A conference on the fashion industry called "Fashion: the Business and the Brand" organised by the International Herald Tribune newspaper has shown that all is not well in the luxury goods sector.

Christophe Girard, director of strategy at LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group, said that the sector was already suffering from a slowdown in sales before the terrorist attacks which had a negative impact on consumer confidence.

Research from Morgan Stanley found that the sector is down 24% so far this year compared with last year.