Boys shoulder girls aside in rush for luxury goods

Men are taking grooming more seriously, and the market for men's luxury goods is now nearly as big as that for women.

The 10th edition of Bain & Company's global luxury goods market study found that men's items represent half of the luxury apparel market, boosted partly by male consumers in emerging markets - particularly China and the rest of Asia.

Men are buying stylish bags to carry their hi-tech gadgets, documents and even gym clothes. Particularly popular are iPad cases and portfolio bags. At Louis Vuitton in South Africa, especially in Johannesburg, men are buying leather goods like briefcases and shoes.

Louis Vuitton has launched a men's made-to-order shoe service in its Milan flagship store with plans to roll the programme out to Shanghai in June.

There has been a resurgence in fine men's jewellery. Actor Nicolas Cage had an entire range of custom jewellery made at Uwe Koetter Jewellers in Cape Town.

Antoine Arnault, son of Bernard Arnault, the founder of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, has declared an end to bling - certainly at the top end. LVMH sales continue to rise, which Arnault attributes to a commitment to quality and beauty over logos and ostentation, and a strong male customer base. He said the company's success was due to male customers who spent more on inconspicuous luxury wear.

Top-end bag-maker Coach has seen its men's business double in the last fiscal year, rising to nearly 5% of its global business, an increase of more than $200-million, according to the Financial Times. Over time the brand expects the men's sector to represent 15% or more of global sales.

Christian Louboutin opened its first men's store in Paris last August. It expects men's business to make up 15% to 20% of its sales in the near future.

Global luxury group PPR has announced plans to test men's-only concept stores for Gucci and Bottega Veneta in China.

In 2010, Chinese men spent 7-billion yuan ($1.1-billion) on their wardrobes, far more than the 2.8-billion yuan spent by women, according to the Bain report.

Jean-Marc Bellaiche, a senior partner at New York-based Boston Consulting Group, said in the Financial Times about 70% to 80% of male millionaires in the US and Japan are aged 45 and over. However, in China, 80% of male millionaires are younger than 45.

Vinay Dixit, senior expert and leader of McKinsey Asia Consumer Centre, told CNBC that over the past 12 months Chinese men on average spent 61% more than women on fragrances and 52% more on watches. Dior Homme now has about 35 free-standing men's stores in China.

A 2011 McKinsey Insights China report said China will account for more than 20% of global luxury sales by 2015 and will overtake Japan as the world's largest market for luxury goods.

India last year overtook the US to become the third-largest men's luxury jewellery market in the world, according to research by Euromonitor International. And the biggest consumers of jewellery are men in their late 20s and 30s.

The trend, which began picking up four to five years ago, is becoming more visible as gold gains acceptance as a safe haven for investment and exclusive products become more popular as gifts.