The pandemic and the resultant world economic crisis meant hard times for the sale of luxury goods. But around the start of 2021, the luxury market began to heat up.
Fashion icon Anna Wintour told the Financial Times that as the world economy recovers and lockdowns end, there will be a “roaring twenties” boom for luxury goods and high fashion. The longtime Vogue editor said that Condé Nast, the magazine’s publisher, will be positioned to return to its heyday of profitability and influence.
“It’s a new day for the company,” said Wintour, as she talked about how Condé Nast would consolidate editorial teams. Wintour was recently promoted to chief content officer, putting her in charge of all Condé Nast’s brands globally. Speaking on Zoom with other Condé Nast executives, she talked about change: “We were certainly all very collegial … but we did not collaborate,” she said.
It will be a new day for the luxury market, Wintour predicted: “People have been locked up for a long time and they are going to go out and want to spend. They are going to want to travel … to get dressed up,” she said.
For proof of that, she pointed to the “lines around the block” at reopened Gucci and Dior stores in London, noting that this showed the pent-up demand for the luxury goods that Condé Nast titles have long pitched. “I don’t think it’s about being old-fashioned; it’s about enjoying everything that life has to offer. It’s wrong to think of Condé Nast as an elitist company; we’re a company that believes in quality and the best storytelling.”
Condé Nast, which is owned by the billionaire Newhouse family, has seen revenues dip — first as print advertising has fallen and then when the pandemic hit. Now, Wintour is in the spotlight as the chain tries for a turnaround.
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