NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 05/08/07 -- The Luxury Handbags category is one of the broadest and most profitable categories for luxury fashion brands. But, which brands are most competitive in critical metrics such as unaided mindshare, purchase consideration, market share, most recent purchases and strongest future purchase considerations, as reported by wealthy consumers?

According to the New York City-based Luxury Institute's Luxury Brand Market Analysis (LBMA) for Luxury Handbags, Coach has the largest mindshare among wealthy consumers; 52% said they are familiar with the Coach brand. However, as income increases, awareness of Gucci handbags increases, and for wealthy consumers with incomes over $300,000 Gucci's (34%) almost equals Coach (38%). With regard to market share (the share of wealthy consumers who bought each specific luxury brand in the past 12 months), Coach leads at 29%, but many brands compete heavily for the rest of the pie. Details for each brand, and other critical data, are now available in this survey, as are additional insights related to attributes of choosing a handbag and men vs. women handbag shopping behavior.

"The luxury handbag is the accessory that defines the wealthy woman and is a major profit driver for Luxury fashion Brands," said Milton Pedraza, CEO, the Luxury Institute. "Yet, little independent and reliable data from the voice of the wealthy consumer has been available until now. Our impartial, syndicated surveys are designed to facilitate a dialogue between wealthy consumers and brands that serve them, and to provide the critical metrics for luxury brands at a fraction of the cost of doing it themselves. Our experience and credibility in surveying wealthy consumers allows us to pass our economies of scale to luxury brands."

Brands covered based strictly on unaided mentions (alphabetically): Brighton, Burberry, Chanel, Coach, Dior, Dooney & Bourke, Fendi, Fossil, Gucci, Hermes, Kate Spade, Liz Claiborne, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Prada, Ralph Lauren, and Stone Mountain.

The summary results of this survey, and scores of surveys conducted with the wealthy, are available to members of the Luxury Board (www.luxuryboard.com), the world's first online community for luxury professionals, executives, and entrepreneurs.

A national sample of 1,500 wealthy American consumers, with an average income of $308K and average net worth of $3.1 million, was surveyed online. Results are weighted to match demographic and net worth profiles of the same audience according to the latest Survey of Consumer Finances from The Federal Reserve.

About the Luxury Institute

The Luxury Institute is the uniquely independent and impartial ratings and research institution that is the trusted and respected voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute provides a portfolio of proprietary publications and research that guides and educates high net-worth individuals and the companies that cater to them on leading edge trends, high net-worth consumer rankings and ratings of luxury brands, and best practices. The Luxury Institute also operates the Luxury Board (www.luxuryboard.com), the world's first global, membership-based online community for luxury goods and services executives, professionals and entrepreneurs. To reach the Luxury Institute, please call 646-792-2669 or go to www.luxuryinstitute.com.

Contact:
Martin Swanson
Vice President, Business Development
The Luxury Institute
(office) 914-909-6350
(cell) 914-715-3357
Email Contact
www.luxuryinstitute.com