The luxury sector is weathering crosswinds at the moment: On the one hand, military conflict in the Middle East has sent high-earning consumers scattering from the region and purse strings tightening. On the other hand, the emergence of AI and weight-loss medication like GLP-1s means it’s never been so easy for consumers to shop for premium brands, and they have an emerging motivation to do so.
The latest Luxury Monitor from global consulting firm Bain & Co shows growth in the sector has dipped slightly (by -1%) year on year, with estimates for Q1 2026 coming in at -3% on a constant exchange rate.
That said, there are green shoots: A major driver of consumption is the use of GLP-1 weight-loss medications, the report authored by Claudia D’Arpizio and Federica Levato, senior partners at Bain & Co, says. The emergence of the trend “is a very central question, and the macro trend in consumption of so many categories within luxury and outside of luxury, from a sociological and anthropological perspective, is the most interesting topic right now,” Levato told Fortune.
In the soft luxury category, like apparel and footwear, “there is, of course, the enthusiasm of having lost weight and so there is a direct correlation with ‘Let’s buy a new wardrobe,’” Levato explains. “There is more enthusiasm for a shopping frenzy … and it’s directly related to higher consumer confidence.”
Levato isn’t talking about consumer confidence in the sense of a brighter economic outlook. Rather, she describes the “YOLO” (you only live once) sentiment among consumers, inspired at first by the end of the pandemic and, since then, new options for self-confidence courtesy of drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro.
For brands, this raises several questions. Levato suggests the key problem facing the luxury sector is how to broaden its client base, be it by generation, region, or income level. Another effect of widespread use of GLP-1s is that more people may fit the sometimes-limited sizing options offered by luxury brands, Levato says.
Luxury brands are shrinking their clothing size ranges
The luxury sector has long been criticized for not being inclusive (wealth barriers aside). In the era of weight loss drugs, representation for a range of body types appears to have regressed even further. The Vogue Business Fall/Winter 2026 Size Inclusivity Report, released in March, found that of the nearly 8,000 looks presented in the season, 97.6% were in so-called “straight sizes” of U.S. 0-4. The “mid-size” category (U.S. 6-12) had representation of 2.1%, while plus-sizes (U.S. 14+) were just 0.3%.
That’s down on last season, when mid-size looks made up 2% (which is roughly flat for the past three seasons), and plus-size looks made up 0.9%. As such, plus-size representation has dipped to the same level as FW25, the lowest level since Vogue Business began tracking size inclusivity three years ago.
Despite ethical considerations around inclusivity, GLP-1 use presents an opportunity for luxury brands, Levato points out.
Another consideration for the luxury sector is the emergence of affordable luxury brands, she highlights: “Brands in the last two or three years they have focused primarily on top 1% [of wealth] … they are not capitalizing on the value of the market where there is the vast majority.
“There is a huge wave of new potential customers, but it’s really in the hands of the brands to realize that this is coming or not, because if they keep increasing prices, they will cut out some part of the population. Other brands, and namely U.S.-based brands, are very good at doing this … being more accessible for sizes, but also for price points, and this remains in the minds and in the hearts of the consumers.”
Quality vs quantity
The GLP-1 factor also extends to luxury experiences. Levato signals that in restaurants, for example, diners are eating less but are shifting to higher-quality dining at the same time.
“Food brands are really doing smaller packages but with a higher intrinsic value of what they sell,” Levato highlights. “So I buy less, the price in the end is not moving, but not because the margin is higher for brands but because they put more quality into smaller portions.”
