Leading in 2026 might feel less rocky compared to 2025.
Luxury executives have been busy steering through a downturn and a series of challenges including tariffs, geopolitical insecurity, difficulties in China’s housing sector and low consumer confidence, and creative transitions. While for their part, jewelers faced rising gold prices.
“One of the most important challenges for the industry will be to reconquer the aspirational Western middle class consumers,” Bernstein luxury goods analyst Luca Solca says.
In 2026, the luxury industry is expected to grow by 6.5%, broadly in line with the sector’s historical average, according to HSBC. “We trust 2026 will start strong, with consumers engaging with better value propositions from brands, and a sales pick-up geographically led by the US and Greater China,” HSBC analysts wrote in a note.
This should provide some relief for luxury executives. We reached out to leaders from LVMH, Chanel, Kering, Richemont and LuxExperience and asked them to share their wishes and predictions for the year ahead.
We really have to steer things with great caution and finesse, while continuing to make people dream. If luxury dulls itself and no longer inspires dreams, then it ceases to be luxury. So we constantly live within this paradox, and that’s also what makes this business so captivating: continuing to venture where we’re not necessarily expected, continuing to offer something truly unique and exceptional, while navigating the real world’s macroeconomic challenges.
We must never forget that we’re also here to make our clients dream, to preserve that creative dimension that allows everyone — our clients, but really everyone — to see the brands with both respect and desire. That remains the most important thing.
Against a complex economic and geopolitical backdrop, I wish the industry enters 2026 with clarity and optimism, refocusing on what truly matters and what truly defines the essence of luxury: creativity, craftsmanship and a singular point of view. Prioritizing quality and durability is essential, because when you invest in a beautiful luxury product, you want it to last. When you see how jewelry continues to perform, it makes sense. In fashion, I wish for the industry to create valuable pieces that justify their price. We have that ability to make people dream and to make clients want to invest in beautiful pieces they can keep.
For Alaïa, 2025 was a beautiful year, from the opening of the Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré flagship to the new HQ, our first flagship in China and [creative director] Pieter [Mulier] receiving the CFDA Fashion Award for International Designer of the Year.
For 2026, we have many projects in the pipes including a flagship in Miami Design District in June, as well as openings in South Korea, Thailand and Dubai. We started with a very small store network, and it will remain exclusive: quality over quantity. We’re taking our time — we want to find the right partners and locations. We will continue to grow, but not exponentially or randomly. It’s essential to preserve our authenticity and integrity.
Alaïa was known within a circle of insiders; now that we’re addressing a broader audience, we need to educate about the brand’s values and what the house truly stands for. Hit products are great, but Alaïa is much more than that. We need to educate new audiences about our heritage, the sculptural shapes, the cuts, the craftsmanship, the message to women — and also our teams globally. Telling the brand story beyond the products is key. That’s what we’re doing with Table Alaïa, for example — a concept of elegant yet informal dinners inspired by [founder] Azzedine’s dinner parties — which we started in October 2024.
In 2026, what I’m manifesting is reinvention — not as a buzzword, but as a discipline. Our industry and our group are transforming at speed, and I believe the maisons who will matter most are those who can evolve without losing their core. At Boucheron, reinvention has been our language since 1858: Frédéric Boucheron built this maison by daring to do things differently, and still today we keep that spirit alive. After a decade as CEO, my wish for 2026 is that I keep choosing movement over comfort — never becoming a spectator, always remaining curious, optimistic and ready to be surprised.
The [LVMH] houses made important decisions at the creative level, so I hope there won’t be turbulence in 2026. There always is turbulence — you take a plane today, it’s rare not to experience some. But I’m not pessimistic — on the contrary. I hope for, and wish for stability, so that all the efforts that have been made overall, and that were a reaction to a certain instability we experienced around 2024/25, can bear fruit.
Because people did this with the intention of improving things: more creativity, quality, excellence in customer experience. I believe that when times are tough, people grow stronger.
And above all, a return to creativity — that’s what the houses are doing. When people are worried about the environment and the future, the first instinct is to slow down spending. So you have to double down on innovation, exceptional products and in-store experience to spark desire. When you see the new Dior store in Beijing, or Louis Vuitton in Seoul, it makes you want to go. Once the products hit the shelves, the verdict is in the customers’ hands.
