• by Sarah Mahoney , October 22, 2025

Fancy a private portrait session with photographer Annie Leibovitz, for $500,000? A luxury odyssey through Yellowstone National Park for $490,000? Or maybe a $64,000 Herb Williams sculpture of your dog, made entirely from Crayola crayons?

If so, Neiman Marcus has your number. The retailer just released its annual Holiday Book, timed to its new “The Perfect Gift” campaign. Shot in Paris, the ads — and multiple pages in the 94-page catalog — feature models Rosalieke Fuchs and James Turlington showing off looks from Bottega Veneta, Chloe, Dunhill, Jimmy Choo, Valentino, Tom Ford and Christian Louboutin. (That last brand also makes an appearance among the fantasy gifts with a $47,000 custom Western saddle, bridging Paris atelier to Texas roots with red leather stirrups and 17,000 sapphire-toned crystals.)

“The Perfect Gift campaign captures the spirit of the season through the lens of fantasy and delight,” says Kristin Maa, Saks Global’s CMO, in a statement. “From remarkable gifts to curated explorations of holiday style, our campaign invites customers into an experience that both inspires and reflects their refined and luxury lifestyles. Set against the enchanting backdrop of Paris, the campaign showcases our unique ability to deliver vision, style and luxury.”

But behind the sparkle, Saks Global’s finances tell a different story. This marks the first holiday drop since Saks Global completed its acquisition of Neiman Marcus, a merger that’s faced bumps — including layoffs, a high-profile real-estate wrangle in downtown Dallas, and persistent financial woes that have made Saks’ late vendor payments a steady source of retail buzz.

Notably, the campaign announcement came from Maa and Emily Essner, Saks Global’s president, rather than Neiman Marcus, where marketing ranks have been thinned.

The campaign arrives as Saks Global cuts its full-year earnings guidance in half, now projecting around $150 million, down from $300 million earlier this year, according to Bloomberg. The company posted a 13% quarterly sales decline and a $77 million loss, compared to $41 million in the prior year. And the Wall Street Journal recently reported Saks Global may sell 49% of Bergdorf Goodman for about $1 billion, which would ease its debt burden.

Beyond balance-sheet problems, all three fabled retail banners — Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman — are competing for increasingly cautious luxury consumers. Analysts expect overall global luxury sales to fall about 5% this year.

Still, Saks’ own research, which tracks luxury consumers' shopping intentions in a twice-annual survey, offers a glimmer of promise, with 59% of luxury consumers remaining optimistic about their personal finances, up eight points since April. That is still nine points lower than a year ago. Among households earning $200,000 or more, optimism about the economy is also gaining, with 32% feeling upbeat. While that’s a slight improvement since spring, it is 13 points lower than last fall.