After expanding in 2021, fast fashion may be squeezed again

AMERICAN CONSUMERSLVMH are feeling flush. On February 15th the Commerce Department reported that the country’s shoppers spent 3.8% more in January than they had in December, unfazed by spiking inflation and covid-related uncertainty. That was the fastest monthly rise in nearly a year. Some of this splurge is going on new rags. Elsewhere, too, garment-sellers are booming. In Britain fashion was the only segment to see online sales grow last month, year on year, according to Capgemini, a consultancy. As catwalks and cocktail parties decamp from New York, which has just hosted its Fashion Week, to London, where another one is kicking off, the mood in the clothes business is as bright as the pastel-coloured dresses that are all the rage this season.High-end labels like Christian Dior (owned by , a luxury colossus) or Gucci (part of Kering, a fellow French group) are relatively immune to economic turmoil. People who can afford their frocks may take a knock in a recession but seldom end up shirtless. The same cannot be said of less luxurious fashion houses. But they, too, have had a good run of late.