The fortunes of three of the world’s biggest luxury groups are diverging as the sector navigates an industry-wide transition to a lower growth phase and more challenging conditions in the critical Chinese market.

French groups Hermès, LVMH and Kering have delivered widely different sales growth in the first quarter, in a test of the sector’s resilience following years of rapid expansion and margin gains during the pandemic. This reflects in part the clientele they serve, with companies orientated towards the wealthiest customers faring better.

High-end Hermès, maker of the coveted Birkin bag, smashed analysts’ expectations with a 17 per cent revenue growth on a like-for-like basis in the first three months of the year. This is despite the high basis of quarterly comparison from a year ago, when China emerged from zero-Covid lockdowns.