Fashion
Harrods sales flat despite challenging condition, but profits hit by Fayed compensation
Published
October 5, 2025
Last week 2024 Selfridges’ results showed how the luxury slowdown and lack of VAT-free shopping for tourists remain a problem for high-end retailers. And on Sunday Harrods did the same, releasing its numbers ahead of its filing at Companies House.
Harrods Group (Holding) Limited saw gross transaction value (GTV) excluding VAT falling 2.4% to £2.198 billion for the year to February 2025, although turnover edged up 0.6% to just under £1.082 billion, which was below the Uk inflation figure. A year earlier, those numbers had risen 6.6% and 8.2%, respectively.
Operating profit (before exceptional items/pension loss on settlement) fell by 17% to £177.7 million and profit before tax was was actually a loss of £34.3 million, having been a profit of £111.5 million a year ago. Profit after tax was also a loss this time of £36.5 million. In the prior year, net profit was a positive figure of £76.7 million, although that was a fall from £135.8 million.
MD Michael Ward explained that the fall in operating profit reflected “reflecting investment in employee salaries and increased distribution costs”, while “continuing to demonstrate the strength of the fundamentals of our business”.
But why did it swing to such a large pre- and post-tax loss this time? Ward said the accounts include “significant exceptional costs… which have impacted profit. These costs include the strategic digital transformation of our enterprise resource planning system and a provision for redress and associated costs for survivors of historic abuse perpetrated by Harrods former Chairman and owner Mohamed Fayed. Compensation awards and interim payments began being issued to eligible survivors at the end of April 2025 and the scheme will remain open until 31 March 2026”.
The Mohamed Fayed scandal was bound to have a big impact but while it understandably continues to generate negative headlines, the turnover figure shows that shoppers clearly see a difference between the business as it is now and as it was then and it remains one of the world’s most prominent luxury retailers.
Ward focused on the positives saying that “2024 was a year of stable trade for Harrods [regarding] turnover… despite trading conditions in the luxury sector remaining challenging and once again showing outperformance by Harrods of the luxury industry as a whole”. That outperformance came in comparison to the latest Bain & Company and Fondazione Altagamma estimate that overall luxury spending dipped to €1.48 trillion globally in 2024.
Ward said that the “results demonstrate the resilience of Harrods’ business strategy of commitment to exceptional customer offerings and ongoing investment in this period across our Knightsbridge store including the continued redevelopment of our womenswear spaces and renovation of The Georgian restaurant”.
But the market remains challenging, Ward added, although he also said that “we remain confident in the strength of the business, and the resilience of the luxury sector, and that we will continue to drive progress towards longer-term growth and performance objectives”.
Copyright © 2025 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
Published
January 15, 2026
Kering’s Balenciaga and resolutely independent Manolo Blahnik announced a first-time collaboration on Thursday on a trio of styles created for the Fall 2026 collection.
They said it’s “an exchange shaped by shared values and an admiration for couture tradition. The partnership reflects the House of Balenciaga’s enduring commitment to artisanal mastery, as well as creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli’s distinct approach to fashion, long inspired by the legacy of Cristóbal Balenciaga”.
It makes sense for the two labels to work together given their dual Spanish roots, as well as “the elegance of craft that unites them”.
So what does the capsule comprise? There’s a low-heeled mule and a slingback with either a 105mm or 50mm heel. With a décolleté cut, we’re told “the silhouettes reveal skin, the body, a display intrinsically linked to the primacy of the human form”.
The styles are “in and of themselves a dialogue, a duet, drawn from designs from the Manolo Blahnik archive, chosen by Piccioli, and fused together. All three are executed in silk-satin, proposed in various colours and lined in Balenciaga grey”.
Each shoe style also features crystal embroidery across a low-cut vamp, something for which Blahnik is known. The company said the embellishments “simultaneously recall archival Blahnik designs and [reference] the 1960s bijoux created by Cristóbal Balenciaga”.
Manolo Blahnik said that “Don Cristóbal Balenciaga is, to me, the ultimate designer. I have adored his work for as long as I can remember. As a Mediterranean boy myself, I have always felt a deep connection to his Spanish culture and sensibility. To be partnering with Balenciaga, and with Pierpaolo, fulfils a lifelong dream. [His] direction for Balenciaga resonates profoundly with my own ideas of how the modern woman should dress in 2026, a vision of timeless elegance rooted in craftsmanship and enduring beauty.”
