Best of Times, Worst of Times: Global Luxury Goods - A Tale of Two Luxury Consumers

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Best of Times, Worst of Times: Global Luxury Goods - A Tale of Two Luxury Consumers

29 June 2026

Global Luxury Goods

Best of Times, Worst of Times: Global Luxury Goods - A Tale of

Two Luxury Consumers

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. The famous opening line of Charles Luca Solca

+41 582 723 126 Dickens’ ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ captures a period of contradiction: the French aristocracy

luca.solca@bernsteinsg.com indulging in opulence and privilege, the peasantry experiencing poverty and oppression.

While 2026 is thankfully not 18th century France, shifting class dynamics remain more

Maria Meita topical than ever, from the US K-shaped economy to the squeezed Chinese middle class. In

+44 20 7170 0540

maria.meita@bernsteinsg.com this note, we examine the implications of consumer polarisation on global luxury goods.

Eric Chen, CFA Consumer polarisation has accelerated post-Covid and would reduce the number

+852 2123 2628 of potential luxury consumers if continues (see Global Luxury Goods: Preparing for

eric.chen@bernsteinsg.com Consumer Polarisation - Part 2). Middle-class aspirational consumers in the West have

retrenched under the combined impact of cost-of-living inflation and aggressive luxury

Yi-Peng Khoo, CFA price increases, while their counterparts in China are facing additional pressure from the +44 20 7676 6822

yi-peng.khoo@bernsteinsg.com real estate market downturn. In aggregate, this has resulted in c.70 million consumers

exiting the market since 2023. Meanwhile, a small cohort of ultra-wealthy VICs, supported

Specialist Sales by tech-driven wealth creation and gains in financial assets, has increased its share of

total luxury spending, with the top 0.1% now accounting for c.23% of global expenditure.

Alix Turner