By lowering barriers to entry, technology has opened up new avenues of competition in the recovering luxury market. Fashion blogs and social media platforms can quickly generate visibility and relevance for little-known brands that appeal to a generation of digitally savvy millennials. Growing power rests in the hands of bloggers and YouTubers sitting far from the catwalks in Paris and Milan.

“Internet and digital activities are a very important weapon to enlarge the customer base to millennials and to increase the impulse buying of older customers,” says Claudia D’Arpizio, a partner with Bain & Company.