One hundred and twenty five years since it first opened a store in London, the luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton has returned with an audacious new shop – or maison it says, which flies in the face of this new age of nationwide austerity.

As governments across Europe begin significant cost cutting exercises to reign in (for some) post- war high debt levels and appease debtors and credit agencies alike, it seems the ability of the uber rich to continue life without skipping a beat is the order of the day.

Or is it?

A new CoreData Research UK study of British High New Worth Investors will, over the coming weeks, reveal what is happening in this highly sought after segment of the market.

We expect that the reality that Louis Vuitton would have us believe is true reality, is actually quite far away from the truth.

The estimated £15 million spent on the launch party to open the new store is arguably an exercise to boost its brand and attract customers much further afield than London’s affluent Bond Street, where the store – sorry, Maison – has opened.

Yes, it was deemed London’s best A-List party of the year to date (not that burningpants is up to speed on the British entertainment and paparazzi circuit), but Louis Vuitton’s success and future success will come from targeting the new rich rather than old rich.

The fact of the matter is that the new rich are generally in Asia – China in particular as are many of the world’s new HNWIs – and it is in these countries where brands such as Louis Vuitton are held in much higher esteem, as they represent Western wealth, luxury and quality.

So once the hangovers wore off and the reality of continued market uncertainty set in, perhaps the brand building that Louis Vuitton has achieved won’t reap any immediate awards from most UK consumers, possibly even at the high end of town.

The HNWI research should be able to shed some light on how Britain’s rich are feeling and are likely to behave – or at least establish if they, like the Japanese, are content to pay 50 times more for a genuine Louis Vuitton bag because it makes them feel ‘special’.

Or are Britain’s wealthy somewhat pre-occupied with less superficial matters – such as the depleted value of the pound, the new Government’s intent to raise capital gains tax or the impact of the nation’s crippling debt on their long term personal wealth?