Luxury kidswear growth

Luxury houses have long depended on the fickle fashion consumers obsession for an It bag here and a pair of heels there to boost yearly sales figures. But relying on ‘flavor of the month’ accessories has its shortfall. Then designers turned

to fast fashion collaborations with popular high street names to cash in on consumers sales hit – where luxury items became accessible and thus reached a wider audience. But these had a one hit wonder effect.

Now they seem to have found a longer lead means to boost sales by providing luxury items for the kids generation.

The success of Stella McCartney’s range for the fighting high street store, Gap, has widely been noted, so now Lanvin and Paul Smith will cement this with their own in house ranges for baby and up.

It’s a timely move as the luxury sector has seen hard times and have been maintaining figures through accessory sales. (Lanvin boasted 29% of accesory sales last year) It’s also a great way to revive a luxury brand, create a buzz and bring in a new consumer.

Fendi will next follow suit with a logo heavy range for tots; a carefully planned expansion by owner company LVMH, who have come through the recession in profit, largely due to detailed merchandising and avoiding discounting on top tier goods.

With back to school approaching, Paul Smith already has pieces available on his ecommerce site. Nor is this just some luxury fad, lower level designers, such as Milly will make items available downsized and will introduce an array of kids pieces.

"This is the perfect time to do this kind of thing," says Greg Furman, president of the Luxury Marketing Council, an organization of executives from major luxury goods and services companies. "There's a lot more resilience in the luxury market right now. ... I think luxury spending will continue to rebound."