The "report" of luxury, a new ritual of the industry

Bain & Company, BCG, McKinsey, and Deloitte now publish their studies on the luxury market according to a veritable editorial calendar. Eagerly awaited by senior management, commented on by analysts, and widely covered in the media, these reports provide figures, scenarios, and a common vocabulary for the entire industry.

They allow us to measure the size of the global luxury market, anticipate consumer behavior, compare regions, and identify technological transformations. But they can also confine brands to a single way of thinking.

By constantly reusing the same graphs, the same customer categories, and the same scenarios, the sector risks mistaking an average trend for a universal truth. Luxury, however, is not simply a growth curve or a conversion rate. It also rests on creativity, culture, expertise, reputation, and that particularly elusive element: desire.

So, what do the reports actually say about luxury in 2026 ? How can we distinguish solid data from a fragile projection? And above all, how can we use Bain, BCG, or McKinsey without handing over to them the task of writing the future of the brands?

Luxury has found itself an almost regular event, like fashion weeks, the appointment of artistic directors and the publication of financial results: the release of reports from major consulting firms.

Bain & Company measures market size and develops growth scenarios. BCG analyzes customer transformation, business relationships, and the role of artificial intelligence. McKinsey connects the luxury sector to major cultural, technological, and economic shifts. Deloitte surveys executives about their operational priorities. Kearney, according to its studies, offers a perspective more focused on distribution, organizational structures, and channel performance.

These documents no longer simply accompany the conversation. They help to organize it.

Each report sets out its own expressions: market polarization, top-tier clients, pricing power, experiential luxury, augmented clienteling, premiumization, circularity, desirability, resilience or generative artificial intelligence.

These concepts are then used in strategic presentations, conferences, specialized articles, and financial communications. Through constant circulation, they acquire the status of general truths.

The report thus becomes three things at once:

a data source;
an analysis grid;
a story about the future of the sector.

This evolution could be described as the reportification of luxury : the tendency of an industry based on emotion to increasingly tell its story through data, matrices and scenarios.

Why does the luxury sector seek so many figures?

Luxury reports: how to read Bain BCG McKinsey without succumbing to groupthink 1 1

Luxury is based on a paradox. It sells dreams, beauty, rarity and imagination, while being driven by extremely rational organizations.

Behind a collection, a bag, a watch or a piece of jewelry are financial departments, merchandising specialists, CRM analysts, production managers, retail architects, legal teams and supply chain experts.

Opening a boutique on an international avenue, expanding a workshop, securing hides, recruiting artisans or investing in a factory involves making decisions that sometimes commit a company for ten or twenty years.

In this context, studies on the luxury market fulfill several essential functions.

They first allow us to measure a market whose boundaries are not always obvious. Some reports focus solely on personal goods – fashion, leather goods, jewelry, watches and beauty products – while others include hotels, cars, yachts, cruises, gastronomy or art.

They then allow for the construction of scenarios. A company can thus test the effect of a Chinese slowdown, a variation in the dollar, a decline in tourism, or an increase in production costs.

Finally, they create a common language between teams that don't always spontaneously speak the same language. Finance, marketing, retail, production, and creative can all rely on the same diagnosis, even if their responses remain different.

The more uncertain the period seems, the greater the need for figures. The risk then is forgetting that a figure does not eliminate uncertainty: it only gives it a more comfortable form.

Bain & Company: the great compass of the global luxury market

Luxury reports: how to read Bain BCG McKinsy without succumbing to groupthink

In the luxury ecosystem, Bain & Company occupies a unique position. Its study conducted with the Italian Altagamma Foundation has become one of the most cited references for assessing market size.

The update published on June 25, 2026 estimates that global luxury spending reached €1,443 billion in 2025.The personal luxury goods market alone is estimated to have been €358 billion, down 2% at current exchange rates, but up 1% at constant exchange rates compared to 2024.

For the full year 2026, Bain forecasts growth of 2% to 4%, bringing the personal goods market to between €365 billion and €373 billion. The firm also believes that experiences will continue to grow faster than physical goods.

These figures are consistent with the analysis developed in our report on the luxury market in 2026, where the recovery appears more as a selective stabilization than as a return to the pace of the euphoric years.

What Bain measures particularly well

Bain's main strength lies in the continuity of its scope. By tracking the same categories over several years, the firm makes it possible to compare cycles and identify disruptions.

His work is particularly useful for:

distinguish personal possessions from experiences;
compare major geographical areas;
measure the effects of exchange rates;
observe the role of tourism;
track growth in value and volume;
assess the polarization of performance between brands.

