With the appointment earlier this year of the first-ever female lead designer at Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri (lately of Valentino), I have noticed real pride in the ranks of the women I know who work at the house. They may not shout it, but they certainly whisper it: Finally! It’s our time – a woman is designing Dior! It only took 70 years.
One of the most intriguing business dilemmas I’ve encountered recently is the conundrum of how luxury brands should think about their relationship with Amazon (and its subsidiaries Zappos and Shopbop). The “core” global luxury market – personal goods and services – is a $250 billion global business with an increasingly anemic growth rate. Amazon, on the other hand, continues to grow at strong double-digit rates. Surely this is a marriage made in heaven?
Dandelion Chandelier recently conducted an analysis of 120 luxury brands, 40 each in the fashion, beauty and watch & jewelry categories. We wanted to understand how these brands are showing up online, and which ones are truly market leaders in this space. Here’s what we found.
It’s not headline news that the most venerable luxury brands across nearly every segment have been, to put it politely, fashionably late to the e-commerce party. The $1 trillion-plus global luxury sector has been slow to embrace online sales, and not without some good reasons.
Now that we’ve gotten to know each other a bit, I’m going to share a secret with you. But let’s keep it between you and me.
