The luxury landscape is witnessing a great dispersion – a split between the desire for monumental spectacle and the craving for private, personal wellbeing.

Today, what's valued by one consumer is considered gauche by another. In this complex era, understanding which version of luxury your customer subscribes to is critical for survival and growth.

VML's "Future 100: 2026" Luxury vertical cut provides the clarity you need for a divided market. This essential report decodes the 10 trends shaping the new rules of aspiration – revealing a future defined not by excess, but by health, wealth and stealth. Gain the intelligence to build a resilient strategy that connects with the modern luxury consumer, whether they seek a public landmark or a private sanctuary.

Top trends in Luxury from our Future 100 report include:

Monumental luxury 01

#71: Monumental luxury

To compete with the digital realm, physical retail is scaling up into “temples of identity,” merging architecture and spectacle to create awe-inspiring cultural landmarks that command attention.

Wellbeing status 02

#79: Wellbeing status

Health is the new ultimate wealth. Status is shifting from what you wear to who you are, with biometric data, longevity metrics, and competitive wellness replacing material possessions as the new badge of honor.

Shared luxury 01

#80: Shared luxury

Gen Z is rewriting the rules of aspiration. This new cohort of "collective connoisseurs" rejects individual ownership in favor of fractional access to jets, vacation homes, and high-end goods, prioritizing connection over accumulation.

Download our 2026 Future 100 Luxury vertical cut here:

The primary challenge is the fracturing of the market. Brands must navigate a split between consumers who desire extrinsic spectacle (Monumental luxury) and those who crave intrinsic, invisible value (Wellbeing status), forcing a choice between offering an entire world to subscribe to or a sanctuary from the real world.

Status is shifting inward. While visual spectacle still matters, the new frontier is "Wellbeing status," where personal health metrics like a low cellular age or a perfect VO2 max score are becoming more significant symbols of wealth and discipline than traditional luxury goods.

Gen Z is pioneering the "Shared luxury" model, preferring collective access to individual ownership. They value experiences, brand ethics, and community over traditional status symbols, forcing legacy brands to rethink their value proposition and create more accessible entry points.

Watch our Future 100 video

F100 2026 Promo Video 1

Welcome to the 12th edition of “The Future 100” – VML’s unparalleled research report examining key global trends. This report features our latest projections, interviews with top industry experts, exclusive statistics and global consumer insights for 2026 from a proprietary 16-country survey.

At a Glance
55%

See luxury as a guarantee of quality and durability

At a Glance
65%

Of Gen Z aspires to a lifestyle that feels luxurious

At a Glance
81%

Globally say that luxury goods are not always worth paying more for

About The Future 100 report:

After another year marked by economic upheaval, polarizing political currents and environmental setbacks, 2026 will be a year for building resilience, courageous creativity and redrawing the boundaries of what’s possible. From the personal to the planetary, from human engineering to geoengineering the climate itself, a new class of creators and collaborators is multiplying potential in ways we are just beginning to imagine.

Helping to shape these worlds are AI tools that democratize world building and new economic models for building empires. As both creativity and AI go global, voices from Buenos Aires to Busan are challenging Western dominance and creating tools that reflect their own cultures.

Amidst this “metamorphic” current, the desire for human connection remains unmistakable. In the year ahead, human impulse will shape brand strategies, influencing the top marketing trends in 2026, and draw people back to immersive, high-impact experiences that demonstrate the value of authenticity and unlock infinite possibilities.

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