Copyright © 2026 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
Directed by AJ Duan and photographed by Anton Gottlob in the streets of Shanghai, the hero film captures the poetry of movement in the city’s rush hour – a dance of anticipation as the four characters race towards a reunion. Amid the hum of the streets, fleeting moments of humour, warmth and surprise are revealed like hidden treasures.
Burberry marks the Year of the Horse 2026 with a capsule collection and Shanghai-set campaign starring Chen Kun, Tang Wei, Wu Lei and Zhang Jingyi.
The line reimagines the iconic Knight motif in painterly techniques, anchored in lucky red tones.
Store windows across China and Asia Pacific feature hand-painted designs created with de Gournay and artist Liao Wenjun.
The capsule collection
At the heart of the capsule collection – titled Burberry Year of the Horse Collection – is our house code, the Knight, playfully reinterpreted as a watercolour and ink sketch, brought to life through intricate techniques such as vibrant metallic embroidery, cross-stitch and appliquéd badges.
The horse is a significant motif for Burberry. The original Knight was the winning entry of a public public competition to design a logo for the house, circa 1901. Imbued with symbolism, it represents protection, innovation and Burberry’s forward-looking spirit.
The collection is grounded in red, a symbol of luck and prosperity in Chinese culture, with scarves and daywear in an exclusive new red Burberry Check.
Outerwear pieces include the Berryhill car coat and Floriston quilted jacket in iridescent nylon, while the gifting offering is expanded through soft accessories, bags and small leather goods detailed with the seasonal Knight.
Window and store display
Burberry has partnered with esteemed British hand painted wallpaper brand de Gournay on window designs throughout stores in China and Asia Pacific. The collaboration celebrates the craft and texture of Xuan paper – the traditional Chinese paper used for calligraphy and painting. Both surface and subject, the paper becomes a canvas for painterly expression and a reflection of artistry and heritage, by Chinese artist Liao Wenjun.
Note: The headline, insights, and image of this press release may have been refined by the Fibre2Fashion staff; the rest of the content remains unchanged.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RM)
By
Reuters
Published
January 15, 2026
India expects talks on a long-sought trade deal with the European Union to conclude this month, Trade Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Thursday, in what would be New Delhi’s largest agreement as it seeks new markets amid US tariff pressures.
The deal, under discussion for years, is seen as a chance for both sides to deepen economic ties and cut reliance on China and Russia. Bilateral trade between India and the EU totalled 120 billion euros ($140 billion) in 2024, making the bloc India’s biggest trading partner. Agrawal said the two sides were “very close” to finalising the pact and were exploring whether it could be wrapped up before leaders meet in New Delhi this month.
He said talks on a US trade pact were continuing and a deal would be reached when both sides were ready. Negotiations collapsed last year after a breakdown in communication between the two governments.
The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will visit India on January 25–27 and co-chair an India–EU summit on January 27, India’s foreign ministry said. If concluded, the deal would open India’s vast and heavily protected consumer market of more than 1.4 billion people to European goods and could reshape global trade flows as protectionism rises and a US-India pact remains stalled.
Both sides have been pushing to close a broad agreement after von der Leyen and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to fast-track negotiations in an effort to close a deal in 2025. Talks, relaunched in 2022, gained momentum after US President Donald Trump imposed tariff hikes on trading partners including India.
Brussels has recently signed deals with Mexico and Indonesia and stepped up talks with India, while New Delhi has reached agreements with Britain, Oman and New Zealand.
Some sensitive agricultural items have been excluded from negotiations, an Indian trade ministry official said. India will not open its agriculture or dairy sectors in any trade pact, officials have said, citing the need to protect millions of subsistence farmers.
The EU is pushing for steep tariff cuts on cars, medical devices, wine, spirits, and meat, along with stronger intellectual property rules. India is seeking duty-free access for labour-intensive goods and quicker recognition of its autos and electronics sectors.
Beyond goods, the agreement is expected to expand services trade, investment and cooperation in digital trade, intellectual property, and green technologies, as well as spur European investment in Indian manufacturing, renewable energy ,and infrastructure. Challenges remain over regulatory alignment and the protection of sensitive sectors. The EU’s carbon border levy, which requires importers to account for emissions in steel, cement and other carbon‑intensive products, has started to hit some Indian exports and is a key concern for New Delhi, exporters said.
© Thomson Reuters 2026 All rights reserved.
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