Bain also reasons in terms of scenarios rather than a single prediction. This approach recognizes that a projection always depends on economic, geopolitical, and monetary assumptions.

For companies, these scenarios can be used to test the resilience of a budget, the allocation of stocks, advertising investments or the speed of opening new stores.

Bain's main blind spot

The size of a market alone says nothing about the quality of desire.

Two brands operating in the same category and territory can have radically different trajectories. Their performance depends on the strength of their iconic products, their creative direction, the quality of their service, their cultural legitimacy, and the relationship between the price charged and the perceived value.

A generally stable market does not therefore imply that all brands are stable.

Bain also indicates that approximately 60% of luxury goods companies saw growth compared to the previous year at the time of its study. This finding also means that a significant portion of the sector remained underperforming. Behind the average lies a wide dispersion of performance.

Averages offer little protection against breaks in trends. They don't explain why a bag suddenly ceases to be appealing, why a campaign produces a cultural effect, or why a new silhouette transforms a brand's image.

BCG: Understanding customers beyond revenue

BCG traditionally adopts a more consumer-centric perspective, focusing on high-value customers and the transformation of the business relationship.

The 2026 edition of True-Luxury Global Consumer Insights, published with Altagamma on July 7, 2026, is based on the responses of more than 10,000 consumers, surveyed through more than one hundred questions.

BCG estimates that the personal luxury market could grow by 2 to 5% in 2026, before returning to more sustained growth by 2029. The firm observes in particular a rebalancing between aspirational customers and the wealthiest consumers.

So-called top-tier customers accounted for 14% of spending ten years ago, compared to around 24% today. Conversely, aspirational consumers, more sensitive to inflation and price increases, have accounted for most of the recent volatility.

This evolution is forcing companies to rethink their product portfolio, their pricing policy and their way of retaining customers.

The product is once again central

One of the most interesting findings from the BCG study concerns purchasing motivations.

The first three factors mentioned are:

design and aesthetics;
craftsmanship and quality of execution;
the timelessness and the product's ability to last.

Conversely, logo visibility appears among the least important criteria. This result does not signify the disappearance of brand symbols, but it confirms the weakening of logomania as a sufficient justification of value.

The product must once again convince through its form, material, and execution.

This evolution aligns with the search for a more demonstrable form of luxury, analyzed in our article on "made in France" in the luxury sector. The original narrative remains powerful, but it must now be supported by evidence: traceability, quality, repairability, mastery of techniques, and consistency of supply chains.

The price increase has reached a limit

BCG also points out that 70% of consumers surveyed have already abandoned a purchase because they felt the price was unjustified.

This information is crucial. For several years, part of the sector's growth was achieved through repeated price increases. This strategy supported margins, but it also created tension between the advertised price and the perceived value.

The luxury consumer doesn't necessarily reject a high price. They reject a price they no longer understand.

A price increase can be accepted when it accompanies an improved product, genuine scarcity, exceptional craftsmanship, or enhanced service. It becomes more difficult to justify when it appears to be purely financial.

The question is therefore no longer just how far a house can increase its prices, but how far it can increase the visible and perceived value of its offering.

Artificial intelligence is becoming part of the luxury journey

The BCG study also shows that artificial intelligence has crossed a threshold of adoption.

Among consumers surveyed who already use AI in their daily lives, 87% report using it weekly and approximately 40% daily. Nearly 80% of these users already use these tools to research luxury products or experiences.

AI is used to compare options, request recommendations, plan trips, discover brands, or understand product features.

BCG also notes that AI tools already enjoy a level of trust comparable to that of traditional research and higher than that given to social networks or influencers.

This transformation is explored in depth in our AI and luxury analysis: creating without losing the soul.

For retailers, the challenge is no longer simply deploying a chatbot. It's about understanding how generative engines describe, classify, and recommend their products.

When a customer asks an artificial intelligence to suggest a timeless bag, a collector's watch, or a luxury hotel in Paris, the response is built from thousands of pieces of content, reviews, structured data, and authority signals.

A house's visibility no longer depends solely on its website, campaigns, or traditional SEO. It also depends on how its identity is understood by artificial intelligence systems.

Can AI replace the advisor?

The answer is no, but it can profoundly change their role. In the luxury sector, an excellent advisor doesn't just know a client's purchase history. They understand their pace, their tastes, their hesitations, their habits, and sometimes what they don't want to express. The data might indicate that a client appreciates a color, a collection, or a material. But it doesn't always know why that particular item is important to them.

