Consumer brands

Consumer brands are splitting less on whether AI touches them and more on whether they already have a hold on the shopper that's hard to break. The winners here are almost all names with either genuine scarcity (Hermes, Chanel, Richemont's jewelry houses, Tiffany) or scale that competitors can't easily match (L'Oreal, Inditex, EssilorLuxottica, Titan, CJ Olive Young). These companies show almost no measurable customer loss. The losing group is dominated by mid-market apparel and mass beauty brands in China, Korea, and Japan that live or die by Douyin, Tmall, and department-store foot traffic, where a faster-moving rival can steal share in a single quarter: Proya losing ground to Mao Geping and Chicmax, Xtep and Li Ning getting squeezed by Anta, Pola Orbis losing to Shiseido and K-beauty. The one dynamic deciding outcomes is speed of digital execution combined with pricing power. Brands with real pricing power (luxury, dominant licenses like Jockey/Page Industries) can absorb channel shifts. Brands without it get out-executed on the same platform they depend on, and several already collapsed outright (Esprit, Metersbonwe, Eddie Bauer, Ami Colé). Consolidation is accelerating: strong players buy share from weak ones (Chow Tai Fook over Chow Sang Sang, Anta over Li-Ning-tier rivals), while distribution deals unwind fast (New Balance leaving E-Land).

Will Chinese sportswear brands like Li Ning and Xtep survive against Anta

Both are in a protection under test spot: Anta keeps growing at their expense, and Xtep is discounting 70-75% just to move inventory. Neither has collapsed, but neither has stopped the bleeding either.

Is luxury immune to the pressure hitting mass consumer brands

Mostly yes. Hermes, Chanel, Richemont, and Tiffany show almost no customer loss, largely because scarcity and heritage keep buyers loyal in a way mass fashion and beauty brands can't replicate.

Which Japanese beauty companies are losing share

Pola Orbis and Kose are both losing ground, mainly to Shiseido domestically and to Amorepacific and Chinese brands abroad, as their flagship lines post declining sales.

What happened to Eddie Bauer and Esprit

Both are now defunct. Eddie Bauer closed its 174 stores by April 2026 with outdoor rivals like L.L.Bean and Patagonia absorbing its customers, while Esprit's retail arms collapsed years earlier under pressure from Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo.

Why is Proya losing share on the same platform it built its business on

Proya built its business on Douyin and Tmall livestream selling, but rivals Mao Geping and Chicmax are now outgrowing it on those same channels, and its flagship brand dropped 10.4% in 2025.

Is Titan or Kalyan Jewellers the stronger bet in Indian jewelry

Both show strength. Titan's Tanishq dominates with no visible share loss, and Kalyan is mainly gaining from unorganized local jewelers rather than losing to Titan, so the two are growing at the expense of smaller players, not each other.

• Whether Xtep and Li Ning can cut discount depth below 70% without losing further sales to Anta
• Whether Pola Orbis or LG H&H post a quarter of brand-level growth in their flagship lines
• Store count trends at Chow Sang Sang's mainland China locations