Following some pick ups early this year, luxury may be back in style as consultancy firm Bain & Company said Sunday that the luxury goods industry sales in 2010 would grow by four percent to 158 billion Euros or $A229.78 billion with much of the sales spikes to be seen within the first half of the year.

Analysts though are still cautious that signature product retailers could still encounter some difficulties thanks to shifting demographics and the doubts that most consumers still hold for the global economy.

As reported by AAP, figures furnished by MasterCard showed that luxury sales in the United States increased by 15.5 percent year-over-year in April coming already from an impressive 22.7 percent sales spikes in March .

Sales by upscale brand Saks soared by up to 6.1 percent in the last quarter after suffering some loss in the previous year while close competitor Tiffany chalked up a worldwide earnings of 17 percent growth with its profit spiking up to four times from previous figures last year.

Hermes and LVMH from France have reported that their earnings have seen much improvements as Asian demands for their luxury offerings are on the rise though analysts are quick to remind that it may be a little too early to assume that the worst has passed for the luxury market.

Another consulting firm, the Unity Marketing has issued reports that super-rich Americans, with annual incomes of $US250,000, upped their spending by 22.6 percent in the past quarter while those with earnings ranging from $US100,000 to $US249,000 increased spending by merely 1.9 percent during the last quarter of 2009 en route to the first quarter of the current year.

Unity president Pam Danziger said that the American luxury market may have seen better spending by the super-rich but this trend could not sustain recovery in the luxury market since only a small part of the group can be relied upon to bring up more movements for luxury cars, jewelleries and other luxury goods.

She said that the luxury market has been traditionally getting more boosts from the so-called American 'Henrys' (high-earners, not yet rich), which numbers up to 23 million with incomes that could reach up to $US250,000 a year.

Ms Danziger said that these people are usually between 35 to 55 years old, which is the prime age for luxurious spending and the next batch of such consumer would not come until 2020 at the latest, which means that the world can expect "almost a decade that will be a luxury drought."

To adjust to such scenario, many luxury retailers are looking for expansions of their outlet stores that would cater to more market segments such as the upper middle-class consumers.