AI becomes truly useful when it prepares the human relationship:

by quickly retrieving information;
by indicating availability;
by anticipating a logistical need;
by facilitating a recommendation;
by coordinating interactions between shops;
by helping the advisor to better understand the history of a product.

It becomes problematic when it replaces conversation, excessively automates messages, or transforms clienteling into surveillance.

Technology must remain at the service of attention. This is also the principle at the heart of our report dedicated to reinventing customer relations in the luxury sector.

McKinsey: Emotion, exclusivity, and new territories of desire

The State of Luxury report , published by McKinsey on June 29, 2026 , is based on a survey of more than 2,000 luxury customers in the United States and China , supplemented by qualitative interviews.

McKinsey organizes its analysis around four dimensions:

desirability ;
exclusivity ;
moments and experiences ;
the new discovery channels.

The firm also estimates that the global luxury market could reach approximately $700 billion by the end of the decade, with annual growth between 4% and 6%. However, this figure should not be directly compared to Bain's without verifying the scope and categories used.

This difference illustrates a key principle: two firms can publish different valuations without either of them necessarily being wrong. They don't always measure exactly the same market.

Emotion takes precedence over status

According to McKinsey, emotional connection is becoming one of the main drivers of desirability, ahead of certain historical markers such as heritage, craftsmanship or exclusivity.

This does not mean that know-how or heritage no longer matters. Rather, they become an expected foundation, a condition for entry into the world of luxury.

To stand out, a brand must now create a more personal connection with its clients. It must express a vision, values, a sensibility, or a way of inhabiting the world.

In the United States, 68% of consumers surveyed believe that new brands or disruptive players better reflect their identity, compared to 63% for established houses.

In China, established brands retain a clearer advantage thanks to trust, recognition, and quality of service.

Therefore, the same strategy cannot be mechanically applied in all countries. The notion of desirability varies according to culture, age, market history, and local relationship with brands.

Artificial scarcity is losing its power

McKinsey also observes an evolution in the notion of exclusivity.

Customers are becoming more skeptical of scarcity created for its own sake. The mere fact that a product is difficult to obtain is no longer always enough to justify its price or prestige.

In the United States, exclusivity is based more on:

early access to the collections;
limited editions;
the benefits reserved for members;
belonging to a community.

In China, it is most strongly channeled through:

private appointments;
customized services;
personal recognition;
the relationship with a trusted advisor.

Exclusivity thus shifts from scarcity to recognition. A waiting list can maintain desire when it corresponds to a genuine production constraint. Conversely, it can undermine trust when it seems arbitrary, artificial, or disconnected from the quality of the product.

The experiments directly compete with the objects

Another key finding of the McKinsey report : travel tops the list of uses considered by American and Chinese consumers when they have additional discretionary income. Handbags, jewelry, and watches are not disappearing. However, they are facing competition from:

thehotel industry ;
travel ;
gastronomy ;
well-being;
cultural events;
private experiences.

Luxury is no longer simply compared to other luxury brands. A fashion house might forgo an expense in favor of a palace, a train journey, a restaurant, or a wellness retreat. This evolution explains why major brands are investing more in hospitality, cafes, restaurants, exhibitions, and residences.

The store itself is changing its function. It must no longer simply present products. It must produce an experience, transmit a culture and create a quality of time.

The number of visitors or the conversion rate are no longer sufficient to assess its success. It is also necessary to consider the duration of the relationship, the memorability of the location, the quality of the advice provided, and the ability of the experience to reinforce desirability.

Second-hand goods become a channel for discovery

McKinsey also emphasizes the role of the secondary market in brand discovery. In the United States, the secondhand market is fueled as much by the search for value as by the thrill of the hunt, the collecting, and the discovery of rare pieces. Online platforms now help determine which products become iconic, sought-after, or capable of retaining their value. A brand that ignores resale relinquishes part of its narrative to outside players.

Ultimately, it is the platforms, sellers, and communities that decide:

which models are worth collecting;
which years are the most sought after;
which colours stand the test of time;
which products are undergoing a significant discount;
which objects become heritage references.

In China, the secondhand market remains highly dependent on trust, authenticity, and provenance. This trend is detailed in our analysis of the luxury secondhand.

For brands, the challenge is not necessarily to become platforms themselves. It is to understand that the value of a product no longer ends at the moment of the initial sale.

Repairability, maintenance, authentication, parts availability and archive preservation are becoming elements of brand strategy.

Deloitte: What luxury executives are really planning

The Global Powers of Luxury 2026, published by Deloitte on January 23, 2026, is based on responses from 420 executives in ten countries. Among them, 66.9% anticipated stable or increasing revenues in 2026, while 70.7% planned to maintain or improve their margins. Customer experience and loyalty were cited as the primary growth opportunities, ahead of other more directly transactional drivers.

