Louis Vuitton, the French maker of laminated canvas handbags, is the world’s most valuable luxury brand for the sixth consecutive year, a research group says. The brand, owned by Paris-based LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has a value of $24.3 billion, an increase of 23 per cent from 2010, according to Millward Brown Optimor’s 2011 BrandZ study published today. That’s almost as much as the combined values of Hermes, Gucci and Chanel, which ranked second, third and fourth in this year’s luxury-brand standings. Vuitton’s value amounts to almost 28 per cent of LVMH’s current market capitalization.