( CNN ) -- Boarded up windows on austerity-hit Main Streets are a familiar site as the economic downturn bites hard , but gleaming storefronts in another corner of the retail sector prove that , for some , the worst of times can also be the best . Luxury brands , including fashion label Burberry and vehicle manufacturer Rolls-Royce , have all enjoyed bumper years , recording slump-busting profits that may raise eyebrows among consumers forced to tighten their non-snakeskin belts . Such income surges will dispel doubts raised when markets first began to falter over the resilience of the high-end market . However , they also redraw the world 's shopping map , showing how emerging economies are spreading their spending wings . `` The most fundamental driver for that kind of growth is coming from sales to consumers from emerging markets like China and India , '' said Imran Amed , who runs the Business of Fashion website . `` But also I just returned from Brazil where things are booming . '' For Burberry , whose signature trench coat is clearly proof against recession as well as the British weather it was designed for , this translates into a 21 % leap in turnover in the last quarter alone . Rolls-Royce , meanwhile , has posted its best results in its 107-year-history thanks to 2011 sales of more than 3,500 of its stately $ 308,000-plus cars -- a year-on-year profit jump of 31 % . Such figures are in contrast to the bleak environment elsewhere in the retail sector . European Commission figures show that sales fell by 2.5 % in the eurozone between November 2010 and 2011 , and by 1.3 % across the European Union . Richard Perks , director of retail research at industry analysis company Mintel , said Europe 's luxury brands have remained relatively unaffected by reduced spending because the global consumer base for exclusive goods is expanding , chiefly in Asia . It 's a situation that has put luxury retailers in what Bernard Fornas , CEO of French watchmaker and jeweler Cartier , describes as `` a good mood . '' `` The luxury market is always more optimistic than most other industries because we have the addition of a new continent -- China , '' he told CNN . `` The Chinese consume locally , but there are about 70 million traveling around the world , so we benefit from that because we sell a dream , we sell emotion and nowadays , more than ever , we need that . '' While emerging market appetites have , according to Amed , caught the entire luxury sector on a `` rising tide , '' Guy Chatillon , CEO of Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry , says it is important for brands to push hard for their share . However , he says , high-end brands have little to fear from rising raw material costs that have added to the pressures on other sectors of the economy . `` Luxury is about quality detail and authenticity , '' he said . `` It is long term . '' Outside of Asia and Brazil , wealthy consumers are also reaching for their Louis Vuitton purses again following several years of downturn-induced caution , according to Amed . He says that while economic hard times have hit those in the middle to lower income brackets , in countries such as Britain and the United States `` there 's an elite class of consumer that remains untouched by the crisis . '' `` Everyone stopped shopping in 2008 because there was a crisis of confidence ; everyone 's financial portfolio was hit , '' he said . `` And , even if you did have money and were n't that affected by everything , it was seen as a bit crass to go out spending on luxury goods . Now that a certain amount of time has elapsed , I think that hesitation to shop has dissipated somewhat and the big spenders are out spending again . ''
Luxury brands including Burberry and Rolls-Royce report strong profits . The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 0.28 percent at 5,645.97 points. China and other emerging markets seen as key market drivers .