ble than the luxury items they model themselves after, which has led to a surge of their popularity in the retail market.  As Melissa Minkow, CI&T’s global director of retail strategy, told Inside Retail, “This is definitely the right economy for dupes to thrive. As we teeter on a recession and consumers look every which way to cut costs while still being inspired, there’s a prevailing desire to be on trend without the big ticket price tags.”  Data has proven that dupes have become especially popular with younger consumers.  As a 2024 study from market research firm Emarketer revealed, Gen Z shoppers are the most frequent purchasers of dupe-style products at 71 per cent, with millennial shoppers following closely behind at 67 per cent. But why exactly are younger consumers going for dupes as opposed to legacy or emerging brands?  Let’s rewind a little.  What happened to luxury retail’s shine? It’s no secret that the luxury retail sector has struggled to capture consumers’ attention in recent years.  According to a 2024 report released by global management consulting firm Bain & Company, the value of the luxury market dropped 2 per cent from an all-time high of US$387 billion to US$381 billion last year. With the impact of incoming tariffs and increasing consumer concerns around the cost of living, the luxury retail market will likely find it even harder to attract cost-conscious consumers and those within the millennial and Gen Z demographics through 2025.  However, these two factors aren’t the reason the shine is coming off luxury retail, as Marie Driscoll, a chartered financial analyst and a professor at Parsons, The New School and the Fashion Institute of Technology, noted at the recent Shoptalk Spring conference. Here are some of the other challenges facing luxury retailers, according to Driscoll’s panel discussion at Shoptalk. The normalization and rise of the “masstige” retail category Since the 1960s and 70s, brands like Ralph Lauren and Victoria’s Secret have introduced a growing number of consumers to the “masstige”* retail category.  While products from brands like Ralph Lauren or Cos, a more upmarket brand under the H&M Group umbrella, may still be expensive to the lower to middle-range consumer, they are still more accessible than legacy luxury brands, such as Yves Saint Laurent, and are marketed with a more premium edge than ultra-fast fashion retailers, like Shein or Temu.  During a Shoptalk panel discussion with Driscoll, Katie Reeves, Cos managing director for North America, revealed how the brand often gives consumers the premium items they are seeking at a more accessible price.  Speaking about a leather blazer she was wearing on stage, Reeves said, “For example, the leather blazer retails for US$600, while a similar version of it is retailing at Yves Saint Laurent for approximately US$6000. The customer doesn’t justify spending US$6000 for something that they can get for US$600 anymore.”  Reeves also pointed to another popular Cos dupe, a US$400 suede bowling bag, which resembles the design of The Row’s Soft Margaux bag, which retails for about US$5000 and sold out within hours of its online release. While consumers still often enjoy the look of premium products, they don’t like the cost that is associated with it, which has led to… A growing cognitive dissonance between the price and “value” of luxury goods  Thanks to rising supply-chain costs and an often-misguided attempt to equate luxury with price, the prices of many luxury goods items, such as leather handbags, have been skyrocketing in recent years.  Research conducted by the financial services institution HSBC confirmed that the average price of personal luxury goods has increased by 52 per cent in Europe since 2019, with similar price hikes across the globe. However, as several fashion critics and watch blogs, such as Diet Prada, have observed, the higher prices of these luxury goods don’t equate to higher quality. In fact, many consumers and fashion critics have noticed a diminishment in the quality of these items, which has partially led to a heightened interest in the luxury resale market.  As Driscoll pointed out during her Shoptalk panel, many younger consumers have simply become disillusioned by the idea that luxury goods equal quality after exposés, such as the Wall Street Journal’s recent report revealing that Christian Dior’s US$2816 handbags cost just US$57 to make in an Italian sweatshop.  Instead, the financial analyst observed, younger shoppers are choosing to spend their money on experiences, such as dining out or traveling abroad, than they are on high-priced physical goods. We see “consumers going from a passion shoppers to logic shoppers. You can spend US$500 on a bag and still have US$5000 left for further discretionary purchases,” Driscoll commented.  Thanks to this combination of elements, consumers, especially internet-savvy Gen Zers, have become more open to purchasing dupes of high-end luxury goods versus scrimping and saving to get the real thing.   Dupe brands that are winning the retail game One notable example of a dupe brand excelling in the retail industry is Quince, a San Francisco-based direct-to-consumer fashion and lifestyle marketplace that sells ostensibly high-quality fashion and home goods, such as a US$50 Mongolian cashmere sweater, at comparably lower prices.  The brand operates on a manufacturer-to-consumer (M2C) retail model, in which factories produce inventory on demand and ship their goods directly to consumers’ doorsteps, essentially cutting out the middleman. The aforementioned cardigan, lauded by editors from publications like Oprah Daily and Rolling Stone, is an example of one of Quince’s best-selling items and exhibits consumers’ interest in a product that appears to be high quality, Mongolian cashmere, for a reasonable price, approximately US$50.  Since the brand’s inception in 2018, Quinn’s revenues have more than doubled, from US$140 million in 2022 to US$340.3 million in 2024. Another case study, or several, of duping done right can be seen with fragrance brands like Dossier and beauty incubator Maesa’s Fine’ry.  The fragrance industry has noticed growing interest from younger consumers, largely fueled by social media channels like TikTok, who desire higher-end fragrance products from brands like Le Labo but not the price tag.  This is where brands like Dossier, which describes itself as being “inspired by” luxury fragrances, and Fine’ry come into play. Instead of paying US$235 for a bottle of Le Labo’s iconic Santal 33, customers can pay a more manageable US$40 for a bottle of Dossier’s Woody Sandal. Alternatively, fragrance-lovers can buy Finer’y’s The New Rouge for a more affordable US$29.99 versus Baccarat’s Rouge 540 for US$335. However, what are the details that separate the brands that “dupe right”, like Cos or Dossier, from those that leave the customer less than impressed, like Temu? Strategies brands can integrate to “dupe right” As Minkow explained to Inside Retail, “Brands that are ‘duping correctly’ are the ones not compromising on style, nor quality. Consumers are simply too savvy to be sold something that will fall apart or is made with unsafe materials just to be on trend.” While it may be a bit questionable for Dossier to take such direct “inspiration” from brands like Le Labo or Chanel, there is no question that these dupe fragrance brands are infinitely safer than counterfeit fragrances that can be found in areas like New York City’s Canal Street.  From a marketing perspective, Minkow also noted that it is important for brands to send the correct signals through imagery and tone. This means being fully immersed in the target customer’s world and creating content that speaks to their aspirations and lifestyle. While these fragrance or fashion retailers may take inspiration from luxury houses, their social media pages or editorial campaigns clearly show that they have built their own distinct brand image, complete with unique marketing activations, such as Dossier’s 2024 New York pop-up store. “Having a distinct, recognizable voice is important in order to establish credibility and to ensure brands aren’t merely posing as less expensive versions of the brands they’re duping,” Minkow emphasized.  It’s evident that consumers’ interest in dupes won’t be going away anytime soon; however, it’s even more apparent that it will take more than just a pretty price tag to stand out in this competitive and growing retail market.