Luxury Q3 2026: Lasting Goods Lead Fashion by 15 Points

Sales of lasting luxury goods grew 15 percentage points faster than fashion in the third quarter of 2026, according to a calculation by The Silent Luxury based on results that LVMH, Hermès, Kering, Zegna, Ferragamo and L’Oréal published between 12 and 22 October. Watches and jewellery at LVMH, jewellery at Kering, leather goods at Hermès and the ZEGNA brand grew by an average of 10.2 per cent, while the fashion-led divisions and brands of the same groups fell by 5.0 per cent. The same gap runs through the way luxury is sold, the way new clients first enter a house and the regions where growth sits, and across those four measures it averages 14.5 points.

We call it the Gap Index. It takes the figures that each house reported for itself and sets them side by side, so the direction of the market shows in four gaps and one average.

● In brief

What lasts. Watches and jewellery at LVMH grew 6 per cent, leather goods at Hermès 10.8 per cent, jewellery at Kering 11 per cent and the ZEGNA brand 13 per cent. On the fashion side, LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division fell 5 per cent, ready-to-wear and accessories at Hermès 2 per cent, Gucci 6 per cent and Thom Browne 7 per cent. Averaged, the two sides stand at 10.2 and minus 5.0 per cent, a gap of 15.2 points. It extends a pattern we described earlier this year, when jewellery began to outperform fashion.

Own doors. Sales in the houses’ own stores grew by an average of 8.0 per cent at Ferragamo and the ZEGNA brand, while sales through department stores and other partners fell by 13.6 per cent. At 21.6 points, this is the widest of the four gaps. Both companies are narrowing wholesale, Zegna by design and Ferragamo partly so.

The way in. Fragrance at L’Oréal Luxe and eyewear at Kering, two of the categories through which new clients now enter a house, grew by an average of 5.2 per cent. Fashion and leather goods at LVMH and Gucci fell by 5.5 per cent, a gap of 10.7 points.

Where growth sits. The United States and the wider Americas grew by an average of 7.1 per cent at LVMH, Ferragamo and Zegna. Asia fell by 3.4 per cent on average, with LVMH and Ferragamo down and Zegna up 6 per cent in Greater China. The gap is 10.5 points.

How we calculated it. Each value is the growth that a company reported for the third quarter of 2026 against the same quarter a year earlier, on the basis it uses itself: organic growth at LVMH and Zegna, constant exchange rates at Hermès and Ferragamo, comparable growth at Kering and like-for-like growth at L’Oréal. Every house carries the same weight, so the index tracks the direction of the market. LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division and Gucci appear in two of the four measures.

● Why it matters

The Gap Index measures how far the change described in The Members’ Club Era has already gone. Fewer people walked into luxury stores this quarter, and the clients who remain have moved to the other side of each house: towards what lasts, towards the houses’ own rooms, towards a smaller first purchase and towards the Americas.

For the houses, the gap is also a measure of exposure. Gucci and Thom Browne, both closely tied to fashion and to Chinese shoppers, sit on the slower side of the index this quarter. Hermès leather, the ZEGNA brand and the jewellery divisions of LVMH and Kering sit on the faster side, and Kering’s jewellery grew 18 per cent in its own stores.

The Silent Luxury will publish the Gap Index again with the full-year results in early 2027. The next edition will show whether the gap narrows if Chinese demand returns, or settles into a lasting division of the market.

Continue · The reading The Future of Luxury After Q3 2026: The Members’ Club Era Six houses reported within ten days, and their results point one way: luxury now grows through the clients who already belong. Read the article →