A cursory glance at the luxury industry would suggest that its fortunes are inextricably linked to China. The country’s consumers went from spending virtually nothing on high-end trinkets at the turn of the millennium to accounting for roughly 30 per cent of the sector’s sales. Their woes have been blamed for much of the recent slowdown.

But a new frontier beckons for luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci. The race is on for the heart and wallet of the consumer in the American heartland. 

Historically, the US market has not been overwhelmingly receptive of old-continent “maisons”. They have concentrated their presence in core cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Luxury spend is about 0.4 per cent of GDP, according to Bernstein’s analysis. Europe and Japan spend half as much again as a proportion of GDP and the share of luxury in fashion-conscious South Korea is more than double US levels.