The key points
- In 2021, the luxury personal goods market will grow by 29% to 283 billion
- Average EBITDA of luxury companies up 11% in 2022
- Sales of shoes are up (+ 11%) while clothing has yet to return to pre-Covid levels
Among the many negative records beaten by Covid, one concerns personal luxury goods. Where the Twin Towers and the Lehman Brothers crash failed, the pandemic could, which in 2020 had interrupted the positive trend that had lasted since 2000, as certified by the Altagamma Observatory, which reached its twentieth edition and presented yesterday in Milan.
“The global luxury goods market has grown by 135% in two decades, which we can define as powerful and in Italy it contributes 7.4% of GDP”, underlined Matteo Lunelli, president of Altagamma, an association that brings together dozens of excellence, from fashion to design, from boating to automotive, through food and wine and jewelry.
Forecasts
After the setback linked to the pandemic, in 2021 the market will grow by 29% to 283 billion, exceeding, albeit slightly (+ 1%) the figure of 2019. Numbers aside, there are other reasons to be optimistic, explained Claudia D’Arpizio, senior partner of Bain & Company and author of the Worldwide Luxury Market Monitor 2021 together with Federica Levato, partner of the analysis and consulting company. “The changes in the sector in the last 20 years have been remarkable: emerging from the crisis due to Covid comes as a renaissance for luxury brands – underlined Claudia D’Arpizio -. Historically, the high-end sector was associated with status, logos and exclusivity. Today brands are actors in social conversations, driven by a renewed sense of purpose and responsibility and it is interesting to try to imagine where the sector will be in 20 years “.
In the short term, however, double-digit growth in profitability is expected: the Consents illustrated by Stefania Lazzaroni of Altagamma collects the contributions of the 20 major international specialized analysts and indicates an average EBITDA increasing by 11% in 2022. it was all in all homogeneous across product categories and markets. Sales were driven by shoes (+ 11% compared to 2019) and bags, jewelry, watches and cosmetics are also back or exceeded pre-Covid levels, while clothing has yet to recover. “The market has been supported by the recovery in local consumption, the dual engine of China and the United States and the constant strength of the online channel”, added Claudia D’Arpizio.
The confirmations from the protagonists of the sector
Current analyzes and forecasts were shared by some of the sector’s players, starting with Diego Della Valle, president of the Tod’s group, who two days ago presented the accounts for the first nine months, with revenues up by 37.6%. to 623 million. Remo Ruffini and Brunello Cucinelli are also optimistic but aware of the speed of change and the need to constantly reinvent themselves within a long-term vision. The results for the January-September period of the companies they lead, listed in Milan as Tod’s, confirm the V-shaped recovery of the high range: compared to 2020, Moncler’s revenues increased by 54% to 1.2 billion, those of Cucinelli by 32% to 503 million.