Market small for Melania’s jacket
MILAN — U.S. first lady Melania Trump opened a window into the luxury world over the weekend when she wore a $51,000 designer jacket to a lunch in Sicily.
While the revelation sent many into sticker shock, the reality is that those kinds of prices belong to the most exclusive high end of haute couture that operate at the highest level of hand craftsmanship, accessible only to the very few.
“For the brands, they need to do it, to have the attention and to keep the research and development high,” said Claudia D’Arpizio, a senior partner at Bain & Company consulting.
“There is not a real public for that. I would say very few women in the world are buying haute couture.”
A floral applique jacket like the one Mrs. Trump purchased for the G-7 outing, for example, would require many seamstress hours of hand embroidery. Dolce & Gabbana did not release details of the materials, but Stefano Gabbana celebrated its high-profile outing on Instagram.
Looking beyond the uppermost tiers of indulgence, a new Bain study shows that sales of global luxury goods leveled off last year from a period Chinese-fueled euphoria. They are expected, however, to grow again this year, despite uncertainty generated by the recent Manchester attack and changing U.S. travel policies.