Men'S Wear Brand Market Is A New Battleground In Luxury Industry

Luxury industry giants began to compete for the promising men's wear market in order to get a share in the rapidly growing Asian market.

Male luxury goods account for about 40% of the world's 180 billion euro market. Since 2009, its annual average growth rate has reached 14%, almost two times the increase of female luxury goods (8%).

Jean-Marc Bella? Che, partner of Boston consulting firm, said: "compared with the female market, the male consumer market (excluding cars and Tourism) has been lagging behind.

Now we need to catch up with each other, and its development potential in various product types is very, very large.

Men's products and women's products account for half of the sales in Hermes.

Industry giants such as LVMH and PPR are well versed in this.

The former launched Berluti men's shoes series, while the latter just bought Brioni men's wear brand.

Tancr De De Lalun, the marketing director of the department store in the spring, expects that the market will flourish, "because the demand is huge and there are no restrictions on male consumers".

The high-end department store in Paris finally opened up a special area for men's luxury accessories, mainly selling leather goods and shoes.

Hermes men stand out

Tancr De De Lalun said, "women consume by feeling, men are driven by skills and technology."

Professional skills are a key step to enter the market.

Many brands are well versed in this way, so when selling, they use this theme as a selling point, blending brand history and high-end production.

Hermes has started with saddles and harness, so male products have always taken a place in the brand.

The brand opened its first store in New York two years ago, and its sales growth has been higher than that of the US overall market.

Axel Dumas, our managing director, said: "our growth in the United States is about 30%, while our store in New York has seen a higher growth rate."

Men's clothing sales and women's clothing in the group's overall turnover in the same color.

At the same time, the brand develops high-end luxury series, offering customized services in Paris and New York, as well as China and Japan.

The two big groups of LVMH and PPR also hold similar goals: create their first global high-end men's wear brand.

LVMH group has high hopes for its Berluti, the brand of men's shoes.

The group also decided for the first time to invest in its existing brand.

The Berluti brand offers customized shoes that cost more than 4000 euros. It also wants to provide a full range of clothing products to its high-end customers.

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Full development

The brand currently has more than 30 stores in the world, and the market estimates its sales volume is about 50 million euros.

The company hopes to double its turnover.

In July, Berluti successfully excavated the famous menswear brand Ermenegildo Zegna, the art director Alessandro Sartori.

Berluti will launch the first men's wear series in fashion week 2012 January.

PPR group bought Italy famous brand Brioni.

The price of the brand suits is up to 5000 euros, but the size of the company is still moderate (with a turnover of only 170 million euros).

PPR hopes to build this into a global brand and provide other series such as accessories and leisure fashion.

China, a huge consumer market, attracts many brands.

Sales in this market are as high as 23 billion euros (60% of which are realized by Chinese tourists overseas), with an annual increase of 25%, while men account for nearly 3/4 of the market.

"According to this alarming growth, Chinese consumers will soon account for 70% of the global luxury consumption growth," said Bernard Malek, director of Roland Berger consultancy.

CLSA Asia Pacific analysts expect the Greater China region (including Hongkong, Macao and Taiwan) to account for more than 44% of the global market in 2020, much higher than the current 17%.

Fierce competition

To enter the Asian market, Berluti and Brioni need strong financial support from their respective companies, because only increasing investment can compete with the local industry giants.

"Visibility is a key factor in success, because Chinese consumers like to buy famous brands," said Jason Ding, director of Roland Berger consultancy in Beijing.

Ermenegildo Zegna's turnover last year was close to 1 billion euros, nearly half of which was contributed by the Asian market.

Britain's Burberry (Burberry) and Dunhill (Dunhill), Italy's Armani (Armani) and Germany Hugo Boss are not neglecting competitors.

They and Zegna (Zegna) are the five most popular Chinese men's clothing brands.