For the first half of 2017 Kering’s revenue was up 26.5 per cent year-on-year on the back of healthy demand for luxury in mainland China and Western Europe. Kering is a French luxury group with brands like Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Puma in its fold. But Gucci was a particular star as it makes up over half of Kering’s profit—the Italian fashion house’s second quarter results were strong, with a 39.3 per cent growth.

In Western Europe, where Chinese tourists have been returning in droves since the beginning of this year, comparable sales growth in the first half was at 66.2 per cent for Gucci. The brand witnessed the second biggest growth in half-year sales in the Asia Pacific region at 51 per cent, with mainland China witnessing a 50 per cent growth in revenue.

In a sign that strong sales could continue in mainland China, Gucci made its official China website into an e-commerce portal for Chinese consumers earlier this month. The new site intertwines creative content marketing with online shopping, letting customers use Chinese payment systems like WeChat and Alipay.

The brand launched its e-commerce platform in other key markets in the first half of this year, and online sales rose by over 60 per cent during this period.