 5, 2011

Apparel Sales

The market size presented here is based on estimates of the total retail sales value of all apparel sold in the United States in 1999 and ten years later, in 2009. The retail value of apparel sales over this period grew by 37.4% but when adjusted for inflation, that growth rate was actually only 8.4% for the period. By way of comparison, U.S. population growth over this period was 10.1% (from 279.3 million to 307.4 million). Worth noting, however, is the fact that while population had a steady growth rate over this period, the measure of growth between two points in time for something like apparel sales may be deceptive. In 2006, for example, retail sales of apparel in the United States were probably much higher than in 2009, a recessionary year.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 1999 and 2009
Market size: $222 and $305 billion respectively
Source: Alva, Marilyn, “Consumers Are Spending Again But They’re Picky,” Investor’s Business Daily, January 4, 2011, page A5.
Original source: Credit Suisse

Online Sale of Clothes and Shoes

The market size presented here is the total value of clothing and shoes that were sold electronically in 2003 and 2008. It is interesting to see that online sales of clothes and shoes have grown briskly over this five-year period since it was believed that such merchandise would be harder to sell online than other things, things that people would not wish to try on before purchasing. Four Census Bureau product codes are included in this market size calculation, they are 20200 (Men’s wear); 20220 (Women’s wear); 20240 (Children’s clothes), and 20260 (Footwear).

Geographic reference: United States (based on the location of the selling entity)
Year: 2003 and 2008
Market size: Sales: $5.13 and $17.06 billion respectively, representing a 233% increase.
Source: “Table 1055. Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses—Total and E-Commerce Sales by Merchandise Line,” Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, U.S. Census Bureau, page 663, available online here in a spreadsheet format, and here as a PDF file.
One word of clarification to help prevent any confusion about just what is being presented here. The data in the source table are provided in two columns per year, the first one called “Total,” and the second is “E-Commerce”. The column headed “Total” refers to the total sales for the industry “Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses,” [NAICS 4541], and the second column is the e-commerce portion of that industry’s total. Do not confuse the “Total” column for a measure of total sales of the product line listed in that row. It is, rather, the total sales of that product line made electronically and through mail-order houses.
Original source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

Women’s and Girls’ Sports Uniform Production

While textile and apparel industries used to be an important sector in the United States they are among many manufacturing industries that have moved out of the United States over the last decades, for the most part. Nonetheless, there are still a few companies sewing and making garments in this country and their activities are tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau annually. Makers of women’s and girls’ team sports uniforms saw a drop in production between 2007 and 2008 of 21%. This is a large drop for a single year. Worth noting is the fact that purchases of women’s and girls’ team sports uniforms may not be down at all. It is the production of those uniforms in the United States that has fallen sharply.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2007 and 2008
Market size: $51.6 million and $40.8 million respectively
Source: Annual Survey of Manufactures 2008, March 30, 2010, available online here.
Original source: U.S. Bureau of the Census

Team Sports Uniforms, Men’s and Boys’

While textiles used to be an important industry in the United States it is one of the industries that has moved out of the United States for the most part. Nonetheless, there are still a few companies sewing and making garments in this country and those involved with making men’s and boys’ uniforms has actually seen a small increase in production between 2007 and 2008. Since earlier in the decade, however, production figures are down and follow an overall downward trajectory along with all other apparel making industries in the United States. Tomorrow we’ll have the women’s and girls’ team sports uniforms market.

Geographic reference: United States
Year: 2007 and 2008
Market size: $185.3 million and $191.8 million respectively
Source: Annual Survey of Manufactures 2008, March 30, 2010, available online here.
Original source: U.S. Bureau of the Census