[reeses]

Former LVMH director here.

The Chinese luxury market is insane and has been popping for the past ~10 years. It's not just LV (and child companies) but across the board, with Richemont and others doing quite well. LV just happens to be very good at a) encouraging mobility in its staff so that the "experience" is consistent b) grabbing a great spot of real estate and building monstrous stores in which you could fit an Apple store or ten and c) selling product that advertises the financial status of its owner.

I'm sure you could run a similar metric with Rolex or other "conspicuous consumption" brands.

And no, it's not the poor kids sewing Nikes who are buying the top kit. The average purchasing power is very low.

[bshimmin]

Apparently the Chinese are also now consuming more French wine than the French are.

[patrickk]

Another market that's exploded in the Far East is scotch whisky. Scottish producers are struggling to keep up with demand in markets like China, Japan and Taiwan.

[nbouscal]

That is expected, as explained by the Alchian-Allen effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchian%E2%80%93Allen_effect