Some time ago, Louis Vuitton announced that it will launch the brand's first baby collection in March. The collection includes not only jumpsuits, suits, pajamas, dresses and other clothing suitable for everyday and special occasions for babies, but also accessories such as knitted socks, hats, bibs, slippers, as well as cups, rattles, teddy bear toys and more. All products are available in softer and warmer shades of white, beige and grey, embellished with the LV logo, Meli-Melo motif, embroidered flowers and other details, mother-of-pearl buttons.
For luxury brands that have always served high-net-worth customers, this action undoubtedly reveals that the demand for children's clothing by the younger generation of parents has begun to move towards high-end, refined and diversified directions. And their next generation will also have a closer emotional connection with luxury goods due to the rapid development of the Internet and social media than the post-90s generation, that is, their parents. "The launch of the baby collection will strengthen the emotional bond between the brand and its customers, and dressing children in luxury brand clothing is less a symbol of values and status, but more out of emotional need." Louis Vuitton explains the motivation behind the brand's baby collection.
Coincidentally, OTB, an Italian luxury group including Diesel, Maison Margiela, Marni and Brave Kids, also announced not long ago that it will continue to increase the creation of luxury children's wear collections.
Among them, Brave Kids, which focuses on children's clothing products, achieved steady annual revenue growth and 25% profit growth in 2022. At the same time, Jil Sander, who only acquired OTB Group last year, is also adding new children's clothing and accessories collections.
According to Grand View Research, the global children's clothing market size was $185.68 billion in 2018, which grew to $197.2 billion in 2019, and the overall market is expected to exceed $280 billion in 2025. Among them, global high-end children's clothing accounts for about 18% of the children's wear market, and the market size has reached 35.5 billion US dollars in 2019.
From a regional point of view, the proportion of high-end children's clothing consumption in the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East will continue to increase, and will form a scale of about 59.5 billion US dollars in 2025.
Especially in the Chinese market, with the full liberalization of the two-child policy, the overall per capita consumption level has increased, the value of luxury brands has gradually been recognized, and China's high-end children's clothing market has also reached a new inflection point. According to the research of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, the market size of China's high-end children's wear has grown rapidly, with a year-on-year increase of 32.28% in 2018 and 24.4% in 2019, which is higher than the overall level of the children's wear market, and is constantly rising.
In addition, the change of values is one of the important factors to promote industrial change.
Different from the parents of the post-70s and post-80s, the young parents of the post-90s generation are a generation that grew up with the Internet, and Kochi's high education makes them have an open concept of consumption, and have a high self-awareness pursuit of product quality, professional performance, and fashion sustainability.
At the same time, they are also a key generation for luxury brands to nurture. As the main force of luxury brand consumption, the recognition of brand value also pushes them to buy brand products for their children that are equivalent to their own consumption aesthetic needs and can generate emotional bonds.
"Young parents with children don't want to sacrifice their aesthetic choices in order to buy clothes for their children." Renowned fashion designer Jeremy Scott notes: "They want their kids to look cool, like an extension of themselves. ”
Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group, also believes that today's parents have a stronger desire to communicate with their children and bond emotionally than older generations. "What used to be the generation gap is now a bond," says Marshal Cohen.
To some extent, the consumption of luxury children's clothing is considered a "necessity" in the post-90s parent group. As early as the beginning of 2016, Farfetch, a global fashion shopping platform, set up a special children's clothing department. Candice Fragis, Farfetch's director of purchasing and sales, once said: "We found that children's clothing has long been bought not just for practicality, but also as an accessory to adult clothing. ”
By all indications, starting with children is more than just empty words for marketing tactics. Today's children are tomorrow's customers. The links they build with them help brands explore future customers in advance, resulting in longer engagement cycles and stronger communication cycles.
And the connection they establish with the brand, whether in terms of time or loyalty, is a more long-term investment layout.
Needless to say, children's clothing is a "tempting cake" with great potential. However, although the short-term strategy can taste the "sweetness of dividends", it cannot capture the minds of consumers from a long-term perspective and obtain their absolute brand loyalty. Iterative operation is the key to the long-term survival of the brand.
On the other hand, the opening of a children's wear product line is also an effective measure for the brand to enrich its product matrix. Although compared with the ready-to-wear series, the children's clothing product branch is not the "main play" of the brand, but the renewal and expansion of children's clothing can not only activate the curiosity of old customers about the brand, but also cover and cultivate more potential users.
With the development of social media, as the descendants of the 90s generation of "Internet natives", their growth is inseparable from the penetration of the Internet and social media. They may open the door to social media earlier than their parents, become more independent and self-conscious, and establish their own social media accounts. In this way, it also greatly expands the communication efficiency of the brand itself.
Moreover, in an increasingly competitive and saturated luxury market, reducing the uniformity of the product matrix will help brands cope with unknown risks.
Demand and market are the most important factors for brands to develop strategic layout. Although the demand for children's wear consumption is growing in the Chinese market, the market share of high-end children's wear brands in the Chinese market is not yet saturated.
At the same time, luxury brands are also more segmented and functionally matched to the needs of target consumers and potential consumer groups. Taking Louis Vuitton's baby series as an example, in addition to children's clothing, accessories and toys have also been added to meet the parent-child consumption demands of different parents.
As is customary, Louis Vuitton also conveyed the brand's story and core values in the brand's first baby collection. In the campaign, Louis Vuitton once again referred to the brand's heritage: from the brand's toy salon on the Champs-Élysées in Paris in the 1930s to a recent advertising campaign on the theme of childhood.
It is worth mentioning that all products in this collection use organic cotton and certified leather. At the same time, the cashmere and sheep wool used in the collection come from partners who ensure animal welfare.
As environmental awareness gradually becomes a topic of public concern, the communication of environmental sustainability of products is also the key to bringing consumers closer. Especially for high-end children's clothing, safety is far above style.
Coincidentally, Dior, which has been deeply engaged in the field of children's clothing, also launched a pink-themed limited collection on the occasion of Children's Day last year; Burberry and Off-White have broken down the barriers between children's clothing and adult clothing, and improved adult clothing, which not only retains the consistent street trend genes of the product, but also adds a little innocence, which can better meet the demands of young parents for "parent-child clothing".
Thom Browne integrates the designer's dog into the design of children's clothing, continuing the use of uniform elements and designs to make children's clothing more loving, while also reflecting the brand's corporate image of humanistic care.
When brands become more accurate in understanding the needs of consumer groups, create more segmented product lines, and through innovative marketing techniques and brand culture elaboration, customers are not only consuming practical products, but in a sense, paying for the brand's core values, their own emotional resonance and lifestyle.
More importantly, such concept education and value popularization are expected to form a solid brand equity through iterative transmission. WWD
Written by Mango
Edited by Du Mingwei
Image source: Brand official and online