A result built offshore Chief executive John Cheston was explicit that the growth is coming from markets where consumers are feeling less squeezed, not Australia. “We’re a global business, and we’re privileged to be in that position of being a global business,” Cheston said. “We’re insulated to the market in Australia in some regards because a lot of our growth and a lot of our revenue now is in Europe and the United States.” European sales rose 29.5 per cent to $364.3 million, powered by 76 new openings concentrated in the UK and Germany, while combined US and Canadian sales climbed 29.6 per cent to $275.9 million. The US remains Lovisa’s single biggest market with 250 stores, and Cheston has flagged headroom for more than 450 outlets there over time. Across the group, Lovisa added 105 stores net during the year – opening 160 and shutting 43 underperformers – to finish FY26 with 1,136 stores in more than 50 markets. Gross margin also expanded 60 basis points to 82.6 per cent, a sign the retailer is squeezing more efficiency out of sourcing and promotions even as it scales. Cheston argued that the result reflects a broader pattern playing out across fast-fashion jewellery globally. “More evidence was emerging across global markets that fast fashion jewellery chains were not as deeply affected by weak consumer sentiment as other types of retailers,” he stated. Momentum has carried into the new financial year too, with total sales up 16.4 per cent and comparable store sales up 3 per cent in the first eight weeks of FY27. The affordable jewellery pile-on What makes Lovisa’s result more interesting than a simple earnings beat is the company it now keeps. The affordable jewellery and piercing category that Lovisa effectively created in Australia has become a genuine battleground, with well-capitalised challengers emerging directly from its own executive ranks. The most pointed example is Harli + Harpa, founded by Shane Fallscheer, who spent 12 years as Lovisa’s chief executive and three decades working alongside founder and chairman Brett Blundy before leaving in 2021. Fallscheer expanded Lovisa to 20 countries and more than 550 stores before launching his own rival chain three years later, which has since grown to 70 stores and more than 700 staff across Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK. Lovisa took the rivalry seriously enough to file a US trademark application in 2024 attempting to block the Harli + Harpa name – a dispute that has now been resolved in Fallscheer’s favour, with his company securing rights to the name through the US Patent and Trademark Office in June. A similar pattern is playing out with SkinKandy, the piercing and jewellery chain now led by Dain Friis, who previously ran Lovisa’s international growth and US store rollout as its chief operating officer. SkinKandy listed on the ASX in May and delivered a maiden full-year result that beat its own prospectus forecasts, with pro forma revenue up 29 per cent to $90.2 million and pro forma net profit up 41 per cent to $9 million. Friis credited the performance to a repeatable store rollout model and an in-house piercing training program that now certifies more than 770 specialists. “That discipline is a large part of why earnings grew faster than revenue, and revenue grew faster than the store network,” he said. Add Arms of Eve to the mix, and the picture is clear that the affordable jewellery segment Lovisa pioneered is no longer a category of one. It is producing multiple ASX-relevant growth stories, several of them run by former Lovisa insiders applying lessons learned inside Blundy’s business. Betting on new formats and premium tiers However, Lovisa isn’t standing still in response. The retailer is continuing to roll out its “Series 5” store concept with dedicated piercing stations built into its footprint – a direct answer to the piercing-led offer that has helped fuel SkinKandy’s growth – alongside its long-running free ear and nose piercing promotions tied to starter stud purchases. Blundy, worth more than $3 billion and now based in Monaco, is also pushing Lovisa upmarket through Jewells, a premium jewellery format still in trial phase with seven UK stores by the end of FY26, though the company offered no update on its trajectory this reporting period. For a category once dismissed as low-margin and disposable, the affordable jewellery sector is now generating some of the more compelling growth numbers in Australian retail. Lovisa’s FY26 result confirms the model travels well internationally even as local spending stays soft, but the emergence of Harli + Harpa and SkinKandy – both built by Lovisa alumni – suggests the next chapter of the category’s growth story may be as much about internal competition as external expansion.