Hermès keeps growing as Kering shows signs of a turnaround

Hermès reported first-half 2026 revenue of €8.2 billion, up 6% at constant exchange rates and 2% at current rates against the same period last year. Growth was broad-based across regions, with the Middle East the only exception. The result reinforces Hermès's position as the steadiest performer in hard luxury, a status built on tight supply of leather goods, pricing power and a customer base that has proved more resilient to the broader slowdown in aspirational luxury spending than almost any rival.

Kering, by contrast, is still working through a much harder recovery. The group returned to growth in the second quarter, with comparable sales up 2%, as the decline at Gucci, its largest and most troubled brand, showed signs of easing. The improvement comes under chief executive Luca de Meo, who joined Kering to lead a turnaround after several difficult years in which Gucci's creative and commercial repositioning under former designer Sabato De Sarno failed to reverse falling sales. De Meo has moved quickly on cost discipline and portfolio strategy since taking over.

The contrast between the two houses says as much about the shape of the luxury downturn as it does about either company individually. Hermès demonstrates that scarcity-driven, artisanal brands with limited exposure to logo-driven fashion cycles can keep growing even as the wider sector contracts. Kering's slower, harder climb back shows how much damage a prolonged identity crisis at a flagship brand can do to a conglomerate's overall numbers, and how long it can take to repair once momentum is lost.

What to watch: whether Kering's improvement extends into the second half, and whether Gucci's stabilisation reflects genuine demand recovery or easier year-on-year comparisons after a very weak prior period. For Hermès, the key question is whether Middle East softness is a temporary blip tied to regional disruption or the start of a broader emerging-market pattern.

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