Deloitte also notes that:

41.2% of the companies surveyed were already deploying generative AI in certain areas;
68.3% offered repair or refurbishment services;
53.8% had implemented certified buyback or second-hand programs;
44.5% worked with resale platforms.

The report thus shows that circularity, artificial intelligence and loyalty are no longer just topics for communication. They are gradually becoming part of operational models.

A useful vision, but focused on intentions

Deloitte offers a different perspective than consumer surveys. Its findings reveal what executives think, anticipate, and prioritize. They do not necessarily prove that the announced strategies will be implemented or that they will produce the expected results.

A company can claim to prioritize customer experience while continuing to evaluate its stores almost exclusively based on revenue. It can announce a circularity program without transforming its product design, repairability, or after-sales service.

Strategic intentions must therefore be compared with investments, organizations, and actual results.

What the reports actually bring to the houses

Despite their limitations, reports from consulting firms can be extremely useful when read methodically.

Build several scenarios

A firm can develop a core scenario, a conservative scenario, and a recovery scenario. It then measures the effect of each assumption on:

purchases of raw materials;
production capacities;
stocks;
shop openings;
recruitment;
advertising investments;
cash flow.

The goal is not to predict the future exactly, but to prepare the organization for several plausible futures.

Compare the regions without confusing them

China , the United States , Europe , Japan , South Korea , India , and the Middle East no longer necessarily follow the same cycle. Reports help identify major differences, provided that each country is not considered a homogeneous bloc. Consumption can vary significantly between a capital city, a secondary city, a tourist destination, and an industrial zone. It also depends on age, wealth level, and the product category.

To objectify a pricing strategy

Reports allow us to observe changes in average prices, customer reactions, and category growth. However, they cannot determine whether a price is fair. The legitimacy of a price depends on the product itself

quality of materials;
manufacturing complexity;
innovation ;
sustainability ;
genuine rarity;
service ;
cultural strength of the house.

Pricing power is not the ability to raise prices indefinitely. It is the ability to make a price acceptable through a sufficiently strong perceived value.

To give teams a common language

One of the less visible advantages of reports is their ability to foster dialogue between different functions. Finance can talk about margins, marketing about desirability, retail about conversion, and production about capacity. A report provides a common framework for connecting these concerns. This shared language only becomes dangerous when it replaces internal conflict.

The major blind spots in luxury reports

Groupthink

When all presentations use the same graphics, the same categories, and the same assumptions, companies end up anticipating the market in the same way. They invest in the same areas, target the same customers, and adopt the same tools. But luxury is distinguished precisely by its ability to introduce something different: an unexpected silhouette, a workshop touch, a new proportion, or a material that no one anticipated.

The strategy cannot consist of applying the industry average more effectively than competitors.

Short-termism

Companies often work on annual or triennial cycles. A brand is built over decades, sometimes centuries. Accelerating capsule collections, increasing collaborations, or raising prices can support a financial year. However, these decisions can also dilute brand identity, tire customers, and weaken iconic products.

Cultural capital is not fully included in an income statement.

The tyranny of the average customer

The average luxury consumer doesn't exist. A watch collector, a haute couture client, an occasional perfume buyer, and a high-end jewelry customer aren't looking for the same thing. The more high-end the offering, the more the average risks obscuring the behaviors that truly matter.

The confusion between correlation and causation

A report might show that the most loyal customers participate more in private events. This doesn't prove that the events created their loyalty. A brand with a high social media presence isn't necessarily desirable because of that visibility. Its digital presence may simply reflect an already strong creative output.

The illusion of precision

A forecast expressed with one decimal place may seem scientific. However, it relies on economic, political, and monetary assumptions that can change rapidly. The precision of the figure should never obscure the uncertainty of the scenario.

The inability to measure the texture of desire

Reports are adept at tracking expenses. They struggle to capture the moment when a silhouette, a campaign, or an object becomes culturally significant. Desirability can arise from an almost invisible detail: a shoulder line, a way of carrying a bag, a shade of color, a photograph, or the reappearance of an archive.

It can also erode before financial indicators show it. Quiet luxury, logo fatigue, or the return of craftsmanship are often described after they've already emerged. They are much harder to anticipate.

A company doesn't win simply because it understands the market. It wins when it offers something the market didn't yet know it wanted.

French expertise is partly hidden from the dashboards

France holds a special place in fashion and luxury.

