Asian consumers account for half of the US$80 billion global luxe industry and China’s luxury market is growing so rapidly that it will become the biggest in the world within four years, while the desire for high-end goods is so great in India that there are three-month waiting lists for items with the “right” label attached.

Those are the figures highlighted by leading industry experts such as marketing and retail-development consultants, Radha Chadha and Paul Husband, who are the authors of The Cult of the Luxury Brand: Inside Asia’s Love Affair with Luxury, a book that gives a sociological interpretation of Asians’ great desire for high-end brands.

They say the reason behind this desire is a question of identity: that by wearing haute couture, Asian consumers are trying on the costume of power. For these societies that focus on “face” and bringing honour to the family, established designer labels provide an opportunity to flaunt wealth and establish status.

The findings are mirrored by global market research company Synovate. The company’s UK CEO, Scottish-born Jill Telford, spent 15 years living in Hong Kong, which she says afforded her an insight into the psyche of the Asian luxury consumer – and taught her how to be an expert shopper, an added bonus.

“Everybody in Hong Kong aspires to buy luxury brands. It’s not just the tai tais (wealthy wives) and what the banks call the mass affluent, it’s the office ladies, too. The Chinese are the new Japanese. In Hong Kong, they’re queuing outside the shops and down the street for Prada and Gucci. The last time I was there, shoppers were five-deep in the Louis Vuitton store and you couldn’t get near the handbags. It was like a queue for rations during wartime Britain,” she says.

A survey carried out by Synovate found that Shanghai and Beijing women were spending 50% of their income on luxury items such as handbags, make up and other items that are not needed for survival (although some would argue differently). Says Telford: “One young woman from Beijing told our researchers: ‘I spend almost all my salary each month on these items, maybe it really is too low’ ”.

After returning to live in the UK two years ago, Telford was struck by the marked difference in spending habits between Asians and westerners, specifically in the luxury brands sector. “British luxury shoppers often go for quirky, relatively unknown designers because they don’t want to be the same as everybody else, while many Asians choose established brands because conforming is part of their culture,” she says.

But wherever you go in the world, brands do have an endearing appeal, even in the UK. “When British people go on holiday in Asia they love to buy copy watches, while an Asian person wouldn’t be seen dead buying a fake, they’ll only buy the real thing,” she says. For luxury brands looking to gain a foothold in Asia, this can only be good news.