LVMH Sales Drop as Customers Pull Back From Spending on Designer Goods

Sales of the luxury designer brand LVMH have dropped due to customers pulling back from spending on designer goods.

Bloomberg reports that LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate, saw sales trend downward due to sluggish demand for high-end goods from both China and the United States. The stock fell as much as 8.4% in Paris trading on April 14.

LVMH, owner of the Louis Vuitton brand, sells an expanded line of luxury goods, from clothing and jewelry to champagne. However, the market for these high-end goods continues to struggle as shoppers appear to have cut back on expensive purchases.

Bloomberg states, “The industry’s outlook has grown even gloomier since US President Donald Trump this month placed 10% tariffs on imports from the European Union, while pausing plans for a 20% levy for 90 days. Uncertainty around tariffs has put the group in ‘unknown territory,’ Chief Financial Officer Cecile Cabanis said on a conference call after the results.”

LVMH sales fell at the start of the year as wealthy shoppers reined in purchases of pricey handbags https://t.co/5XttTFLXjo

— Bloomberg (@business) April 14, 2025

NBC News reports that LVMH is the first major European luxury firm to report first-quarter earnings since Trump announced, and subsequently delayed, reciprocal tariffs on its global trading partners.

The news organization shared remarks by LVMH CFO Cabanis in a call, telling analysts the group had not seen a “major change in trend” in the first quarter. However, it has continued to see solid growth in the past six months.

“It’s true that aspirational clientele is always more vulnerable in less positive economic cycles and uncertainties, and it might have had some impact in the recent weeks, but rather on categories like wines and spirits and beauty,” Cabanis said.

LVMH Is Considering More Manufacturing in the US After Trump’s Tariff Threats

According to Business Insider, Cabanis discussed the company’s consideration of shifting manufacturing to the United States in response to tariff threats made by Donald Trump. She claimed there is “still capacity” to move production of Louis Vuitton products to the U.S.

Currently, Louis Vuitton has three manufacturing plants in the U.S.: one in Johnson County, Texas, and two in California (San Dimas and Irwindale).

“It’s with some constraints in terms of recruiting, training, having the right level of experience and expertise,” Cabanis explained. “We are not today contemplating to change radically, but this is what we could do. “

This is the second time it has been rumored that LVMH would shift some of the production of its high-end designer goods to the United States. On Jan. 31, 2025, LVMH’s CEO, Bernard Arnault, reportedly suggested the idea during an earnings call.

Arnault later backtracked on his statement. He took to X to elaborate further on his remarks.

He began, “Of course, I never said that we were going to relocate the LVMH group. This statement is false.”

Arnault added, “The LVMH group is proud to directly and indirectly employ nearly 200,000 people in France and to be the leading private recruiter in France year after year. It is precisely because I love France and want our country to continue to remain competitive that I wanted to warn against measures that seem to me to be counterproductive in every way. What I said is that the tax measures being considered are an incentive for offshoring since they tax products made in France but not offshoring French companies.”