3,250 yuan for a hairpin, 4,750 yuan for a glasses rope, 42,200 yuan for a sequined underwear...... These ridiculously expensive and impractical products are all from the luxury brand Miu Miu. Some netizens joked, "Can you become an immortal if you wear it?" and some netizens asked: "How many carats is this clip?" The customer service replied: The material is patent leather.
The launch of high-priced "leftovers" is not uncommon in the luxury industry, and Tiffany & Co., which specializes in jewelry, has launched a metal straw worth more than 2,500 yuan. But this is mostly understood as a gimmick, and it is unknown how many people buy it. And the hairpins launched by Miu Miu with a unit price of thousands of yuan are really hot, and even sold out of stock.
On the Miu Miu Tmall flagship store, the 9 colors of the sheepskin hairpin with a unit price of 3250 yuan are all "out of stock", and the patent leather material has a total of 12 colors, and only black and red are in stock. As for when it will be available, the staff of Miu Miu's Tmall flagship store said: "At present, we have not received any replenishment information. ”
Miu Miu's sheepskin hairpins priced at 3,250 yuan are all "out of stock" Source: Miu Miu Tmall flagship store
The "crazy" Miu Miu boosted the parent company's performance. According to the financial report for the first quarter of 2024, Prada (01913.HK, share price of HK$63.8, market value HK$163.3 billion), the parent company of Miu Miu, showed that the net revenue of Prada Group was about 1.187 billion euros, an increase of 16.5% over the same period in 2023, :P net retail sales of the rada brand increased by 7%, and the net retail sales of Miu Miu increased by up to 89%.
Miu Miu, which was originally a diffusion brand of the Prada Group, has now achieved growth momentum that has made first-tier luxury brands such as LV and Gucci jealous. Who is buying Miu Miu? Is this "rocket" performance just a flash in the pan?
Sales soared 89% in the first quarter
In 2024, the world's biggest luxury brands seem to be cooling. In the first quarter of this year, the performance of LVMH, the parent company of LVMH, and Kering, the parent company of Gucci, both declined, but Miu Miu, a smaller brand in the fashion circle, bucked the trend and boosted the performance growth of the parent company Prada Group.
On April 25, Prada Group disclosed its financial results for the first quarter of 2024. According to the financial report, in the three months ended March 31, the Prada Group's operating income increased by 16.5% year-on-year (at constant exchange rates, the same below) to 1.187 billion euros, exceeding market expectations. Prada, the main brand, saw sales increase by 7% year-on-year to 826 million euros, while Miu Miu sales increased by 89% to 233 million euros.
Image source: Screenshot of Prada Group's financial report
The reporter noted that the Asia-Pacific region, including the Chinese market, is a major contributor to Prada Group's revenue. In the first quarter of the year, sales in the Asia-Pacific region increased by 16 percent year-on-year to 376 million euros, making it the largest market for the Prada Group, accounting for 37 percent of sales, Europe with 259 million euros, up 18 percent year-on-year, the Americas with sales of 181 million euros, up 5 percent year-on-year, and Japan with the fastest growth rate with sales up 46 percent to 145 million euros.
As the most outstanding segment of the Prada Group, Miu Miu's sales soared by 89% year-on-year, making luxury brands such as LV and Gucci jealous.
In the first quarter of this year, LVMH's sales fell 2% year-on-year to 20.7 billion euros, of which the revenue of LV and Dior's fashion and leather goods division fell 2% to 10.49 billion euros, the worst performance in nearly two years. In terms of sales regions, sales revenue in Asia (excluding Japan) decreased by 6% year-on-year, and its contribution to LVMH sales decreased from 36% to 33%. Kering's revenue in the first quarter of this year fell 10% (on a comparable basis) to 4.5 billion euros, of which Gucci's revenue fell 18% year-on-year to 2.1 billion euros, and the brand's sales in the Asia-Pacific region fell 28% year-on-year.
Image source: Screenshot of Kering's financial report
Compared with LVMH Group and Kering, Hermès, another luxury group, achieved positive growth in the first quarter of this year, with revenue of 3.805 billion euros during the period, a year-on-year increase of 17% at constant exchange rates. However, this growth rate is also "not as fast" as Miu Miu.
"While everyone [and other luxury goods] are all the same, the maverick Miu Miu has become a beneficiary of many brands in the market. When talking about the growth rate of Miu Miu exceeding that of other luxury brands, Zhou Ting, an expert in the luxury industry, pointed out to reporters that especially when Miu Miu's specific benchmark products have determined the image of "expensive" in the minds of consumers, its brand status has been rapidly improved, and sales have naturally risen.
However, although Miu Miu's sales in the first quarter of this year increased by 89% year-on-year, its volume of about 200 million euros is still far from that of first-line luxury brands such as Hermès and Gucci, which are billions of euros.
The underwear of 42,200 yuan became popular all over the Internet
The 3,250 yuan hairpin was grabbed and out of stock
Unlike luxury brands that often flaunt century-old stores, Miu Miu, a "post-90s" generation, is actually a very young brand. It was born in Milan, Italy in 1993, and its name is taken from the nickname Miu Miu, the third generation of the Prada Group, Miuccia Prada.
If Prada is the heir's serious business, Miu Miu is her creative backyard for her waywardness. Unlike its sister brand Prada, which advocates classic and minimalist designs, Miu Miu tends to be lively, colourful and avant-garde. Targeting young women, it specializes in women's ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, eyewear, fragrances and accessories.
