Ramadan emerges as global luxury retail season as brands expand capsules and Gulf campaigns
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Riyadh, February 26, 2026 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) – Ramadan has moved from a regional retail moment into a global luxury season as fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands expand product capsules, marketing and client engagement around the holy month, executives and industry figures said.
Nearly two billion people observe Ramadan annually, creating one of the largest synchronized shifts in consumer behaviour, the draft cited.
In Saudi Arabia, consumer spending rose 35% to $4.7 billion in the week preceding Ramadan last year, according to Al Eqtisadiah.
Bain & Company has identified the Middle East as luxury’s strongest-performing region globally, outpacing the Americas, Europe, China and Japan, the draft said.
Harrods has built a year-round engagement strategy focused on customers from Gulf Cooperation Council countries, describing growth and engagement spikes in the period ahead of Ramadan.
“The GCC demographic remains a strong customer group within Harrods’ international portfolio,” Harrods chief brand and reputation officer Sarah Myler said. “These customers show strong cross-category engagement, driving performance across our fashion, fragrance, interiors, as well as our food and hospitality offerings.”
For 2026, Harrods expanded its Ramadan and Eid assortment with capsules from Loewe, including a nappa lambskin silver capsule shirt priced at $5,585 and a wool-silk overcoat at $2,220, the draft said. It also listed pieces including a Jenny Packham embellished down coat at $4,710 and items from Stella McCartney, Victoria Beckham, Taller Marmo and Jimmy Choo.
The 2026 campaign used regional creative talent, with Dubai- and Riyadh-based tastemakers featured and production roles filled by creatives connected to the Arabic community, the draft said.
Omani high perfumery house Amouage is marking the season with Oud Zuhal, a single-batch Essence de Parfum available exclusively in the GCC, the draft said. The perfume’s concentrate is infused with Indonesian oud chips for 42 days and then diluted with alcohol aged in bespoke French oak barrels made by cooperage Allary.
“The oud brought what I think of as a timelessness and a feeling of heft,” Amouage chief creative officer Renaud Salmon said. The name references Arabic cosmology, with “Zuhal” described as the Arabic word for Saturn.
Online marketplace Cult Mia cited the Middle East as its largest market in 2025, accounting for more than 50% of global gross merchandise value, with GCC-specific GMV growing about 460% on a compound annual basis over the previous four years, the draft said.
“What’s been especially striking is how many customers tell us they discovered Cult Mia for the first time while preparing for Ramadan,” founder and CEO Nina Briance said. For 2026, the platform launched exclusive Ramadan capsules with Middle Eastern designers Joanna Andraos and SemSem, the draft said.
At Chalhoub Group, the Gulf’s largest luxury retail operator, executives described Ramadan as a planning milestone that international brands are treating up to 12 months in advance, with capsule development for this year beginning in June, the draft said.
“Brands that take the time to understand the implications of an early Ramadan, both logistically and emotionally, are the ones best positioned to succeed,” Grace Jhoury, Chalhoub’s senior vice president of fashion, said.
Evgeniya Leshkova, Chalhoub’s vice president of fashion and jewellery, cited curated collections with culturally rooted names such as Louis Vuitton’s “Mirage”, Dior’s “D’or” and Fendi’s “Noor”, alongside campaigns shot in the Middle East with local talent.
“The conversation has moved away from adding a capsule towards aligning product flow, storytelling and client moments earlier in the season,” she said, adding that Ramadan is viewed in the Middle East as a pause that shifts behaviour toward family, reflection and evening gatherings.
Nez Gebreel, founder of The Arc Bureau, said brands operating in the region face consumers who are “commercially savvy and culturally proud”, and that results follow when brands show “respect and consistency”. “Ramadan is not just a sales moment. It is a trust moment,” she said.
