Editor’s Note
This article discusses the latest price adjustments by Chanel, part of a broader trend of luxury goods inflation. As brands navigate shifting market dynamics, such changes highlight the evolving landscape of consumer luxury.
As South Korea enters 2026, luxury jewelry and watch brands are raising prices one after another. French luxury brand Chanel has also decided to increase prices. According to industry sources, Chanel raised prices for key products such as bags and wallets starting January 13, ahead of the launch of its new season on January 16. This marks the first price increase this year for Chanel, which also raised prices twice in 2025, in January and June.
Price hikes are not limited to Chanel. Hermès also raised prices for some shoes from the beginning of the year. For example, the “Royal” loafer increased from 1.9 million won to 1.96 million won, a 3.2% hike, while the “Hour” loafer rose from 1.48 million won to 1.53 million won, a 3.4% increase.
This trend of “multiple price increases within a year” is expected to continue in 2026, leading to a growing movement among consumers to pay deposits to reserve products in anticipation of price rises.
French luxury jewelry brand FRED plans to raise product prices in South Korea in March. While the specific increase rate is undecided, the brand raised prices by about 10% in 2024 and by 5-10% in February 2025. FRED offers a system where customers can pay a 30% deposit before a price revision to purchase items at the pre-increase price, even if they are out of stock. Reservations are increasing, particularly for high-priced and popular items.
Similarly, another French luxury jewelry brand, Van Cleef & Arpels, raised prices by about 6% on January 8 for its main collections, including Flowerlace, Palmier, and Snowflake.
Tiffany & Co., under the LVMH group, will also raise prices by 5-10% for products sold in South Korea effective February 26. Tiffany raised prices three times in 2025 (February, June, November), making this increase the first in about three months since then.
Price hikes are also occurring in the luxury watch market. Swiss luxury watch brand IWC (part of the Richemont Group) is scheduled to raise prices for its products in South Korea by 5-8% starting January 12. Additionally, Hublot and TAG Heuer, also under the LVMH group, raised their product prices by 3-8% and an average of 6%, respectively, within this month.
Furthermore, the popular Swiss luxury watch brand Rolex raised prices for some of its popular models by 5-7% effective January 1.
In this way, price increases are accelerating across the luxury brand sector, driven by global inflation, rising raw material and manufacturing costs, and pricing strategies aimed at maintaining brand value. Consumers are scrambling to respond by considering pre-revision reservations and early purchases.