Miu Miu 3250 yuan for a hairpin Image source: Miu Miu official website
Although the brand is young, the Miu Miu price is not cheap. The reporter compared and found that some of Miu Miu's popular small things, such as hairpins, glasses ropes, etc., are priced as high as thousands of yuan, which is close to LV and other first-line brands. For example, many short video bloggers are wearing a Miu Miu hairpin, and some people even aim to "collect multiple colors", and the price of its patent leather and sheepskin hairpin reaches 3250 yuan per piece, and a pair of plexiglas and metal hairpins can also be as high as 5400 yuan. The LV "Louisa" hairpin set, the price of three is 3,700 yuan.
In fact, such an expensive card is not something that you can buy if you want to. On the Miu Miu Tmall flagship store, 9 colors of hairpins made of sheepskin are "out of stock", and there are 12 colors of patent leather, only black and red are in stock. Regarding the out-of-stock products, the staff of the Miu Miu Tmall flagship store said: "We have not received the replenishment information at this time. The clerk immediately recommended a pair of resin hairpins for 5,400 yuan, of which the three colors of blue, pink, and gray-green were also sold out and out of stock.
The reporter also questioned the clerk of Miu Miu's physical store as a consumer. The clerk who received the reporter said that the color of the hairpins in stock at the store is also very limited, and said that consumers who like Miu Miu "don't like mature things very much."
Not only is a small hairpin sold for 3,250 yuan, Miu Miu's glasses rope is priced at 4,750 yuan per piece, and a "embroidered silk and wool underwear" is sold for as much as 42,200 yuan, which has also aroused heated discussions on the whole network. Yang Mi, Zhao Jinmai, Dong Jie and many other female stars have been publicly crossed, among which Zhao Jinmai is also the brand ambassador of Miu Miu.
Image source: "ELLE" official Weibo
"Those who wear Chanel are not necessarily rich, but those who wear Miu Miu are certainly not bad for money!" Now, Miu Miu seems to be grabbing the minds of young consumers with a "high-end" appearance.
"Miu Miu's ultra-high price strategy on individual categories and products has successfully attracted attention, generated traffic and improved brand image. In this regard, Zhou Ting analyzed to reporters that there are two core labels for consumers to evaluate a brand. "One is the product label, what is sold, and the other is the price tag, what price is sold. The price tag is the most important indicator of what level a brand is at. ”
Miu Miu's glasses rope is 4750 yuan Image source: Miu Miu's official website
Originally just a diffusion brand of the Prada Group, why did Miu Miu become an important brand?"The market is changing, and whoever can adapt to the trend and grasp the future will be the leader. In the context of consumption diversification and personalization, there is already room for new brands to counterattack and old brands to rejuvenate, and it depends on who can seize the opportunities in market changes. In Zhou Ting's view, Miu Miu is a beneficiary of the current trend of younger and more high-end consumption.
"It's unreasonably expensive, and it doesn't retain its value"
Will it continue to grow wildly or will it be a flash in the pan?
On social platforms, Miu Miu's popularity is not just the brand itself, but has evolved into a style of dressing. For example, incorporate swimwear designs into everyday wear, with ballet shoes paired with white stockings, gray knits and ultra-low-waisted pleated skirts...... In order to describe this mix and match of dressing that is both girly and quirky and rebellious, a new word was born in the fashion industry - "Miu in Miu".
From the point of view of luxury, Miu Miu's single products are recognized as "unreasonably expensive", others either use ruthless materials to spend heavy work, or use design quality to impress people, Miu Miu can easily sell an inconspicuous single item for tens of thousands of yuan, and it does not retain its value. This kind of relaxed and willful consumption method is linked to the label of "rebellious" rich daughters, so much so that some netizens jokingly said, "Miu Miu is a famous product of rich daughters".
The Hobo small handbag priced at 19,990 yuan is also a popular product of Miu Miu, and many colors are out of stock Source: Miu Miu Tmall flagship store
Zhou Ting believes that Miu Miu's successful breakthrough mainly depends on two points, on the one hand, it relies on youthful products for young people, and on the other hand, it relies on excellent event marketing planning. The former is the foundation, and the latter helps the brand image to improve rapidly.
In China, Miu Miu cooperated with actress Wu Yanshu, who is over 80 years old, and Aunt Qin, a 71-year-old retired doctor, and was warmly praised by netizens. Aunt Qin welcomed a new life after retirement, learned how to run a personal social platform, and shared her outfits and life details, which attracted more and more people's attention. This positive attitude towards life and love of fashion is sublimated into a celebration of the spirit of freedom, uniqueness and the lack of limits in life, which brings a positive image and influence to the brand. Zhou Ting said.
In Prada's April 25 earnings call, an analyst asked how to ensure that Miu Miu develops into a brand with real stability and not a flash in the pan. ”
Andrea Guerra, CEO of the Prada Group, admits that it is clear that Miu Miu's future growth at this high pace is unrealistic. But on the other hand, Miu Miu wants to get a proper position in the industry, which he sees as a reasonable goal.
As for the key to Miu Miu's future growth, Prada Group executives responded on the earnings call that they will increase investment, focusing on the number and area of offline stores, so that Miu Miu has the right space. At the moment, he said, the increase in Miu Miu store space is negligible. "In the future, we will increase the store space for Miu Miu and open a net 10-15 stores. ”
Image source: Prada Annual Report 2023
In Zhou Ting's view, Miu Miu will still not be bad next. "After all, Miu Miu is small, so there is still room for growth, and if there are better innovative products to launch and better event marketing strategies, Miu Miu still has a lot of room to grow. ”
Source: National Business Daily, Red Star News
Editor: Xiao Yan
Intern Editor: Chen Xuan