The United States of luxury: Scottsdale, Nashville and the other cities everyone is running to

America is in fashion again — at least as far as luxury is concerned. Brands across the spectrum are refocusing on the US, increasing floor space and flagship requirements and moving inland after years in which the priority was a couple of narrow coastal strips.

In 2025, North America led the world in luxury store openings — 27% of the total, according to Savills. “Every brand I speak to is reinvesting in the US,” says Erik Fish, head of retail and apparel for the US at HSBC.

There are several reasons. The main one is a Chinese market that never bounced back. “The idea was that China was shut because of Covid and would then simply explode. Six years on, no explosion has happened,” Fish notes. The rise of local Chinese challenger brands has played its part too. In the US, meanwhile, employment is holding up and the stock market is rising — which feeds the confidence and the spending of affluent shoppers.

In recent quarters America has been the bright spot in a run of results dominated by falling revenue. What to watch, Fish says, is the Sun Belt — the southern and south-western states: Charlotte, Nashville, Miami, Charleston. “It is a combination of local wealth and growing tourism. Brands see that the return on rent there is excellent: it is obviously cheaper than Fifth Avenue or Newbury Street, and there is plenty of footfall.”

Scottsdale. The mood is resort-like; the desert landscape makes malls the main destinations and golf courses the meeting places. The shopper: affluent retirees and second-home visitors, plus well-off families whose parents spend the day in athleisure, topped up with gold jewellery, expensive bags and Chanel ballet flats or Gucci trainers, then change for dinner at the country club. Luxury is concentrated in department stores — it is hot here all year round. Scottsdale Fashion Square houses Arizona’s first Dior and Brunello Cucinelli boutiques; even Hermès, which usually picks unexpected locations, opted for the proven mall.

Honolulu. Beachy island life with an urban twist — there are more high-rises than you expect. The shopper: a mix of locals and foreign investors buying luxury property. Tourists come to spend and to save: taxes in Hawaii are lower than in many American cities, at around 4%, and many brands hold “Hawaii pricing” roughly 10% below mainland levels. Locals have access to kamaʻāina discounts. Ala Moana is the largest open-air mall in the world, full of luxury labels; ten minutes away is the Royal Hawaiian Center. For walking there is Kalākaua Avenue, with Kith, and Luxury Row, where the labels run from Chanel to Bottega Veneta.

Los Angeles. Sunny, sandy, relaxed; everyone drives, so the pavements are empty — while Erewhon and Urth Caffé are packed at any hour. The shopper: Hollywood executives and agents, startup employees and entrepreneurs. “It is startups, it is independent people, a lot of people from the service sector, it is entrepreneurs,” Gildo Zegna has said of the city’s main clients. “There are people who need a lot of capital.” Plus influencers, creators and freelancers earning enough to spend on both matcha and Dior bags. Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills remains the obvious choice; the quieter alternative is Melrose Avenue and Melrose Place, where The Row and Khaite have arrived. Palisades Village reopens in August after last year’s fires.

San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The style is understated and businesslike. The shopper: AI millionaires, the tech elite and employees of technology and fintech companies, ready to swap On trainers and windbreakers for quiet luxury in the manner of Succession. Plus working women with pronounced taste. Union Square is the main destination; after years of empty units it is being revived by new openings such as The RealReal. A McMullen boutique will open on Maiden Lane. Laid-back Jackson Square already has Thom Browne and Isabel Marant. And brands are moving to the Westfield Valley Fair mall south of the city — closer to the Valley’s money.

Las Vegas. Demonstrative, bright, high-energy; the Strip is called a Disneyland for adults, and the Sphere has become its cultural centre. The shopper: historically gamblers, conference delegates and party-goers, and now also visitors for sports and entertainment events, plus affluent residents who have moved from California for gentler taxes. Stores are concentrated in the malls attached to hotels and casinos: The Shops at Crystals, the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The units are large and spectacular — brands often test new products and categories here.

Detroit. Close-knit and community-minded. The city’s property market has developed markedly in recent years — as has its luxury offer, ever since Gucci opened here in 2022. The shopper: affluent residents who invest heavily in property and in the Somerset Collection luxury mall; the city is less driven by trends and values self-expression. Luxury is concentrated at the Somerset Collection, a twenty-minute drive from the centre, but it is beginning to move closer in: that same Gucci opened on Library Street in downtown itself.

Columbus. A young city: a large Ohio State University presence and an influx of young professionals. Many of its suburbs rank among the wealthiest in the Midwest, and the city is home to executives and employees of Fortune 500 companies including Abercrombie & Fitch, Victoria’s Secret and DSW. The style is more relaxed than in most other cities. Luxury is concentrated at the Easton Town Center mall — Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and more recently David Yurman and Golden Goose; fifteen minutes from the centre.

Chicago and the North Shore. Chicago is the Midwest meeting the coast. Thirty minutes from downtown lies the North Shore, a string of quiet, picturesque communities along the shore of Lake Michigan: there are more parks and trees here than high-rises.