Luxury Fashion is a desirable asset for many, yet obtainable only for the few. How do you differentiate between those who actually buy Luxury Fashion vs those who aspire to?
According to Research and Market’s Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028, the global luxury fashion market was estimated to be valued at $280.92 Billion in 2022 with predicted growth in 2024 to sit between 2%-4%. This is after the substantial growth of 5%-7% seen in 2023 (McKinsey & Company).
The global fashion industry in its entirety is valued at $1.7 trillion as of 2023 (Zippa).
This valuable vertical is omnipresent within our day to day lives and this consistent growth shows that fashion lovers will always engage with the latest trends, finding brands that resonate with their tastes and most importantly their budgets.
When considering a Luxury Fashion audience, we believe that there are two types of people that sit within the overarching segmentation; Those who regularly buy Luxury fashion items and those, with lower budgets, who mimic luxury fashion styles by buying from high street brands. The second of which we will refer to as Aspirational fashion lovers.
It is important to consider the differences between these two groups in order to market to them better.
Using Starcount data we have identified the standout elements of what makes these audiences tick, where they differ, where they overlap and most importantly how and where best to reach them.
Luxury fashion audience vs Aspirational fashion audience
Firstly, how do we identify those who actually buy Luxury Fashion vs those who aspire to?
Using Starcounts Open banking data we are able to identify buyers of premium fashion brands. This includes brand level, offline and online spend data on consumers who have spent their money with brands including Net-a-Porter, Louis Vuitton and Gucci. Once Luxury Fashion shoppers are identified we can then understand more about them.
According to our data, this audience have an average income of £70k, more likely to live in the South of England and have an average age of 35. Their favourite brands are Gucci, Net-a-Porter, Chanel and Prada.
Conversely, Aspirational Fashion audiences are younger with an average age of 30, their average salary is £57k per year and they are more evenly distributed across the UK with Manchester and Cardiff indexing highly for their residential locations. From a spend perspective top brands for this audience include Uniqlo, Sephora, Mango and Zara, which follow up to date fashion trends as seen in luxury fashion shows, but for a fraction of the price
We can also understand where else these fashion consumers spend their money outside of clothing, again enabling us to draw deeper insights into who they are and what they care about. Luxury fashion buyers also spend their money at private members clubs such as Soho House and have a high affinity with SpaceNK and Gails Bakery. Whereas, the aspirational fashion segment spends with Sephora and Starbucks.
Let’s dive deeper…
Now we have understood the audiences’ different spending behaviour, it is important to also consider what they care about to understand further why they make these purchasing decisions.
When we compare the Luxury fashion audience to the Aspirational audience we can already start to pull out some core differences. Starcount’s social media data allows us to profile these two groups and subsequently identify their top brands, influencers and media preferences.
The brands these two groups follow on social media mirror those they spend with. Luxury fashion buyers engage with brands they intend to buy products from such as Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co and Dior. Whereas the brands followed by the Aspiration fashion audience are high street brands such as Zara, Topshop and H&M.
However, interestingly these audiences overlap when it comes to the influencers they follow. High profile fashion influencers such as Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs and models such as Mirander Kerr all appear as top indexing accounts for both groups.
From a marketing channel perspective magazines are the audiences’ preference and due to the age range of both audiences we could infer they may be consuming this content online too. Within this channel, fashion magazines are predictably their first choice for content. Whilst there is additional crossover between the two groups when it comes to the titles the Luxury Fashion and Aspirational audiences engage with such as ELLE UK and Grazia there are also some significant differences.
Luxury Fashion buyers engage with fashion first magazines which showcase more of their preferred brands such as Vogue and Vanity Fair. Aspirational audiences prefer fashion magazines with an element of celebrity such as Glamour and Look.
Using social media data we can draw the conclusion that Luxury Fashion audiences are following the brands that they intend to buy from, they look for inspiration from key influencers and find their preferred items in high fashion magazines. They care about image and keeping informed of the next fashion trends which they then go on to buy. This differs when examining the Aspirational audience group. Their motivations behind following their key brands yet fashion influencers are to find styles that mimic high fashion but sit within their budget and whilst they use magazines as additional inspiration, aspirational audiences also want to read about their favourite celebrities.
Now we have identified who these audiences are and what they care about, where can we find them:
It is no surprise the luxury audience index heavily towards London, whilst in the case of the aspirational audience there are various regions that index highly aside from London such as Manchester and Cardiff.
In conclusion, Luxury Fashion buyers have the means to spend with the more premium brands and are not concerned about price. They care about new trends, brand exclusivity, and status. The Aspirational group are fashion lovers but are more restricted by budget, they still care about new trends but appreciate the balance of quality and price. This group wants to feel and look like luxury fashion buyers but not compromise on price.
Starcount specialise in segmenting customers based on actual behaviours to understand their motivations and buying potential. Our insights reveal where they spend their money, what they love and care about most and where best to find them.
How can you use this data:
Starcount data is available to use across your campaign journey. From insights, planning and omnichannel activation we are able to support you in the best ways to reach your fashion audiences whether they are Luxury Fashion buyers or aspiring to be one.
Build custom audiences | Discover insights about your audience | Activate
