The new Louis Vuitton store is on the first floor of Friendship Commercial Building. With an area of 345 square meters, its products mainly include suitcases, travel bags, leather products, shoes, sunglasses, ties, scarves and watches. To prepare for the entry of Louis Vuitton, Friendship Commercial Building was renovated by a French design group.

Since Louis Vuitton entered China in 1992, it has opened 19 specialty stores around the country. Louis Vuitton was founded in 1854. It is a world famous luxury brand and a symbol for fashionable culture.

Luxury brands Gucci and Hermès yesterday posted sparkling profits as fears of recession in traditional markets were brushed aside by soaring demand from the well-off.

Gucci parent PPR said first-half operating earnings jumped 24% to €742m (£598m), with chief executive François-Henri Pinault pinpointing the group’s ability to “take advantage of periods of slower growth”.

Hermès, which is extending its holding in fashion house Jean-Paul Gaultier to 45%, said operating earnings rose to €204m from €179m and its profit margin jumped higher to 25.1%.

The two groups’ figures add lustre to the notion that luxury-goods firms are benefiting as much from the turmoil as low-cost food and clothing companies.

Gucci, home to designers Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney and majority owner of sportswear firm Puma, which backs athletes such as Jamaican Olympic champion Usain Bolt, made an operating profit of €285m, a rise of 13% in real terms. Overall PPR net profit came in up 17% at €344m. The group said: “PPR is confident in its outlook for the second half of 2008 and stands by its objectives for growth and improved financial performance.”

The group also owns Yves Saint Laurent clothing, which reduced its losses to €12m and has sold off its cosmetics arm, YSWL Beauté.

Hermes, makers of luxury scarves and handbags and owners of Lobb, the British shoemaker, said it plans to open or renovate 15 of its stores in the second half of this year in response to increased demand.

French retailer Carrefour, which is engaged in a price war with budget food stores such as Aldi and Lidl, said, meanwhile, its operating profits rose 5.5% in the first six month to €1.4bn on the back of strong demand in Latin America. The world’s second-largest retailer had issued a profits warning at the end of June.

As Western markets falter, high-end retailers are searching for places where consumers are hungry for more glitzy brands and luxury products. India, in some ways, fills the bill, even as its economy cools.

While India makes up just 0.4 percent of global luxury good sales, the market is growing at 25 percent a year, according to a recent Bain & Co. study. There are 1.5 million households in India who could afford luxury goods, compared with 1.6 million households in China, according to McKinsey.

The numbers have prompted some luxury brand names to open retail stores in the largest cities in India in recent months, despite the economic downturn.

New entrants say that gaining a foothold in India has not been easy, and doing business has been difficult.

John Hooks, deputy managing director at Giorgio Armani, said he made dozens of trips to India over several years before partnering with DLF, a real estate giant. Foreign retailers are limited to 51 percent ownership of stores in India.

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