Luxury demand fragments geographically
- Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Chanel reported resilient sales in Korea despite price increases. - Seoul Economic Daily says the three brands took nearly 5 trillion won in Korea amid a broader global slump. - Yet listed luxury stocks have still lost about $176 billion year‑to‑date as geopolitics and tourism weakness hit global sales ( ).
South Korea is emerging as one of luxury’s few bright spots, even as the sector’s listed giants lose billions in market value. (en.sedaily.com) Hermès Korea reported 964.3 billion won in 2024 revenue, up 21% from a year earlier. Louis Vuitton Korea posted 1.75 trillion won, and Chanel Korea topped 2 trillion won for the first time, according to local filings cited by Seoul Economic Daily. (en.sedaily.com) Together, the three brands took in roughly 4.7 trillion won to 5 trillion won in South Korea last year, depending on the report and exchange assumptions. Fn News and Seoul Economic Daily both said repeated price increases did not stop demand. (en.fnnews.com, en.sedaily.com) The split is sharper outside Korea. Bloomberg data published by Yahoo Finance on April 15 said Europe’s 10 listed luxury companies had lost about $176 billion in market value since the start of 2026, while the Stoxx 600 index was up 4.6%. (finance.yahoo.com) LVMH, the industry bellwether, accounted for nearly $100 billion of that drawdown, according to the same report. CNBC reported on April 13 that investors were already reassessing the sector after LVMH’s first-quarter sales missed expectations. (finance.yahoo.com, cnbc.com) Company disclosures show the geography of demand is no longer moving in one direction. LVMH said on April 13 that Asia excluding Japan showed strong growth in the first quarter, while Europe and Japan relied on local shoppers to offset weaker tourist spending after conflict in the Middle East disrupted travel in March. (lvmh.com) That leaves luxury groups with a narrower map of reliable buyers. In South Korea, ultra-premium labels are still pushing through higher prices, while local reports say weaker mid-tier platforms and brands are struggling in the same market. (kedglobal.com, en.sedaily.com) The result is a luxury market that is not collapsing everywhere at once. It is holding up in places like Seoul, and breaking down in enough other regions to keep pressure on the industry’s biggest stocks. (en.sedaily.com, finance.yahoo.com)
