NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 11/12/09 -- The objective and independent New York City-based Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com) reported today results of the top luxury brands in Europe based on the "2009 Best of the Best European Luxury Brand Status Index" (LBSI) survey. The LBSI identifies the top brands that deliver true luxury based solely on the unbiased ratings of wealthy European consumers, rated in the following seven luxury categories: Women's Fashion (31 brands), Women's Shoes (35 brands), Handbags (36 brands), Men's Fashion (30 brands), Men's Shoes (29 brands), Automobiles (20 brands) and Hotels (18 brands).

The LBSI asks high net-worth consumers to rate luxury brands by category across four equally weighted components: Consistently Superior Quality, Uniqueness and Exclusivity, Making the Customer Feel Special Across the Entire Experience and Being Consumed by People Who Are Admired and Respected.

Which luxury providers deliver the best combination of quality, exclusivity, customer experience and peer prestige in Europe?

The "Best of the Best" are: (LBSI score out of 10)

--  Women's Fashion:
      --  Chanel-7.56
      --  Valentino-7.54
      --  Louis Vuitton-7.53

--  Women's Shoes:
      --  Christian Louboutin-8.37
      --  Manolo Blahnik-8.35
      --  Jimmy Choo-8.30

--  Handbags:
      --  Hermes-7.84
      --  Chanel-7.69
      --  Jimmy Choo-7.66

--  Men's Fashion:
      --  Loro Piana-7.79
      --  Ermenegildo Zegna-7.32
      --  Giorgio Armani-6.94

--  Men's Shoes:
      --  Bottega Veneta-7.83
      --  Piaciotti Cesare-7.77
      --  Salvatore Ferragamo-7.64

--  Automobiles:
      --  Porsche-7.53
      --  Mercedes-Benz-7.24
      --  Jaguar-7.18

--  Hotels:
      --  Small Luxury Hotels of the World-8.40
      --  The Luxury Collection-8.25
      --  Maybourne Hotels-8.11

"Europe will always be a core market for the luxury industry, said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. "It is still the largest continental economy in the world and continues to be the cradle of luxury. That is why it is so gratifying to see the top-rated European luxury brands embrace Luxury CRM as the next step in their evolution. Top-tier brands recognize the need to not only outperform, but, to dramatically outbehave their competition and are embracing a complete redesign of their corporate culture and values to be aligned with those of their customers. These leading brands also are using data, analytics and technology to manifest the culture and values across all channels."

The proprietary Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) survey is the only unbiased measure of the prestige of leading brands among wealthy European consumers. A European sample of 752 wealthy women and 752 wealthy men in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, with a minimum household income of 50,000 Euros and/or 60,000 Pounds was surveyed online.

About the Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com)

The Luxury Institute is the uniquely independent and impartial ratings and research institution that is the trusted and respected voice of the global high net-worth consumer. The Institute provides a portfolio of proprietary publications and research and consulting services 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 LuxuryBoard.com, the world's first global, membership-based online community for luxury goods and services executives, professionals and entrepreneurs.

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