Mulberry first-half sales climb 18% on full-price push

Mulberry grew group sales 18% year on year in the 26 weeks to 26 September 2026, the British leather goods maker reported. Revenue rose across every geographic region, a result the company credited to its continuing push away from discounting and towards full-price selling.

The handbag and accessories house recorded like-for-like growth in its key markets and a rise in wholesale revenue. Trading was carried by demand for both new and established handbag collections, the company said, as it pressed on with its Back to the Mulberry Spirit strategy.

A central part of that programme is cutting reliance on markdowns. Mulberry trimmed the proportion of sales generated through promotion by 300 basis points over the half, and it expects the shift to rebuild gross margins while lifting the share of revenue made at full price.

The United States recorded particularly notable sales growth, helped by digital trading and the launch of Mulberry products through Bloomingdale's Marketplace. European operations also grew, and Asia Pacific achieved like-for-like expansion, giving the company growth in all three of its main regions.

Wholesale and third-party distribution broadened during the period and now account for 17% of group sales. Mulberry is developing those channels deliberately, using them to widen its distribution across selected international markets without bearing the full cost of its own stores.

The company sells through its own retail stores, digital platforms, wholesale relationships and franchise partners. Its best-known products remain the Bayswater and Lily handbag collections, the ranges around which much of the new full-price demand has built.

Brand visibility rose too, the company said, following its Mulberry by Christopher Kane runway presentation at London Fashion Week. The show placed the label back in front of buyers and editors at a moment when its strategy depends on convincing shoppers to accept prices without a discount.

The medium-term targets

Mulberry continues to target annual revenue above £200 million and an adjusted EBIT margin of 15% over the medium term. Those objectives are part of a wider plan to restore profitability through higher full-price sales, better gross margins and a larger international distribution network.

The brand has long been defined by leather craftsmanship. Founded in 1971 as a British maker of quality leather goods, it built its name on handbags and accessories, and it positions sustainability alongside that heritage as a core part of its offer.

The full-price discipline is the engine of the turnaround. By holding the line on promotions, Mulberry is effectively betting that its heritage and its product ranges can command the price on their own, and the 18% sales rise suggests the bet is paying.

The company said it enters the second half against what it called a challenging macroeconomic environment. It named the upcoming product pipeline, its customer engagement work and the continued emphasis on full-price selling as its priorities for the remainder of the financial year.

What the strategy is rebuilding

The strategy is aimed squarely at gross margin.

Product development also carries the plan. Mulberry is building new collections while maintaining its established handbag ranges, balancing novelty that drives traffic against the Bayswater and Lily families that give the brand its identity and its repeat purchase.

Distribution partnerships supply the third leg. The Bloomingdale's Marketplace launch in the United States extends reach into a well-capitalised retailer without the fixed cost of a store network, and the company has said it will keep expanding selected retail partnerships.

We have profiled Mulberry as a British luxury house best known for leather handbags, and these results are the clearest evidence yet that its full-price overhaul is taking hold in the trading numbers rather than merely in the narrative.

The United States is where that matters most. Digital trading and the marketplace launch delivered the fastest growth in the half, and the region now looks like the sharpest test of whether the brand can scale full-price selling outside its home market.

The second half arrives without the promotional crutch the company has been weaning itself from. Management's own list of priorities, the pipeline, engagement and full-price discipline, points to a quieter, steadier rebuild than the topline jump alone suggests.

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Image: Mulberry