The iconic Louis Vuitton bag outside Plaza 66 on Nanjing Xi Lu towers over shoppers like a mammoth beacon of commercialism. One of the cover versions of the new book, "The Cult of the Luxury Brand: Inside Asia's Love Affair with Luxury" by Paul Husband and Radha Chadha, fittingly makes use of this same impressive image. Husband and Chadha explore Asia's luxury addiction -- a habit that, if the number of shoppers donning luxury bags and sunglasses is any indication, Asians won't be kicking any time soon. Here, Chadha gives City Weekend a sneak peek before speaking at The Glamour Bar on November 25.

City Weekend: Who has the most expensive luxury habit? Europe? The U.S.? Asia?

Radha Chadra: Asia is the world's largest market for Western luxury brands. We Asians account for over 50 percent of the global USD 80 billion luxury brand market. It is shocking when you think about it -- Europeans have more money, Americans are among the wealthiest in the world, but it is Asians who spend the most on luxury brands.

CW: What has led to Asia's love affair with luxury?

RC: Asia's speedy economic change has created new money. In China, we are seeing the first generation of new money. Asians with new money use luxury brands to communicate their financial power.

CW: How much do the Chinese consume?

RC: Brands like Louis Vuitton do very well in China. The Chinese consumer, shopping in China plus abroad, accounts for 10 percent of global luxury brand sales.

CW: Would you buy a genuine or a fake?

RC: I would buy a genuine of course! I am a mother, and I have to set an example for my kids.

CW: Why do we love luxury goods? What's their true value?

RC: Value lies in the pleasure of buying something that is well made. We enjoy it, and it makes us feel good. Luxury products define our place in the world. They talk for us.

CW: But can these goods symbolize status when everyone is buying them?

RC: Yes, they do. That's the whole basis for the "cult" -- large numbers of people buying luxury products. Centuries-old ways of defining your status, like birth and family, have been dismantled. A new luxury brand-defined class is taking over, where your Chanel bag or your Cartier watch defines your place in society.

CW: Can you profile the average luxury brand buyer?

RC: In Hong Kong and China, mainly wealthier, professional women. In Japan, secretaries believe it or not are the leading segment for bags and leather goods. They account for 50 percent of luxury brand bags sold in Japan. In China, an estimated 20-25 percent of buyers are secretaries.

CW: Can the average secretary actually afford these goods?

RC: As with any cult, many members are people who should know better. In China, Hong Kong and South Korea, you have consumers who will spend almost their entire month's salaries and eat instant noodles in order to have their bag. We call these people "luxury nibblers." They nibble every three or four months on a wallet or a bag. People in Asia are willing to make sacrifices because people judge you by the brand on your body -- not your family, birth or salary, which can be kept a secret. Brands can make you more successful.

The Details:

See Chadha and Husband at The Glamour Bar.

Saturday, November 25

4pm, 50RMB (includes a drink)

6350-9988

Find their book at Chaterhouse Booktrader

Priceless Facts:

More than 50 percent: the percentage of the global USD 80 billion luxury brand market made up by Asians.

94 percent: the percentage of Tokyo women in their 20s who own a Louis Vuitton bag One month's salary: the amount some Chinese are willing to spend on a luxury watch or bag

USD 1 million: the amount of money spent on luxury brands annually per person by approximately 50-60 well-known Hong Kong tai-tais.

80 percent: the percentage of the early 90s Chinese luxury brand market occupied by men. Currently, China is the only country where men make up 50 percent of the luxury brand market. In most markets this number is 25-30 percent.