The Vogue Business Index, which ranks and analyses the world’s top 60 luxury fashion brands, has confirmed that Gucci is the most recognised brand among Gen-Z consumers.
The 100-year-old Italian house is, by far, the most popular luxury brand on TikTok, the Index reports—meaning that Gucci’s product-focused marketing on social media platforms (specifically TikTok) is resonating with younger shoppers.
Data from the Index (which uses more than 200 individual metrics and exclusive insights from 7,000 global luxury consumers) also shows a generational power shift in luxury spending. The youngest shoppers (Gen Z) have the greatest urge to spend, closely matching millennials armed with higher disposable incomes. Both groups expect to make the largest increase in their luxury spending over the next six months, compared to other age brackets.
@gucci Details from the #GucciAria runway @balenciaga
Your topline? The percentage of Gen-Z luxury shoppers who plan to amp up their spending on luxury fashion over the next six months has risen from 11 percent in late 2020 to 19 percent, the highest share across all age groups. When it comes to geography, Gen-Z consumers in the US, UK and South Korea are leading the way, with 38 percent expecting their spend on luxury fashion to increase, nearly 2.5 times the global average. The overall industry expectation is that this age range will be driving a fifth of luxury purchases by 2025.
Gucci isn’t the only brand holding our interest. Their Aria collection collaborator Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Givenchy are also seeing higher awareness among Gen-Z consumers, relative to their score among all luxury shoppers. Dior, meanwhile, is the leader across digital metrics and most social platforms, particularly on Chinese messaging and social media app WeChat. Burberry maintains a leadership position by continuing to push the boundaries of the retail experience through social and digitally enhanced pop-up stores, and Coach is now top-of-mind for an increased number of Gen-Z consumers and continues to grow in China.
@gucci
Gen Z’s power over the luxury sector goes far beyond the point of sale, however. Together with millennials, we’re more likely to consider diversity and inclusion practices as mandatory and will adhere to that value system when investing in a luxury purchase.
For luxury brands, the stakes are also high when it comes to picking the right social channel—the platform Gen Z prefers. Be that video-sharing platforms Douyin, Kuaishou and Bilibili in China, or TikTok in the US.
