The LVMH-owned fashion house, Louis Vuitton, has been a major beneficiary of the luxury boom,
doubling in size over the past five years to become the world’s first luxury brand to surpass €20
billion in annual sales. However, in the face of a more subdued economic landscape, Louis Vuitton’s
CEO, Pietro Beccari, faces the dual challenge of sustaining the growth of this already colossal brand
while preserving its aura of luxury.
Beccari emphasized the importance of continually enhancing the desirability of the brand and its
designs, stating, “Louis Vuitton is the leader of luxury, so we have to keep on doing more and more.”
The October runway show in Paris served as a showcase for Louis Vuitton, with LVMH executives and
the Arnault family, led by billionaire owner Bernard Arnault, mingling with celebrities and influencers. This event came just before third-quarter results indicated a return to a more typical pace of industry-wide growth following a three-year boom.
The runway show was a spectacle in itself, with a lively crowd pushing against barriers and spilling
onto the Champs-Élysées as celebrities like Zendaya graced the red carpet. The event’s electric
atmosphere prompted one police officer to quip that it felt like managing a crowd during Beatlemania.
Despite the shifting economic landscape, Louis Vuitton is still projected to make significant progress
towards its next milestone of €30 billion in sales in the coming years, according to HSBC estimates.
Roberto Costa, Head of Global Luxury Investment Banking at Citi, noted that at this scale, Louis
Vuitton essentially creates the equivalent of a new company in terms of growth every year, given its
robust brand strength.
However, reaching this goal will require additional effort, particularly as aspirational customers in
the United States and Europe tighten their spending, and China’s recovery from last year’s Covid-19
lockdowns progresses more slowly than anticipated. While Louis Vuitton’s like-for-like sales in the
US registered negative figures in the first three quarters of the year, they are expected to recover
towards the end of 2023.
