Luxury houses chase AI wealth with U.S. store openings and runway shows

Europe’s luxury houses are leaning harder into America, chasing the spenders minted by the AI and tech boom with more U.S. store openings, cruise shows and louder brand theatre. The move is a telling one: after two years of contraction, the sector was showing signs of stabilisation before the Iran war began at the end of February 2026 and jolted travel and spending well beyond the Middle East.

China, once the engine of luxury growth, is still hampered by deflation and the lingering drag of a property crisis. That has made wealthy Americans more valuable than ever. Marcus Morris-Eyton, a portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein, said the U.S. high-end consumer has been more resilient than shoppers in Europe and elsewhere, helped by the continued AI rally and healthy wage growth. For brands built on old-world codes, the question is no longer whether America matters, but how far they can reshape the presentation of luxury for a new class of buyers without sanding off the polish that made the houses desirable in the first place.

The store data shows how quickly the balance has shifted. Savills said North America accounted for 27% of global luxury store openings in 2025, the first time it has ranked first since the firm began tracking openings in 2016. Europe followed at 26% and China at 19%, while global luxury store openings fell to their lowest level since 2020. Savills also said the U.S. re-emerged as the leading destination for new luxury store openings, capturing 26% of global openings, with fewer luxury stores relative to its population of super-rich consumers than China, leaving room for further expansion.

The response has been visible on the ground and on the runway. Dior and Gucci showed cruise collections in the U.S. in May 2026, and Zegna was set to present its Summer 2027 collection in Los Angeles on Friday, June 12, 2026. LVMH, Moncler and Gucci have all moved quickly to meet the moment, using America’s wealth hubs, especially New York and Los Angeles, as stages for brand statements as much as sales. The store opening is no longer just a store opening; it is a signal to a newly powerful clientele that the house sees them.

The wider backdrop remains cautious. McKinsey’s State of Fashion 2026 found 46% of executives expected conditions to worsen in 2026, with tariffs cited as the top hurdle, while Deloitte’s luxury outlook pointed to a sharper focus on value over volume, customer experience, loyalty and more theatrical flagships. That mix explains the new formula: fewer, better-located doors, more event-driven storytelling, and a calculated effort to translate inherited prestige for tech wealth without making old-money clients feel the velvet rope has gone soft.