Walpole Luxury Summit 2024: Luxury Consumers & Sustainability

• China’s Environmental Alertness: Some 62% of Chinese consumers are willing to pay a premium on sustainably produced luxury goods (Deloitte, 2023). This rises to 73% of Chinese millionaires, according to data shared by Singapore-based research agency Agility at the summit.
  
  But climate-friendly initiatives might need a Chinese-centric approach to resonate with consumers, by emphasising health, family, emotional connections and tradition. Homing in on environmentally friendly luxury and local materials, Chinese scientific lab Luoyang Time Promise Co. created an artificial diamond from the indigenous red peony, combining both heritage and sustainability aspirations – an apt initiative as Chinese consumers appear to have a rising interest in sustainable luxury jewellery.
   
• The Middle East’s Complicated Second-Hand Market: In 2023, the Middle East’s second-hand fashion market was worth $250m (only 5% of the global sector), according to data shared at the event by Dubai-based luxury retail company Chalhoub Group. However, growth is slow, since it’s still “socially not acceptable to wear something that someone else wore,” according to the group’s chief strategy officer Jasmina Banda.
  
  Besides stigma, 39% of wealthy Middle Eastern consumers are worried about the authenticity of pre-loved luxury goods, according to the Chalhoub Group. Addressing this concern, British online pre-loved retailer Luxury Promise offers authentication on second-hand luxury goods by two experts and artificial intelligence in six countries, including Dubai.
  
  And while 73% of Middle Eastern consumers have resold clothing, only 31% have also bought second-hand fashion, according to the Chalhoub Group. Despite this gap, Banda noted that “the Middle East is one of the best markets for sourcing [second-hand luxury goods]. Women and some men have very big closets full of luxury items that are worn maybe once or never.”
  
  

For more, see Walpole Luxury Summit 2024.