For the LVMH group, my wish is that this entrepreneurial spirit continues. You know [chair and CEO] Bernard Arnault’s long-term vision: growth with deep foundations. The numbers are just the outcome of the company’s operations.
For the LVMH Fashion Group, I’m passing the torch. It’s good that this happens with Pietro [Beccari], and that it happens while I’m still fully in motion. In a relay, both runners have to be running for the handoff to succeed.
There are new creative directors at Fendi, Celine, Loewe. I am very confident. And for the other houses, Givenchy has a wonderful designer Sarah [Burton]; Kenzo has a new CEO; Pucci had an amazing year in 2025, Camille [Miceli] has found the right tone for the products, for the communication. I won’t name them all but the whole fashion group is in motion and with a new leader who will continue to bring energy and drive this trajectory, so I feel very confident.
As for me, I am available during this transition period and I will continue to work as [special] advisor to Bernard, which keeps you busy. As for IFM, we have real stakes when it comes to young designers. I also mentor 2025 Andam Winner Meryll Rogge. Aside from that, I am very invested in medicine through Institut Imagine and Institut Pasteur.
Looking ahead to 2026, we anticipate that the strengths that have driven Bvlgari’s success for over 140 years, combined with a slightly more stable global environment, will continue to enhance client confidence — especially among our younger clientele. The favorable resolution of the discussions around tariffs is positive news for our Swiss maisons in the US market.
Naturally, we will keep paying close attention to the prices of raw materials, especially gold. At Bvlgari, the jewelry is exclusively made of gold or platinum. While stable material costs are always beneficial for our operations, we appreciate that higher gold prices provide clients with reassurance that this precious material remains a sound long-term investment.
Furthermore, we are excited about our future plans to relocate and expand our historic high jewelry workshop in Rome, a project that we deeply care about.
Michael Kliger, CEO of digital multi-brand group LuxExperience
The most important wish for the new year is stability and consistency. We hope for no dramatic changes geopolitically, legally or policy-wise. For our customers, constant change is very difficult to manage, so a relatively normal year would be amazing. That would be my biggest wish, but I think we have great chances for this to happen. We actually believe that we‘re looking ahead of a solid year. China is stabilizing, Europe is actually better than a lot of the political situations would make you think otherwise, and the US market is strong.
For the industry, I believe there will be a new direction. We had these absolute buoyant times of over embellishment. Then, we went into silent luxury and so a return to fashion would be great for this industry; not one megatrend, but fashion, color, fun, party, elegance, femininity. We saw this new direction in September. Now, we will see how the consumers will react to it. We believe that is another great opportunity for the industry.
The quality of the product needs to be there. We have very high price points, so it cannot be just fun and a return to the logo. We give our customers in our events entertainment and joy. Maybe joy is a better word than fun because fun sounds a bit shallow. Our industry is not just an amazing product in outstanding material and with outstanding fabrication. I think that’s what the houses have to do and what the retailers have to reinforce.
For us as a company, we underwent a massive change in 2025 [Mytheresa completed the acquisition of Yoox Net-a-Porter in April under the new LuxExperience group]. We are much bigger. We now have multiple, amazing brands. We know it’s a big exercise, and we have started on lots of changes and we believe we will show improvements, first successes and a very positive momentum across the board. Each brand needs its dedicated leadership team in marketing, buying, customer experience and personal shopping. That was always the idea and so it was always crucial to separate my role as group CEO from the role of Mytheresa CEO. So I’m very happy to have found the right person for this [LuxExperience appointed Francis Belin as CEO of Mytheresa, effective January 1]. We are still hiring because we are growing. Therefore, we are always looking for more talent, better talent, but all the critical roles at Net-a-Porter and Mytheresa have been filled.
I set targets for myself as CEO, but I don’t sit on January 1 and say, ‘I want to read more, do more sports.’ I enjoy what I’m doing. The last two years were a lot of work and so having Heather [Kaminetsky, CEO of Net-a-Porter], Toby [Bateman, CEO of Mr Porter], and Francis [Belin], I hope this allows me to spend my time a bit more in equilibrium. But I like the people and brands I work with. I am lucky.
