• The luxury second-hand market reaches $38 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow by 9–10% annually through 2029.
• The eyewear sector accounts for 49% of total 2024 revenues from Italian-owned companies (€26 billion), followed by fashion and leather goods (€16 billion) and high-end automotive (€8 billion).
• The global luxury market stabilized at $1.478 trillion in 2024 (–1.3% vs 2023).
• LVMH leads the sector with €39.8 billion in revenues in the first half of 2025; Hermès remains the most profitable with a 41.4% margin. Among Italian brands, Prada (€2.74 billion) and Moncler (€1.23 billion) stand out.
• The personal luxury goods market is valued at €363 billion in 2024 (–2%) and could decline by another 2–5% in 2025.
• U.S. tariffs, affecting Italy’s top non-EU market (€12 billion in exports in 2024), weigh on total fashion exports worth €70 billion.
Italian luxury shows no signs of crisis, yet U.S. tariffs and slowbalization are slowing its growth. Over the past year, the sector generated €54 billion in revenues, confirming Italy as the manufacturing heart of Europe’s high-end industry.
From eyewear, which alone accounts for 49% of total revenues (€26 billion), to fashion and leather goods (€16 billion), and luxury automotive (€8 billion, with Ferrari at €6.7 billion), Made in Italy remains a strong and globally desired brand.
But behind this solidity lie new challenges: slowbalization, U.S. tariffs of 15% on European goods, and the rise of circular luxury are reshaping the balance of a deeply transforming industry. These are among the insights of the report “Scenarios in the World of Luxury: Geopolitics and Circularity—Prospects for Made in Italy”, by Valerio Mancini (Director, Rome Business School Research Center), Francesco Baldi (Professor, International Master in Finance, Rome Business School), and Massimiliano Parco (Economist, Centro Europa Ricerche).
Italy remains a world leader in the luxury industry. With over 40% of Europe’s manufacturing companies in the sector (Fondazione Altagamma, 2024), the country represents a unique model where craftsmanship, design, and innovation converge in a system of production districts—from Tuscan leather goods to Venetian eyewear, Biella textiles, and Ligurian yachting.
The outlook remains solid: according to Statista (2025), the Italian luxury market will grow at an average rate of 4–6% per year through 2030, driven by global demand and the ability of firms to innovate.
Currently, the sector is stable: after the 2023 record of $1.498 trillion, the market settled in 2024 at $1.478 trillion (–1.3%), amid rising macroeconomic uncertainty. Luxury cars remain the largest segment at $579 billion (39%), followed by personal goods—fashion, accessories, jewelry, and perfumes—at $363 billion (25%), and high-end hospitality at $242 billion (16%), notes Francesco Baldi.
In this scenario, Italian companies remain key players: €54 billion in revenues were generated by Italian-owned firms in 2024, led by Prada (€5.4 billion), Moncler (€3.1 billion), Armani (€2.3 billion), and Cucinelli (€1.3 billion). The picture is completed by luxury automotive, nearing €8 billion, driven by Ferrari (€6.7 billion), and yachting, worth €3 billion, led by Azimut-Benetti (€1.3 billion) and Sanlorenzo (€930 million).
In 2025, LVMH firmly retains its leadership, posting €39.8 billion in revenues and €9 billion in operating profit in the first half of the year (22.6% margin). Hermès remains the profitability champion, with €8 billion in revenues and a 41.4% operating margin, while Richemont strengthens its dominance in high-end jewelry with €21.4 billion in sales and €4.5 billion in operating profit (Richemont, 2025).
The picture is more complex for Kering, whose first-half 2025 revenues fell to €7.6 billion with a 12.8% margin, hit by Gucci’s slowdown, while Chanel closed 2024 with $18.7 billion in sales and a 24% margin.
Italian companies, though smaller in size, stand out for solidity and profitability. Prada Group posted €2.74 billion in revenues (22.6% margin), Moncler reached €1.23 billion (18.3%), and Zegna Group €928 million (7.4%).
According to Bain–Altagamma (2025), the global personal luxury goods market reached €363 billion in 2024 (–2%), with a forecast of a further 2–5% decline in 2025. Yet the market remains polarized, as top brands continue to grow thanks to desirability, positioning, and margin control.
After two decades of rapid globalization, “slowbalization”—a slowdown in trade and increasing regionalization of markets—is forcing brands to rethink strategies and supply chains. China, after a decade of expansion, is now contracting, with six consecutive quarters of spending decline (McKinsey, 2025).
The United States, still Italy’s largest non-EU market with €12 billion in exports in 2024 (15% of total fashion and accessories), has introduced tariffs of up to 15% on European goods.
For Italy, which exports over 70% of its luxury production, the impact is direct. The tariffs affect not only major maisons but also artisan districts and SMEs that make up over 75% of the supply chain, representing €2 billion in U.S. sales (Federorafi, 2025).
“Tariffs don’t just hit brands—they strike the backbone of Made in Italy: a system of people, skills, and territories,” says Mancini.
Companies are responding by diversifying markets and sourcing. The Italian fashion industry, which reached €70 billion in exports in 2024 (ICE, 2025), is increasingly turning to India, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia, new hubs of high-end consumption.
At the same time, many maisons are adopting the ‘China + 1’ model—opening a second production base outside China—and investing in near-shoring, bringing part of their manufacturing closer to Europe to reduce risks and lead times.
In 2025, the global second-hand luxury market reached $38 billion, with an annual growth rate of 9–10% projected through 2029 (Research & Markets, 2025). Within five years, its total value is expected to exceed $60 billion, accounting for around 15% of the personal luxury goods market.
According to the report’s findings, luxury resale is concentrated in apparel (35%), leather goods and accessories (29%), watches and jewelry (22%), and footwear (14%). The main driver is consumers under 35, increasingly attentive to sustainability and product traceability.
In China, where high-end spending has fallen for six straight quarters, the second-hand market grew by 35%, while in Europe, it is estimated that one in ten luxury purchases is now pre-owned. More and more maisons are introducing resale platforms or official programs—such as Rolex Certified Pre-Owned—integrating reuse into their business models.
Overall, the entire Italian high-end ecosystem—comprising over 80,000 companies and more than 500,000 employees—embodies a manufacturing culture that blends economic, historical, cultural, and territorial value. Thus, it is not merely a matter of defending market share or profit margins, but of preserving an identity heritage that stands as one of Italy’s main soft power assets.
As Valerio Mancini concludes,
“Made in Italy possesses a rare competitive advantage: its identity. It is a cultural capital that can lead the transition toward a more conscious, circular, and human luxury.”