The New Luxury Equation: from Awareness to Desirability

After two decades of growth fuelled by geographic expansion, retail network development and the rise of new luxury consumers, the industry is entering a more mature phase where growth can no longer be taken for granted.

Yet the overall mood at this year’s RLC Fashion Summit in Milan was more nuanced than many headlines suggest.

Industry leaders broadly agreed on one important point: demand for luxury remains resilient. Customers are returning to stores, particularly in the United States and, to some extent, across Europe. The desire for luxury has not disappeared.

What has changed is the way consumers choose to spend.

Purchasing decisions are becoming more selective, more deliberate and increasingly linked to the perceived relevance of a brand’s offer. Consumers continue to invest in luxury, but they are concentrating their spending around the products, brands and creative visions they find most compelling.

This resilience, however, is primarily concentrated among affluent consumers. At the same time, many aspirational customers have progressively been priced out of the market, raising important questions around customer recruitment and the industry’s long-term growth model.

Against this backdrop, we participated as a sponsor at the RLC Fashion Summit, whose 2026 theme, The Shape of Influence, explored four topics shaping the future of luxury: the changing geography of growth, the reinvention of desire, the evolving economics of luxury, and the impact of AI on the industry’s future.

While perspectives varied, a common thread emerged across all discussions. In a less expansive market, the amount consumers are willing to spend increasingly depends on the strength of the idea behind the product.

Across conversations on growth, luxury economics, retail transformation and innovation, one conclusion became clear: the ability to sustain desirability is becoming one of the industry’s most important competitive advantages.

This raises a simple but fundamental question:

What creates desire in luxury today, and how can brands continue to regenerate it over time?

Desire Starts with Surprise

One of the most thought-provoking reflections shared during the session “The Reinvention of Desire” was the reminder that luxury itself originates from the Latin word luxus — excess, extravagance, magnificence, something that stands apart from the ordinary.

Luxury, by definition, is about creating surprise.

Desire emerges when consumers encounter something unexpected: a product, an experience, an idea or a perspective that captures their imagination.

This is perhaps why, despite the proliferation of communication channels, desire continues to spread primarily through people.

Word of mouth remains one of the most powerful drivers of luxury influence. The ability of a customer to surprise a friend with a product they had never considered, or to introduce someone to a brand through a recommendation, remains one of the most authentic forms of desirability creation.

In this sense, the customer is becoming almost as important as the product itself.

Desirability Is Sustained Through Reinvention

The foundations of luxury have not changed.

Exceptional products, creativity, craftsmanship and emotional resonance remain as relevant today as they were decades ago.

What has changed is the speed at which brands must reinvent themselves.

One of the most insightful ideas discussed concerned the notion of “protecting meaning.” While many brands focus on preserving heritage, the real challenge is to continuously translate meaning for new generations.

Louis Vuitton provides a compelling example. When travel evolved from horse-drawn carriages to railways, the brand adapted its trunks. When air travel expanded, suitcases gained wheels. The products changed, but the purpose remained constant.

The lesson is clear; the brands that endure are not those that preserve products unchanged. They are those that preserve their purpose while continuously reinventing its expression.

Desirability is sustained not through preservation, but through reinvention. The implication for luxury leaders is significant. Heritage alone does not create desirability. It provides the raw material from which desirability can be continuously renewed.

The retail Industry’s Value-Perception Challenge

Much has been said about price-rise fatigue and more cautious consumer behavior. Yet the issue facing many luxury brands today is less a demand problem than a value-perception problem.

For decades, categories such as handbags and shoes acted as powerful recruiting vehicles, introducing new consumers to luxury brands and nurturing long-term relationships. Over time, however, significant price inflation has pushed many of these categories further upmarket. Products that once represented an entry point into a brand universe have increasingly become purchases reserved for top-spending clients.

As a result, one of the industry’s most pressing questions is how to recruit the next generation of luxury consumers.

More fundamentally, brands may need to rethink the architecture of their offer. The challenge is not simply to serve VICs more effectively, but to ensure that every stage of the customer journey contains products capable of generating aspiration, recruitment and long-term loyalty.

This is where desirability and value perception converge.

Luxury consumers rarely buy because something is affordable, they buy because they believe it is worth it. The question is therefore not whether premium pricing exists, but whether products continue to justify it.

The brands performing best today are often those that have maintained a compelling value equation, combining creativity, craftsmanship and perceived longevity. In a market increasingly driven by novelty, durability, timelessness and long-term relevance are becoming powerful sources of desirability in their own right.

At the same time, the success of emerging brands such as Polène demonstrates that consumers remain highly responsive to strong design, clear positioning and a coherent value proposition.

The lesson for established players is clear: defending pricing power is not enough. It must be continuously earned.

Creativity as a Regeneration Engine in retail

Against this backdrop, creativity emerged as perhaps the industry’s most important strategic asset.

Industry leaders consistently agreed that creativity remains luxury’s most powerful differentiator.

In a market characterized by saturation, accelerating product cycles and increasing consumer choice, creative excellence remains one of the few advantages that competitors cannot easily replicate.

The role of creative leadership is also evolving. The most successful creative directors are storytellers: individuals capable of continuously reinterpreting a brand’s heritage for new audiences while remaining faithful to its core identity.

Karl Lagerfeld’s famous closing remark after fashion shows — “and now, next” — perfectly captured this mindset.

