Can Burberry put its chequered past behind it?

PITY EUROPE’S luxury giants. On July 15th Swatch Group, a Swiss watchmaker, said its revenues and operating profit ticked down in the six months to June, by 14% and 70% year on year, respectively. The next day Hugo Boss, a German fashion house, cut its earnings forecast for 2024 and Richemont, another Swiss group, reported that its quarterly sales in China, which accounts for a quarter of the $1.6trn annual global luxury market, plunged by 27% compared with last year. All eyes are now on the world’s luxury colossus, LVMH, which will report results on July 23rd.

All luxury stocks are suffering (see chart). But so-called aspirational brands have been hit the hardest. Burberry is a textbook example. On July 15th the 168-year-old British maker of chequered trench coats reported that sales slumped by 21% in the second quarter, year on year, cut its dividend and sacked its chief executive.