Why Luxury Fashion Is Losing Its Hold and What Conscious Consumers Are Choosing Instead

The numbers behind the luxury slowdown

The global personal luxury goods market contracted by approximately 2% in 2024, its weakest performance since the post-2008 period — a structural shift, not a temporary correction.

Major groups reported significant declines: Kering, parent of Gucci and Balenciaga, reported a 14% drop in Q1 2025, with Gucci down 25%; Hugo Boss recorded a 2% decline. According to the BoF–McKinsey State of Fashion 2026, 81% of global consumers now believe luxury does not always justify its price, and only 55% associate it with genuine quality. The share of aspirational consumers has fallen from 65% in 2021 to 55% in 2024.

Why the luxury aura is fading

Three forces. Overexposure: decades of brand extension and entry-level products have diluted exclusivity. Creative instability: an unprecedented wave of creative-director changes across Dior, Gucci, Valentino, Balenciaga, Versace, and Loewe signals that even storied houses are improvising. Economic pressure: with consumer confidence at historic lows, the first expenditures reconsidered are those that deliver primarily symbolic value. A logo, under these conditions, is among the most fragile of value propositions.

What conscious consumers are choosing instead

The decline has redirected appetite for quality, not removed it. Consumers increasingly seek emotional connection, personalization, durability, and ownership beyond a brand name. The resale market is projected to reach $367 billion by 2029 — but resale offers existing pieces, not pieces made for the buyer. This is where bespoke garment redesign enters: investing in the transformation of pieces one already owns, with personal history and material quality.

Value over volume

The BoF–McKinsey report identifies a Value over Volume trend: the businesses thriving are not those pushing the most units but those delivering perceived value, trust, and differentiation. Consumers are prepared to pay up to 50% more for products that are personalized and emotionally relevant. Menabòh operates exactly here — beginning with a garment the client already values and applying Italian craft and creative direction to produce something no brand markup could replicate.

From status to identity

The deepest change is the shift from status signalling to identity expression. A redesigned garment — lived through someone's history and remade for them — is singular in a way no mass-produced item, however expensive, can replicate.

Menabòh is a creative atelier rooted in Italian craft. We redesign the garments you already own into one-of-one pieces made entirely for you.