Zegna outpaces Moncler as luxury's recovery splits along DTC and tourism lines
Second-quarter results from the two groups show how exposure to tourism spend, winter categories and direct-to-consumer momentum is now separating winners from laggards in luxury.
Ermenegildo Zegna Group and Moncler have delivered notably different second-quarter performances, according to an analysis by Glossy, illustrating how uneven the luxury recovery has become even among groups of similar scale. Zegna benefited from strong direct-to-consumer growth, a resilient base of high-spending clients and continued momentum in the United States. Moncler, by contrast, was held back by weaker tourism flows and delayed purchasing of winter-weight outerwear, the category on which its business still heavily depends.
The divergence points to a broader split opening up across the luxury sector. Brands with diversified category exposure and strong direct retail networks are proving more resilient to swings in tourist spending and shifting seasonal demand, while those leaning on a narrower product mix or heavier footfall from international travellers are more exposed when that spending softens. Moncler's reliance on outerwear timing makes it particularly sensitive to warm winters and delayed cold-weather buying, a pattern that has recurred in recent years.
Separately, new data from Traackr cited in the same report shows paid creator-marketing value for US luxury fashion brands fell by more than half in June, a signal that brands may be pulling back on influencer spend or that returns on that investment are declining. Taken together, the figures suggest luxury houses are recalibrating both where they sell and how they market, with tourism dependency and marketing efficiency both under scrutiny as growth becomes harder to find uniformly across the sector. Watch for how other groups reporting in the coming weeks frame their exposure to the same tourism and category dynamics.
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