Greedy designer brands are forced to slash prices of most popular purses after bid to alienate middle class shoppers in favor of ultra-rich tanked profits

Luxury brands are softly slashing nan prices of designer handbags aft getting ideas supra their station.

Brands including Burberry and Yves Saint Laurent person spent years ramping up nan costs of their sought-after accessories successful a bid to amended their cachet.

But Burberry has lopped 22 per cent disconnected nan costs of its mean sized Knight handbag, and YSL has trim nan costs of its Loulou container by 10 percent aft discovering they had squeezed retired nan customers who support them successful business.

'When you move upmarket, you can't commencement pinch raising prices; you person to commencement pinch desirability,' said Pauline Brown, erstwhile chair of nan LVMH which owns Louis Vitton.

'None of this happens overnight — you person to bring nan user on pinch you.'

There are astir 2.5 cardinal group worldwide who walk much than $20,000 a twelvemonth connected luxury goods, according to study by nan Boston Consulting Group

But they relationship for conscionable 10 percent of sales, while much than half of income are made to astir 330 cardinal group who walk little than $2,000 a year.

Spending by some groups has plummeted since nan pandemic arsenic consumers person tightened their belts astatine a clip erstwhile luxury brands person been ramping up prices successful a bid to clasp their 'exclusive' image.

But Burberry sacked its main executive past week aft its 4th profit informing successful 9 months arsenic its stock value dropped to a 14-year low.

German designer Hugo Boss has besides issued a profit informing and nett profits astatine Swatch are down 70 percent truthful acold this twelvemonth because of a 'huge simplification successful demand' from customers successful China.

Burberry has now slashed nan value of its Knight handbag and knocked 5 percent disconnected nan value of each bags designed by apical designer Daniel Lee.

While Yves Saint Laurent Loulou bags tin now beryllium bought for $2,650 successful US stores – down $300 since January, according to nan WSJ.

And nan stakes person grown higher pinch nan waste of handbags now accounting for an mean of 45 percent of luxury marque gross – up from 34 percent successful 2008.

New Burberry CEO Joshua Schulman has promised to make its luxury equipment much accessible to its astir loyal customers.

But its mini Lola container still costs complete $2,000 – 40 percent much than earlier nan pandemic, while YSL's Loulou container could beryllium bought for $2,050 astatine nan commencement of 2021.

Only nan astir exclusive brands look capable to snub nan purchasing powerfulness of nan mediate class, pinch Cartier proprietor Richemont past week reporting a 4 percent emergence successful income for its jewelry brands including Van Cleef & Arpels.

Gucci is doubling down connected plans to prioritize its wealthiest customers, nan WSJ reported, while analysts will beryllium intimately watching earning reports from Hermès and Louis Vuitton later this week.

The tail-off successful US income has been mirrored successful nan monolithic Chinese marketplace wherever consumers are being squeezed by a prolonged crunch successful location prices.

And luxury brands person been nervously watching moves by cheaper rivals to scoop up customers they person alienated.

Chinese manufacturers including Songmont which nutrient value equipment that heavy undercut their upmarket rivals are eating into nan luxury marketplace antecedently dominated by Western brands,' nan WSJ reported.

'Brands cannot spend to alienate these customers,' warned expert Claudia D'Arpizio of Bain & Company.