“The high net worth customer doesn’t want to necessarily go into a big flagship,” New York-based retail consultant Robert Burke said, pointing out that in addition to rolling out bigger-than-ever locations like its renovated Rue Cambon hub, Chanel has also been adding more intimate locations in London and Asia. The brand even said it was planning to open dedicated, invitation-only boutiques for top-spending clients.

“We’re going to see a reversal of big flagship stores into more intimate stores that are more personal,” Burke said. “In these more human-scale stores, it’s really about the customer service.”

"Brands are conflicted with how to protect their image and ensure that they aren't seen as a discount brand," says luxury retail consultant Robert Burke.

"Young consumers in particular are looking for almost the same level of styling and marketing as they'd expect from a full-price item," says Burke. "Simply being discounted isn't good enough anymore."

According to Burke, The Outnet — with its luxury curation and editorial content — "has been the benchmark the last few years for online off-price." But when it comes to older retailers pivoting to stay relevant, Saks is coming out on top, having done "a particularly strong job at catering to the younger generation the past year."

"Off-price is on track to accelerate its growth in part due to the consumers' focus on sustainability," echoes Burke. "There will continue to be an overstock of clothes produced, even in the luxury sector, so off-price allows those items not to go to waste."

"Brands are still figuring out how to position themselves in the off-price market," he says. "They don't want to hurt their full-price business but need to take advantage of unloading overstock products and strengthening their customer base. The off-price customer is spending more than ever, so brands need to capitalize."

"We're going to see off-price closely mirror full-price from an edit, communications and customer service standpoint," he says. "The consumer won't accept anything less."

“VICs were always an under the radar focus for the brands before. It was always kept relatively secret in a way in terms of what they offered or what they did to accommodate this type of customer,” said Robert Burke, Chairman and CEO of Robert Burke Associates, a consultancy specialised in working with fashion and luxury brands.

“The customer wants to be able to say, I’m part of this exclusive experience, or I got an invitation to travel to this runway show,” said Burke, noting the efforts of brands like Givenchy which flew guests to a Venice gala, and Gucci, which hosting dinner parties with its CEO Marco Bizzari and Kering Chairman and CEO Francois-Henri Pinault.

“These are all like bragging rights to the consumer, you know, especially in the age of social media,” added Burke. “Being part of this inner circle identifies who they are and how important they are. And it's just more public.”

“The smaller, the more personalised, the better,” said Burke. “Brands used to spend half a million or a million dollars taking ads with a fashion magazine or newspaper and now they’re spending their money cultivating the customer and they’re getting very, very strategic and much more creative about what they're offering the customer and it's even more exclusive.”

“They broke the stereotype of Russia,” said Robert Burke, the founder of a namesake luxury consultancy.

“There are social and cultural aspects to fashion that are inseparable from the livelihood of brands,” said Mr. Burke, referring to the fact that fashion brands underwrite galas and art exhibitions, film premieres and philanthropic events as well as dressing attendees in a sort of virtuous circle of access and Instagram opportunities.

“They knew how to connect with people,” Mr. Burke said. “They represented style, sophistication, were very well traveled and had a lot of spending power. They were the new face of what people thought Russia represented.”

“The general public has gotten worn down by cancel culture and accusations, and brands are not as quick as they might have been to take a position,” Mr. Burke said. He and Ms. Greene believe this may be the beginning of a shift.

“Gucci’s US business is still very strong,” retail consultant Robert Burke said. “Kering is seeing good success with their emerging brands, but by no means is Gucci being forgotten.”

“There’s room to grow,” said retail consultant Robert Burke. “Alex has always had a sixth sense in marketing. It comes innately to him. That, coupled with the fact that the price allows a broader range of consumers to access the brand, has allowed it to remain relevant.”

“Brands have to be very tuned in to the customer's psyche right now,” said Robert Burke, CEO, and Chairman of consultancy Robert Burke Associates. “Luxury consumers have gone through a great deal of change over the past two years; in terms of how they view their assets and in terms their spending habits.”

Part of being in sync with their customers is knowing how to achieve the right balance, Burke added. “Consumers understand supply and demand. There is a balance and a scale that you have to hit to not put off the customer because of excessive wait times or unavailability.”

“But right now, they’re very frustrated with supply chain issues,” he continued. “The more wealthy they are, the less tolerance they have… And if they don't buy from you, they have enough disposable income to spend it on another brand. And that's just the reality.”

It comes as little surprise that brands like Hermès and Louis Vuitton are scaling up production, particularly as demand from markets like the United States continues to help drive quarterly sales growth. “They're looking at the long term,” said Burke. “They're confident that if demand stays the same or grows, which it probably will, they'll be positioned to supply the demand.”

However, if demand eases, can brands manage a potential surplus?

“No one knows what will happen in six months, but if they need to pull back on production, the margins are good enough,” said Burke. “What they don't want to do this is short term or long term is miss out on any momentum by being too scarce.”

“Both brands, rightfully so, are very confident that once the customer goes down this luxury path of buying their product, they will continue,” Burke said of Hermès and Louis Vuitton. “They're not going to flood the market with their products, because that would go against everything they stand for, but they're pretty bullish that customers are going to end up being a repeat customer. And we're also bullish specifically because we believe that the United States is an opportunity to grow further for luxury brands right now.”

“There's a more diverse customer base, there's more emerging wealth and the US has proven that its secondary cities are very, very valuable,” noted Burke. The US is not completely dependent on international tourism, so that's a very encouraging aspect, and places like Short Hills, New Jersey, and Nashville, Tennessee Dallas, and Austin have done incredibly well.”

“The future of luxury is fur-free,” says New York-based retail consultant Robert Burke, pointing out that the emerging generation of luxury consumers, who grew up online, prize transparency, authenticity and ethics above all else. “Of all US retailers, NMG was probably the most steeped in the tradition of fur, so this is a very vocal and visible move for them.”

Despite the highly crowded and competitive landscape, there is an opportunity for niche retailers with a captive audience and clear point-of-view to thrive, said retail consultant Robert Burke. But Threads will have to balance scaling its business with continuing to provide a specialised experience and rare products.

“Bigger is not always better to the consumer today. That is especially so online, because the customer does not want to wade through thousands of products, they want to go somewhere that represents their taste level and what really interests them,” he said, adding, “the reality is that the customer is really looking for a specialised experience, and Threads offered this.”

Luxury analyst Robert Burke notes that Idol’s business strategies were performing well following the decline during the pandemic. Despite this, positioning itself as a more upmarket luxury conglomerate comes with challenges. “Luxury and accessories have been dominated by European companies,” says Burke. “That doesn’t mean there can’t be an American player, but the recent history is that [luxury] has been very strong in Europe.”