Research Report
Luxe Eternal: The customer edit
How customers are reshaping desirability, resonance and the future of luxury
5-minute read
January 13, 2026
In brief
- Its resilience notwithstanding, the luxury industry stands at an inflection point as loyalty grows fragile despite sustained customer desire.
- Despite their diversity, customers are more aware about what they want: mastery, meaning, identity, belonging and meaningful relationships.
- To win, brands must rewire how they interact, anticipate, surprise and accompany their customers.
Luxury is entering 2026 with a paradox. The sector has stayed remarkably resilient amid tariffs, geopolitical tension and uneven global demand. Yet beneath that strength, loyalty feels more fragile and harder to earn. Our 2024 Luxe Eternal report looked at this tension from the brand perspective and showed how a small group of luxury leaders were able to raise both operational performance and desirability, ultimately creating a reinforcing flywheel.
In this year’s edition, Luxe Eternal: The customer edit, we turned the lens on 3,435 luxury customers across 13 countries to understand how they now define luxury, what truly resonates and why some brands remain eternal favorites.
Customers converge on the essence of luxury, with many nuances
When customers describe luxury, three ideas rise to the top: quality, exclusivity and elegance. Despite this unanimity, there is no single luxury customer, but instead a mosaic of identities whose expectations diverge sharply.
One part of the market looks young, global in mindset and digitally fluent. Aesthetics, community cues and fast culture shape their sense of “right now.” Another group, often similar in age, blends digital ease with a sharper focus on values and purpose. A third group, older and more established, reads luxury through heritage, origin and trust in institutions and master craftsmanship.
These groups elevate various dimensions of desirability differently, making the job of leading a global maison more complex than ever.
Emerging resonance gap despite high desirability
Across these three very different profiles, customers still recognize why luxury attracts them.
63%
of customers say luxury brands are evolving in line with changing lifestyles and expectations
60%
say brand storytelling emotionally engages them
65%
believe luxury brands still influence culture and reflect today’s values
Yet this shared pull toward luxury sits alongside a growing sense that the connection feels weaker: 37% of customers say luxury brands increasingly struggle to sustain emotional resonance and a lasting bond with them. The loyalty contract between brands and customers is becoming fractured.
50%
feel brands are becoming profit-driven businesses rather than dream-makers
37%
see “value-for-money” declining
35%
judge brand expressions less distinctive and inspiring
Many houses are already reacting: around 60% of leading luxury brands changed creative leadership in recent years, and several also brought in new CEOs.
So, what do luxury customers really value?
A combination of quality, elegance, emotion and identity. In this context, one question matters more than any other. How can luxury brands protect the fundamentals of quality, craftsmanship and exclusivity while building relationships that feel as intentional, personal and enduring as the objects themselves?
A few leaders are already doing it by combining quality, emotion and identity. The result: more than 90% of luxury customers see their desires fulfilled by their favorite brand.
43%
say their favorite luxury brands “represent exceptional quality and craftsmanship”
38%
cite elegance and timeless sophistication as the key character traits of their favorite brands
36%
said they “make me feel special and unique”
Customers value what happens behind the scenes that enables a reliable, seamless and truly premium luxury experience.
Today’s luxury listens to the voice of the customer
In a world where customers arrive armed with information, comparisons and convictions, they expect not just flawless products, but also consistent values, seamless journeys and deep attention to their uniqueness. For brands, the real frontier of competitive advantage now lies in how they interact, anticipate, surprise and accompany the customer.
Three customer driven recommendations for luxury brands
01
Build a “behind-the-scenes” engine that turns operational excellence into resonance
Every small cog in the luxury machinery matters to customers: sixty-nine percent say speed and precision in delivery and logistics is important to them. Given this inclination, brands must build design and production systems that uphold the house's standards of quality, origin and heritage, and make them verifiable. Seventy-six percent of customers say exceptional expertise and professionalism of the staff influence their engagement with a luxury brand. Invest in capabilities (data, platforms, AI, service operations, circular journeys) that directly enhance the brand’s ability to listen, respond and follow through.
02
Orchestrate a relational continuum that creates belonging
Journeys need a narrative arc, not a string of isolated touch points. The reason: 62% of customers expect online shopping to be as personalized and engaging as an in-store experience, while another 61% expect brands to stay connected even after purchase. For 59%, belonging to an exclusive circle or community is important. That is why, brands must design clear “before, during and after” moments that translate the house codes into lived experiences. Success metrics also need to evolve. Conversion remains important, but tracking continuity will become imperative too. Think repeat visits, reactivation moments, participation in communities and the depth of engagement over time.
03
Elevate the relational artisan as a new figure of leadership
As more customers see brands as less distinct, less credible and more profit-driven, houses are redefining creative direction and governance. The relational artisan becomes the client-facing extension of this shift: an interpreter of meaning and a guardian of resonance and desirability for the customer. To bring this concept to life, brands must ensure the role of these artisans goes far beyond just service to interpreting desire, reading subtle signals, anticipating needs and ultimately surprising and delighting the customer.
The path forward
Luxury's next era will not be defined by what brands craft, but by how they resonate. Customers are clearer than ever about what they want: mastery, meaning, identity, belonging and relationships that feel as intentional as the objects themselves. The brands that win will be those who embrace this shift with clarity, courage and artistry. Those who treat relationships not as an outcome of luxury, but as its ultimate expression.