Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Burberry 'Raise Prices Again'... Consumers 'Frown'

Louis Vuitton's Articafusin. (Photo by Louis Vuitton)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Recently, price hikes by overseas luxury brands have been occurring one after another. While the industry insists that raising prices is inevitable due to high exchange rates and rising raw material costs, consumers are criticizing the increases as "excessive."

According to the industry on the 31st, French luxury brand Louis Vuitton implemented a price increase on the 27th. This is the second increase this year and the first in eight months since the previous hike. The ‘Alma BB,’ one of Louis Vuitton's representative products, rose from 2.18 million KRW to 2.25 million KRW, a 3.2% increase, and the ‘Sac Plat BB’ went up from 2.93 million KRW to 3.02 million KRW, a 3.1% increase. The ‘My Lockme Chain Pochette,’ popular as a celebrity bag, also increased by about 3%, from 2.34 million KRW to 2.41 million KRW. Not only handbags but also wallets and scarves saw price increases of around 10,000 to 30,000 KRW.

Tiffany, famous for its jewelry, plans to raise prices on diamond-included products by 7-8% starting from the 10th of next month. This increase comes nine months after the last hike in January, and Tiffany raised prices four times last year alone. The price of the representative product ‘T1 Ring’ 4.5mm will increase from 8.9 million KRW to around 9.5 million KRW.

Burberry also unexpectedly raised prices on the 25th. The increase rate ranges from 5% to 10%. For example, the Quilted Leather Small Lola Bag rose about 4%, from 2.75 million KRW to 2.85 million KRW.

The luxury industry's consecutive price hikes appear to be influenced by rising international raw material prices and exchange rates amid high inflation. Tag Heuer, which raised prices in mid-month, also cited high exchange rates as the reason for the increase.

However, despite the high inflation period, the luxury market continues to thrive, leading to unfavorable views from consumers. In fact, LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, Celine, and Loewe, recorded sales of 64.2 billion euros (86 trillion KRW) last year. This is a 44% increase compared to 2020 and about 20% higher than in 2019, before the pandemic.

An industry insider said that while high inflation had some impact, brands fundamentally maintain a strategy of differentiating themselves through pricing. The insider stated, "Recently, luxury brands have adopted a strategy of raising prices to match competitors' price ranges. If the reason were solely the rise in raw material and component costs, there would be no need to implement price hikes periodically."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.