The Luxury Game Just Changed (And Most Suit Sellers Don't Even Know It)

At Sartorial Digital, we've spent the last decade—and frankly, a small fortune—figuring out what actually works for tailors and suit retailers in today's market. Not what we think works. Not what worked five years ago. What works right now.

We get our intel from some pretty serious places. One of them being the LVMH accreditation program, where CMOs, CAOs, and CFOs from multi-billion dollar luxury companies share their insights, predictions and what's really happening behind closed doors.

In this article, we want to share some of the most noteworthy moments that caught our attention this year, insights we believe are crucial for our clients to understand as they adjust to rapidly changing market dynamics.

The Fundamental Shift: When Exclusivity Stops Being Enough

One key takeaway from the training showed us an overall sentiment that the dynamics of pricing and consumer perception are changing dramatically.

For decades, the luxury playbook was simple: Keep your prices high, act exclusive, and watch people throw money at you just to be a part of the club.

This wasn't primarily about the product itself, but rather about the exclusivity it provided: the lifestyle one could associate with by owning these products. Essentially, customers were buying membership into an exclusive club, signaling their status and authority.

However, in recent years, and continuing into the near future, this trend is being fundamentally challenged. Consumers across all price ranges, including the highest-spending segments, are becoming more discerning, critical, and skeptical.

They're asking harder questions about the value they're receiving: Are they getting genuine worth from owning the product, or are they simply overpaying for the sake of showing off or paying for a brand name?

Let's examine the key reasons behind this shift, based on data gathered by LVMH experts.

Reason #1: The Information Revolution Has Created Smarter Consumers

Consumer awareness about products is evolving at an amazing pace. Compared to just a decade ago, today's consumers have access to massive amounts of information: reviews, blog articles, specialized websites, YouTube videos, influencer opinions, forums, and comparison platforms.

The modern consumer (and the surrounding environment that judges his/her choice) is exceptionally well-informed and significantly more likely to scrutinize the price tag of a luxury item, carefully assessing whether the cost is justified by the quality and experience they'll receive.

Reason #2: The Pivot from Status to Value

The majority of luxury customers are shifting their spending habits from status purchases toward value purchases. There's a growing emphasis on genuine value rather than mere status signaling.

They're looking at their purchases and asking: "Will this actually improve my life, or am I just showing off?"

Consumers are prioritizing products that offer sustainability, durability, and practical

benefits over those that only signal financial wealth.

Look at the car market. The high-end spending is shifting- smart money isn't buying the flashiest ride anymore, they're buying the one that holds its value.

At the Monaco yacht show, now on most flyers, you will spot fuel consumption as one of the main selling points at the top of the page...

The same thing's happening in your sartorial world.

Reason #3: The Rise of Experiential Luxury

What the industry calls "experiential luxury" represents another crucial shift. Customers across all price ranges now value experiences over possessions. The uniqueness and memorability of an experience often become a more relevant decision-making factor than the properties of the material possession in question.

Which brings me to something we've discovered that's working like crazy for our clients...

Instead of talking about thread counts and fabric origins, we're teaching them to promote the experience of getting a custom suit. The consultation process. The relationship. The transformation.

Because here's what we've learned: People forget what you sold them, but they never forget how you made them feel.

Reason #4: Even Rich People Are Getting Careful

Look, I know it sounds crazy, but even your wealthiest customers are thinking twice about their spending.

Not because they can't afford it but because they're smarter about it.

They want to know they're making good decisions. They want to feel in control.

How We're Helping Our Clients to Adapt (And How You Should Too):

Stop hiding your prices like you're running some kind of secret society.

I get it. The whole "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" thing feels sophisticated. It strokes the ego of both parties. Makes everyone feel exclusive.

But it's costing you money. Serious money.

Here's what's actually happening: The people who can easily afford your suits? They don't care about your prices anyway. But there's a growing segment of affluent customers who align with all the trends LVMH has outlined, and they want to know what they're getting into before they commit to a meeting instead of going in blind.

When you hide your pricing, you're not creating exclusivity—you're creating anxiety.

Our clients who put their pricing ranges on their websites? They're booking more appointments per 100 page visitors than those who don't. Period.

And here's the beautiful part: Those customers still spend more when you show them the value of upgrades. Knowing the starting price doesn't stop them from investing in better fabrics or construction; it just makes them feel smart about the decision.

If your goal in 2026 is to have more revenue, do this.

Pivot from selling to educating in your content

Move your marketing and positioning away from the product itself. Stop focusing solely on specific fabrics, pricing, construction details, and traditional sales angles.

Instead, shift toward educating potential customers about the process of getting a custom suit and how this experience is superior to buying something off the rack.

It's becoming increasingly important to promote the actual buying experience over the product itself. This means educating customers about:

How the initial meeting unfolds

What gets discussed during consultations

How do you determine the best combination of variables for each specific client

How fitting meetings work

The value of the one-on-one relationship between tailor and client

From tests we're running, this approach yields a higher return on marketing investment and generates more appointments.

What winning suit businesses are doing

They're transparent. No games, no hidden agendas. They tell you exactly what you're getting and why it's worth it.

They educate instead of selling. They're not pushing suits—they're teaching the value of proper fit, quality construction, and the experience of working with a true craftsman.

They make it about the journey, not the destination. Getting a custom suit becomes an experience worth talking about, not just a transaction.

Think about it like this: When someone buys a wedding dress, they're not just buying fabric. They're buying the experience, the memories, the story they'll tell for years.

That's what your customers want from you.

The Bottom Line

The luxury market isn't disappearing, it's evolving. And the businesses that evolve with it are going to dominate the next decade.

The ones that don't? Well, let's just say there are a lot of empty storefronts that used to house "exclusive" businesses, and a lot of Google Map listings of high-end suit stores that

i saw were open just a year ago, but now show "Permanently closed"

Value, experience, authenticity, transparency: they're the new pillars of luxury. And if you're not building on these foundations, you're building on sand.

The era of wealth signaling and reckless spending is ending. It's not being replaced by cheapness or price shopping; it's evolving into value-conscious consumption, where the real flex is demonstrating that you know how to extract maximum value from your investments.

Ready to Adapt Your Business to These Market Changes?

I could keep writing, and you could keep reading about the suit industry and appointment generation all day, but at some point, you need to take action.

If you're ready to adapt your positioning, messaging, and marketing to actually benefit from these market changes instead of fighting them, we'd love to help.

Schedule a free discovery call with us to discover how we can help you implement these insights and transform your suit business's growth and profitability.

Schedule a discovery call here:

https://calendly.com/sartorialdigital/discovery-call

To your success,

Andris