The luxury goods sector has been experiencing double-digit growth rates for years.

There are good reasons to expect that the boom in business with the world's rich will continue for a while longer
- Credit Suisse

Growth prospects for Brazil, Russia, India, China, Turkey and Korea remain positive for 2012. As a result, the emergence of affluence from these corners of the globe is fuelling demand.
The textbook would say that luxury goods should be the first victim of an economic downturn. Why has this sector been so immune to crisis so far?

This is primarily due to the supply and demand situation in the sector. This is because the proportion of wealth is increasing at an above average rate throughout the world. In addition, the demand for luxury goods is also increasing steadily. At the same time the supply of luxury goods has remained limited – on the one hand because there are only a few genuinely first-class luxury goods brands and on the other because these companies naturally have an interest in keeping the supply of their goods within certain limits.

For the luxury brand sector, the recession is well and truly over.

Shares in Burberry, behemoth LVMH and Mulberry are all soaring, showing that our penchant for luxury shows no sign of dampening, even in the age of austerity. Burberry is a particular success story. In the past year to June 2011, it has posted profits of 64 per cent, while LVMH – a partnership of fashion brand Louis Vuitton and premium alcoholic brands Moet and Hennessy – saw record revenues of £20 billion in 2010.