Beyond Tradition: How Luxury Brands Must Evolve to Win Over New Generations

Camille Oudinot
4 min readSep 30, 2024

In today’s rapidly shifting luxury market, heritage is no longer enough. While legacy brands have built their empires on centuries of prestige, craftsmanship, and exclusivity, new generations of consumers – Millennials and Gen Z – are seeking more than just tradition. These customers aren’t swayed by the fact that their parents or grandparents wore the same label. For luxury brands to remain relevant, they must shift their strategies and rethink their approach, evolving beyond heritage to embrace new values, technology, and experiences. Here’s how they can do that.

Breaking Away from Heritage as a Selling Point

For decades, luxury brands have relied on the power of legacy. Generational loyalty was almost guaranteed, as families passed down their affinity for brands from one generation to the next. But that no longer holds true. Millennials and Gen Z aren’t tethered to the past. Instead, they’re defining their identities through a desire for individuality and a break from tradition.

Brands need to stop assuming that their rich history will guarantee future success. To win over today’s consumers, it’s essential to treat them as new customers. Understanding their desires and values – like inclusivity, innovation, and a sense of purpose – will be far more effective than…

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