The creative director’s role is not simply to create products. It is to endlessly rewrite an old story for a younger audience.

Can a creative director rebuild desirability? The early success of Matthieu Blazy’s work at Chanel suggests the answer is yes.

Not by changing the brand’s identity, but by helping consumers rediscover it. Consumers continue to reward brands that successfully combine creativity, brand authenticity and product relevance.

From Exclusivity to Uniqueness

Historically, luxury built desire through exclusivity. Today, exclusivity remains important, but it is no longer sufficient.

Desirability increasingly comes not from being visible to everyone, but from being visible to the right communities. Whether that influence comes from celebrities, creators, cultural tastemakers or simply trusted peers matters less than a brand’s ability to remain relevant within the groups that shape aspiration.

Relevance, rather than exclusivity alone, is becoming a key driver of desire. Consumers increasingly seek products, experiences and brands that allow them to express their individuality. They are buying identities, values, communities and cultural codes as much as products.

Aspiration is becoming less about status and more about self-expression, and as a result, successful brands are focusing less on creating distance and more on creating resonance.

Personalization, bespoke services and curated client experiences are becoming increasingly important because they create something consumers value deeply: uniqueness.

The future of luxury may depend less on making products rarer, and more on making them personally meaningful.

The New Scarcity Is Time

Perhaps the most profound shift discussed during the summit concerns the nature of scarcity itself.

For decades, luxury relied on scarcity of product. Today, the scarcest resource may be time.

Consumers are overwhelmed by content, choice and constant connectivity. Increasingly, they value experiences that allow them to engage deeply, slow down and feel something authentic.

Luxury is not simply about selling products. It is about making people feel something.

This principle is becoming increasingly important in retail.

Retail as a Desirability Engine

When talking about the evolution of retail, one of the clearest messages emerging was that the traditional debate between physical and digital retail has become largely irrelevant.

Consumers do not experience brands through channels. They experience them through ecosystems. The question is no longer whether physical or digital is more important. The challenge is how the two work together to create a seamless and meaningful customer journey.

Physical retail remains a critical asset, but its role is changing. Historically, stores were engines of distribution and expansion – now they are increasingly becoming engines of engagement, loyalty and retention.

The key questions for retail brands have become simple:

Do we have people in our stores? And are we engaging with them in the right way?

In a world where products are available everywhere and information is instantly accessible, the store’s primary role is no longer transactional – it is emotional.

The most impactful retail concepts create experiences, build relationships and give consumers a reason to invest their most valuable resource: time.

Many established luxury brands are beginning to rethink their retail footprints. Rather than maximizing presence, they are focusing on fewer, more meaningful physical destinations while leveraging digital channels to serve customers in lower-density markets and tier-three locations.

This is not a retreat from retail; it is a redefinition of retail’s role.

This same shift is reshaping multi-brand retail. In a crowded market, differentiation depends less on assortment breadth and more on curation: creating environments with a clear point of view, cultural relevance and a strong sense of discovery. For retailers, that means giving customers a real reason to visit through distinctive brand mixes, exclusive experiences or compelling private-label offers.

The store is no longer just a distribution point but a relationship platform: one of the few spaces where brands can create emotional engagement, reinforce meaning and build long-term loyalty.

From Awareness to Desirability

Perhaps the most important conclusion emerging from this year’s summit concerns the changing nature of growth.

For much of the past two decades, growth was enabled by expansion: new markets, new stores and new customers. In that environment, awareness was often the primary growth driver.

In today’s landscape, growth increasingly depends on a brand’s ability to remain relevant, justify its value, engage existing customers and attract the next generation.

The challenge is no longer to be known – it is to remain wanted.

If awareness fueled luxury’s expansion era, desirability will define its maturity era.

Key takeaways for luxury leaders

1. Desirability is becoming a strategic growth driver

In a more mature market, sustainable growth increasingly depends on a brand’s ability to remain relevant, meaningful and emotionally resonant over time.

2. Luxury brands must translate meaning, not protect it

The brands that endure are those that preserve their purpose while continuously reinventing its expression for new generations of consumers.

4. The role of creative leadership is evolving

The most effective creative leaders are no longer simply product creators. They act as storytellers and cultural translators, connecting a brand’s heritage with the aspirations of new generations while ensuring it remains relevant in a changing world.

3. Recruitment and retention require a new value equation

Brands must balance the needs of VICs with the ability to attract future customers, ensuring a compelling value proposition at every stage of the customer journey.

5. Retail is shifting from expansion to engagement

Stores are evolving from points of distribution into platforms for engagement, loyalty and retention. Physical and digital channels are increasingly part of the same ecosystem, with stores playing a critical role in building engagement, loyalty and long-term customer relationships.

OC&C Strategy Consultants is a leading global strategy consultancy, partnering with senior executives to solve their most complex commercial challenges. With over 35 years of experience and offices across Europe, the US, and Asia, we combine deep analytical rigour with practical, board-level insight to help businesses thrive in an ever-changing marketplace.

We are proud to be trusted advisers to some of the world’s most iconic luxury and premium brands. Our expertise in luxury retail spans fashion, jewellery and beauty, where we support clients in shaping growth strategies, navigating international expansion, enhancing customer experience, and harnessing digital innovation. Our tailored approach blends a global perspective with a nuanced understanding of local markets, ensuring strategies that are both ambitious and executable.

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