The Directorate General for Enterprises indicates that the sector comprises nearly 600,000 jobs and that luxury goods represent approximately 12% of French goods exports. The 2023-2027 strategic contract for the Fashion and Luxury sector notably places significant emphasis on the ecological transition, relocation of production, and business succession.

The Ministry of Culture officially lists 281 craft professions, defined by law and registered in a decree. These professions require highly technical manual skills that often necessitate several years of practice.

These realities place a limit on classical productivity logic.

The time required to train an embroiderer, feather worker, leatherworker, lapidary, or guillocheur cannot be compressed indefinitely. The value of these crafts lies precisely in the mastery of technique, repetition, and transmission of knowledge.

A strategy based solely on volume growth therefore risks contradicting the scarcity of skills.

The issue is explored in greater depth in our article dedicated to the BNMA and recruitment in the luxury arts and crafts sector.

How can one read a report on luxury without submitting to it?

The right approach is neither automatic acceptance nor systematic rejection. A report is a map, not the territory.

Check the perimeter

Does the report refer to personal property, the entire luxury sector, listed companies only, or a specific population? A difference in scope may explain two seemingly contradictory figures.

Identify the collection date

The publication date alone is not enough. A study published in June may be based on responses collected several months earlier. In a volatile market, this discrepancy is significant.

Examine the sample

How many people were interviewed? In which countries? With what level of income or spending? A survey conducted among large clients does not necessarily describe aspirational consumers.

Distinguishing facts from projections

A completed sale is in the past. A purchase intention, a forecast, or a manager's opinion falls into the realm of anticipation. This information does not carry the same level of certainty.

Check the exchange rate effects

A company can grow at constant exchange rates while its reported earnings decline, or vice versa. Currency fluctuations can significantly alter the interpretation of an international market.

Search for exceptions

When a report describes a general trend, you should look for the houses, categories, or regions that are following a different trajectory. The exceptions are often more strategically valuable than the average.

Combining quantitative data with fieldwork

The figures must be compared:

to returns from the shops;
to production deadlines;
to requests for repairs;
to online searches;
to second-hand transactions;
to the critical reception of the collections;
based on the observations of the craftsmen and advisors.

Turn every conclusion into a question

A useful report should not lead to the conclusion: "The market will move in this direction."

It should allow you to ask:

What would happen to our house in this scenario?
What internal data contradicts this average?
What are our weak signals?
Where can our uniqueness create an advantage?
What decision would still be relevant if the forecast turned out to be wrong?

Reports should illuminate intuition, not replace it

The growing number of studies reveals a profound transformation of the sector. Luxury has become an object of finance, technology, strategy, regulation, and geopolitics. Yet it remains an industry of creation, long-term vision, and human connection.

Bain, BCG, McKinsey, or Deloitte can measure a market, observe behaviors, and formulate hypotheses. They cannot determine the merits of a collection, the depth of a narrative, or the emotion evoked by an object. The real question, therefore, is not whether reports are good or bad. It is about determining the importance we give them.

When they stimulate thought, they are valuable. When they replace thought, they become dangerous.

The luxury sector needs data to make decisions. It also needs designers, craftspeople, salespeople, and leaders who can see what isn't yet reflected in any chart.

Frequently Asked Questions about Luxury Market Reports

What is the benchmark report on the global luxury market?

The annual study by Bain & Company, conducted with Altagamma, is one of the most widely used benchmarks for measuring the global market for personal luxury goods. However, it must be compared with the work of other firms and the results published by the groups themselves.

Why are Bain's and McKinsey's figures different?

Firms do not always use the same scope, currencies, or methods. Some reports measure only personal assets, while others include more categories or use longer-term projections.

Are reports from consulting firms reliable?

They are generally based on sound methodologies, surveys, and large databases. However, they remain dependent on their assumptions, samples, and the context in which the data were collected.

What role will artificial intelligence play in the luxury sector in 2026?

AI plays a role in product research, recommendations, customer relationship management, demand forecasting, and service organization. Its adoption is growing rapidly among consumers, but its use must preserve trust and the human dimension of luxury.

Why does second-hand goods appear in reports on luxury?

Second-hand goods now influence brand discovery, the perception of residual value, product authentication, and lifespan. They are becoming an indicator of desirability as much as a distribution channel.

International reports cited

Official French sources

About the author

Julien Vasseur

Food & Travel Editor

Julien Vasseur writes about gastronomy, travel, and great places with a simple and curious perspective. He enjoys highlighting locations, restaurants, and experiences…

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Luxury reports: how to read Bain, BCG and McKinsey without succumbing to groupthink?