Posted on 10/13/2013 2:25:22 PM PDT by nickcarraway
All is not well in the luxury world. Stalwart luxury buyers in China are cutting back, according to recent statements from Burberry and Richemont, among others. New data from research firm Euromonitor International confirms that the industry is in a bit of a slump. Global luxury sales are on track to grow by 3% this year, the slowest rate in four years.
Euromonitor reckons that growth will pick up next year, though, driven by its strongest segment in recent years: accessories, specifically mens accessories. The luxury goods industry has been manning up of late, says Fflur Roberts of Euromonitor. A host of luxury brands are opening mens only stores, tapping a less saturated market undergoing significant shifts in tastes.
In part, the focus on mens luxury lines reflects the push into fast-growing emerging markets, where the disparity in purchasing power between men and women is wider than in the West, Roberts says. Chinese men are famously keen luxury shoppers, for example.
But one of the hottest luxury items with global appeal is the mens handbagthe man bag, man purse, or, simply, murse. Euromonitor dug into its data for Quartz to help quantify the murses meteoric rise.
Once a source of mockery, over the past five years mens handbags have seen sales grow at nearly twice the rate of the overall luxury industry. The man-bag market in Asia has doubled since 2008, with murses in the Middle East growing by two-thirds over the same period. The global market for mens luxury bags will reach just under $9 billion this year, according to Euromonitor.
Handbag-growth-forecast-2012-to-2018-Growth-2008-13-Sales-2013-bn-_chartbuilder The factors driving mens handbag sales are also fueling luxury accessory sales more generally; accessories have been the fastest-growing luxury segment over the past five years, worth some $50 billion this year. You might not be able to buy a Zegna coat, but you can have a Zegna bag, says Roberts. Its got the brand but you are not parting with thousands and thousands. Accessories are big because they are a stepping stone into luxury.
The propensity of men to sport flashier purses is down to changing trends. Years ago, your average man wouldnt be caught dead walking down the street with a Mulberry bag, says Roberts. Its becoming a more accepted trend. Indeed, in explaining its recent industry-bucking jump in sales, the boss of Longchamp noted that the brand benefited from its broader range of mens bags as they become part of a gentlemans outfit.
Euromonitor expects sales of mens handbags to moderate in the next five years. This doesnt mean that blokes wont still bling it up: Luxury man-bags will continue to grow faster than womens purses in many parts of the world.
I am in agreement with you but have you ever thought about what men did before pockets were invented?
http://www.h2g2.com/approved_entry/A798159
Whatever. I'd advise you not where your man purse where I work, however. But I'll bet you look fabulous with it..!
I have a messenger bag. There is no functional difference between it and a purse, or a laptop bag, or a briefcase, or a backpack. Some people have a bunch of gear to carry around, and some of those people are male and some are female.
It’s an argument about words.
Don’t get saucy with me, Béarnaise!
If I need more pockets, I have a fly fishing vest. I really like it when I have to travel by air - you don’t have to empty your pockets at the security checkpoint, you just take them off, put them in the bin, and collect them on the other side.
Wow, if I had those rules I’d be dead several times over:
I go backpacking, I own a bike carrier for my mountain bike and I use a fanny pack!
Ed
Man purse?
Man purse?
??
Doh! Where=wear
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