Luxury Trio ‘Her-Lou-Cha’ Defies Downturn as Sales in Korea Near 5 Trillion Won

The so‐called "Her-Lou-Cha (a collective term for Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Chanel)," regarded as three of the world’s top luxury brands, generated nearly 5 trillion won in sales in Korea last year. While luxury companies saw their performance decline in major markets such as China due to a slump in consumption, luxury spending in Korea continued to grow on its own. Despite the economic downturn and repeated price hikes by luxury brands, a uniquely Korean consumer culture that values scarcity has been driving the steep growth of Her-Lou-Cha.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System (DART) on the 15th, the combined sales of Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Chanel’s Korean subsidiaries reached 4.992 trillion won last year. This represents a 9.5% increase from 4.5573 trillion won a year earlier.
Among Her-Lou-Cha, Hermès, considered an ultra‐high‐end luxury brand, recorded the most striking growth. Sales at Hermes Korea climbed 17% year-on-year to 1.1251 trillion won last year, up from 964.3 billion won. Chanel’s revenue rose 9% to 2.0126 trillion won, while Louis Vuitton posted a 6% increase to 1.8543 trillion won. As a result, Hermès and Chanel each ushered in the 1‐trillion‐won and 2‐trillion‐won sales eras in the Korean market last year. Compared with the negative or flat growth seen at major domestic fashion companies amid weakening consumer sentiment, these are exceptionally strong growth rates.
Her-Lou-Cha’s sales began to surge around the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hermès doubled its revenue in just three years, from 650.2 billion won in 2022 to its latest figure. Chanel Korea and Louis Vuitton Korea took about five and six years, respectively, for their sales to double. Combined sales of the three companies jumped from 2.3954 trillion won in 2020 to more than twice that amount in just five years.
The performance of luxury companies is closely tied to product price increases. Chanel’s signature Chanel Classic Medium Flap Bag rose from 15.57 million won early last year to 17.9 million won this year, an increase of nearly 15% in just one year. The price of this bag has soared to about 2.5 times its level in the late 2010s, when it was around 7 million won. Even amid such steep price hikes, robust demand for highly coveted luxury items continues to support sales.
unsaid@fnnews.com Kang Myung-yeon Reporter