Luxury’s Race to the Top

LVMH pioneered the concept of a luxury group in the 1980s and is largely credited with having saved the French fashion and leather goods industry from oblivion. For years, it looked like LVMH might be the sole consolidator in fashion and leather goods, with Swatch and Richemont carving out dominant positions in hard luxury (saving the Swiss mechanical watch industry from destitution). The entry of PPR (now Kering) into the game with the 1999 acquisitions of Gucci and Sanofi Beauté (which owned YSL and YSL Beauty) changed the game, validating LVMH’s strategy and opening the door for other, albeit smaller, consolidators such as Capri Holdings, Tapestry and Prada Group. What’s driving this race to the top? Who has benefitted? And who has lost out?

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