Growing demand for luxury fashion goods made a number of Italian designers and brand owners, including Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of Dolce & Gabbana, billionaires.

Over the past year people around the world spent more on luxury goods and top fashion brands. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index Domenico Dolce, 54, and Stefano Gabbana, 50 have entered the list of the world’s richest.

Fashion designers Dolce and Gabbana have been in a romantic relationship for over 20 years and broke onto the fashion scene in the early 1980s. Since 2007 both Dolce and Gabbana have been involved in court battle over charges of tax evasion, which they both deny.

According to calculations made by leading consultancy companies like McKinsey & Co. and Bain & Co. the past year saw a 10 per cent increase in consumer spending on luxury apparel, accessories and cosmetics. The figures have been rising at least 10 per cent annually for three years in a row.

“There’s solid momentum in the sector driven by strong demand out of the newer markets,” David Wu, a luxury goods analyst at Telsey Advisory Group in New York told Bloomberg. “China continues to be a huge growth opportunity and more attention is being paid to Brazil and India especially.”

According to the data compiled by Bloomberg, growing demand for luxury goods also pushed several other fashion industry players to the top of rich lists. Among such is Sandro Veronesi, the owner of Calzedonia Group which sells fashion underwear, beachwear and hosiery; Spain’s Sandra Ortega-Mera, the daughter of Zara chain founder and the Europe’s richest man Amancio Ortega; American Tory Burch, the co-founder of New York-based shoe and handbag-maker Tory Burch LLC; and Prada executives Marina Prada and Alberto Prada Bianchi.

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