At Parisian luxury fashion brand Hermes, best-known for its Kelly bags that start at US$7,000, sales are up 10%, while demand for Coach’s ubiquitous US$325 handbags has slumped. High-end New York City apartments may have seen their values plunge, but at Fifteen Central Park West, billed as the ultimate Manhattan luxury building, at least eight condos are reported to have sold for nearly 40% above what their owners paid for them in 2007. Purveyors of luxury here and abroad are grappling with how to serve this new, more conscientious consumer. “There’s a lot of soul searching and a lot of experimenting,” says Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute, a research firm that follows the industry. “It’s a very turbulent period in the minds of executives. In the next few years, I think we’re going to see some really dramatic innovations from people in the luxury industry.” – from Canada