Less is more as Louis Vuitton stays atop luxury list in brands ranking
Value of top 10 names in luxury surges 16pc to US$111b, with Louis Vuitton staying at No1
Less is more in luxury.
The value of the top 10 luxury-goods brands surged 16 per cent to US$111 billion as companies from LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton to Burberry Group made exclusivity a priority over ubiquity, according to research company Millward Brown in its 2014 BrandZ study published yesterday.
The Louis Vuitton leather-product label's value jumped 14 per cent to US$25.9 billion, placing LVMH's biggest and most profitable brand atop the luxury ranking for the ninth straight year. Hermes, the French maker of Birkin bags that's part-owned by LVMH, also rose 14 per cent to place second at US$21.8 billion.
Kering's Gucci, a direct competitor to Vuitton, gained 27 per cent to US$16.1 billion was third on the list.
Vuitton is among luxury-goods makers introducing more expensive products with fewer logos and tightening sales networks as wealthy shoppers switch to brands they perceive as being more elite.
First-quarter fashion and leather-goods revenue at Paris-based LVMH rose at the fastest pace in two years, indicating that the Vuitton revamp is working. Hermes's goal of 10 per cent annual revenue growth is almost double Sanford C. Bernstein's industrywide estimate.