Study: can luxury brands still raise their prices?

After three years driven primarily by price increases, luxury houses are now spacing out their rate hikes. Several brands have shifted from two price increases per year to just one for their iconic handbags. They are also narrowing price gaps between markets and strengthening their more accessible offerings. These findings come from price tracking compiled by Retviews, Lectra's market analysis solution, unveiled this Thursday.

Pricing leverage reaches its limits

According to The State of Fashion 2026 report by The Business of Fashion (BoF) and McKinsey, cited by the Retviews by Lectra study, approximately 80 percent of luxury market growth between 2023 and 2025 came from price increases rather than volume. In 2024, the luxury sector recorded negative economic profit growth for the first time since 2016, ceding its position as the industry's main value creator to the mid-market segment.

Today, the mood is cautious. In the fashion sector, 46 percent of surveyed executives anticipate worsening market conditions in 2026, an increase of 8 percentage points compared to the previous year. Tariffs and weakening consumer confidence are among their main concerns. Growth prospects are estimated at between 1 and 2 percent in Europe and between 1 and 3 percent in the US and China. In this context, luxury executives are showing more restraint than the rest of the industry: 18 percent of them plan price increases above 5 percent in 2026, compared to 26 percent for the fashion sector as a whole.

Narrowing price gaps between markets

Retviews compared the prices charged across several markets by five brands against those in Europe, which serves as the benchmark. As a result, China remains the most expensive market for each of them in 2026. A Miu Miu product costs an average of 50 percent more there than in Europe. The gap reaches 45 percent at Burberry, 40 percent at Loewe and Prada, and 34 percent at Chloé.

However, several brands have reduced these gaps within a year. At Prada, a product sold in China cost an average of 54 percent more than in Europe in 2025, compared to 40 percent in 2026. In the United Arab Emirates, the brand's price gap dropped from 31 percent to 22 percent. In the US, Miu Miu reduced its gap from 19 percent to 13 percent, and Chloé from 17 percent to 13 percent. Loewe is the exception: its US prices, which exceeded European levels by 14 percent in 2025, surpass them by 16 percent in 2026. Japan is the only market where several houses sell for less than in Europe, notably Miu Miu (7 percent less), Burberry and Loewe (5 percent less).

The report links these adjustments to changing consumer expectations. In both China and the US, desire for luxury brands is increasingly based on emotional connection and identity expression, rather than social status alone. This raises questions about the viability of significant regional price disparities.

Slower pace of price hikes for iconic bags

Iconic handbags, long subject to multiple price increases per year, illustrate this shift. According to the study, several major houses have moved from a pace of two annual increases to a single hike per product since 2025. However, this pace can vary from one market to another depending on the strength of local demand, currency fluctuations and competitive pressure.

Cumulative increases nevertheless remain significant on certain models. Prada's Cleo bag rose from 1,847 dollars in 2021 to 3,001 dollars in 2026, a 62 percent increase. Over the 2023 to 2026 period, Loewe's Small Puzzle rose by 15 percent to 3,467 dollars, and The Row's Soft Margaux 15 increased by 8 percent to 6,116 dollars.

Cross-country price tracking confirms the Chinese markup on these flagship products. Compared to the French price, Burberry's Highlands Bowling bag costs 31.3 percent more in China, Miu Miu's Beau is 23.1 percent higher and Prada's Bonnie is 21.5 percent more expensive. Conversely, Loewe's Small Puzzle Edge is cheaper in Japan (-6.9 percent) and South Korea (-0.3 percent) than in France.

Concentrated waves of price increases

Monthly tracking of prices charged by Prada and Miu Miu over the first seven months of 2026 shows that increases are grouped into a few large-scale waves, with moderate average hikes. At Prada, more than 3,100 SKUs had their prices raised in the US in January (+1.44 percent on average), and again in April. Comparable waves took place in June across all studied markets, with an average increase of 2.36 percent in France. Miu Miu carried out a broad price revision in January, with an average increase of 4.66 percent in Japan, followed by a second wave in July.

Widening and narrowing price ranges

An analysis of minimum, average and maximum prices in leather goods reveals different trajectories. At Burberry, the maximum price rose from 2,750 to 3,260 dollars between 2025 and 2026, while the entry-level price remained stable at 190 dollars. The British brand is thus extending its offering towards more expensive pieces without raising its entry price. Loewe follows a similar logic: its average price increased from 1,877 to 2,131 dollars and its maximum price reached 7,000 dollars.

Prada lowered its maximum price from 8,000 to 7,200 dollars while raising its average price from 1,881 to 2,098 dollars. Miu Miu reduced both its maximum and average prices. According to the report, widening a range aims to preserve prestige while remaining accessible to aspirational clientele. Conversely, narrowing it reflects a refocusing on a reduced number of price points and a more targeted customer profile.

These discrepancies from one country to another reflect deliberate strategies aligned with seasonality and demand cycles specific to each market.

Aspirational clientele at the heart of assortment trade-offs

Aspirational clientele are presented as the most weakened segment. After the pandemic, brands focused on ultra-wealthy clients and neglected their entry-level offerings. Aspirational consumers, priced out by several years of increases, are now turning to premium brands.

Retviews' data indicates a rebalancing. Accessories are gaining ground in the analysed offering, rising from 59 percent to 65 percent of SKUs, with their maximum price increasing by 24 percent. The share of handbags dropped from 42 percent to 36 percent and their average price fell slightly by 0.4 percent. However, situations remain varied across brands. At Chloé, the share of accessories rose from 21 percent to 26 percent of the assortment. At Burberry, ready-to-wear increased from 35 percent to 41 percent. The Row significantly increased the weight of leather goods, which rose from 19 percent to 35 percent of its offering.

The report also notes that some houses are reducing the number of sizes and colourways for their flagship models. The objective is to reinforce exclusivity, improve sell-through rates and limit the risk of markdowns.

Cross-channel price consistency as a brand image issue

Price discrepancies between a brand's own website and its multi-brand online retailers are also addressed. The document cites the case of Jacquemus's Le Chiquito bag, listed at 550 euros on the brand's website and at 385 euros on Mytheresa, representing a 30 percent gap. According to the author, these discrepancies are as much a matter of brand image management as distribution channel control, as they risk degenerating into a forced discounting policy.

This article was partly written with the support of an artificial intelligence tool before being fact-checked, completed and edited by a FashionUnited journalist.