Paris Fashion Week: Top Spenders Revealed

In Paris, fashion never sleeps — and during Paris Fashion Week, neither do the cash registers. The Paris Haute-Couture Week Fall/Winter 2025–2026 again attracted luxury shoppers to the French capital. As the city unveiled its latest collections, boutiques and flagship stores welcomed a wave of international shoppers, from ultra-wealthy fashion insiders to trend-setting Millennials.

Affluent Shoppers Drive the Bulk of Spend

According to Global Blue data ^[1], affluent shoppers proved to be the powerhouse behind Paris’s luxury retail performance. While they represented only 26% of international shoppers, they delivered 40% of total Tax Free spend, with an average spend per shopper of €2,680.

Ultra-High-Net-Worth shoppers (UHNWI) accounted for just 1% of Tax Free shoppers during Paris Haute Couture Week Fall/Winter 2025–2026. However, they played a critical role during Paris Fashion Week, with an average spend of €18,350 per person.

High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWI) made up 5% of visitors but drove an impressive 21% of total spend, with an average spend of €7,770 per person.

By contrast, aspirational shoppers making up the majority at 68% of visitors contributed just 23% of spend, averaging €570 per person.

How Different Generations Shopped During Paris Fashion Week

When it comes to generational trends, Millennials luxury spending stood out as the strongest during Paris Haute-Couture Week Fall/Winter 2025–2026. They accounted for 38% of shoppers and 37% of total spend, with an average spend per shopper of €1,660.

Gen Z shoppers, represented 18% of visitors and spent less per person, averaging €1,050.

Gen X accounted for 36% of total spend. Both Gen X and Silver Age shoppers maintained high per-shopper spending - €2,030 and €1,980 respectively, reaffirming their role as consistent value drivers for Paris’s luxury retail market.

Paris Fashion Week: Where Global Style Meets High-Spend Shopping

These spending patterns reinforce Paris Fashion Week’s position as a premier shopping event for international shoppers. The combination of high-profile runway shows, flagship boutiques, and iconic shopping streets such as Avenue Montaigne and Rue Saint-Honoré creates the perfect backdrop for Tax Free Shopping in Paris.

For luxury retailers, this moment offers a key opportunity to:

Identify and engage top-spending affluent and UHNWI clients
Optimize the in-store journey with seamless Tax Free solutions
Offer our VIP Lounge to your high-spending customers Tax Free lounges

Capturing Value Beyond the Runway

At Global Blue, we help retailers leverage high-traffic moments like Paris Fashion Week to engage the most valuable international shoppers. Our solutions enable merchants to:

Track and target key shopper segments in real-time
Deliver instant, real-time updates on tax refunds, linking shoppers to a personalized webpage with Mobile Customer Care
Deliver personalized experiences for VICs and HNWI clients
Issue Tax Free forms directly from the POS with our integrated solutions

Whether you’re preparing for the next season or refining your strategy for Paris luxury retail, we ensure you can maximize the full potential of every high-spend occasion.

[1] Global Blue Data June 2025