The financial crisis of 2007-08 brought down the sentiments of the investors in the market and the owners of the concerns. During a financial crisis, unemployment is assumed at the lowest, profitability sinks, investments are low, inflation is high, productivity is low, and there is a decline in demand. The entire economy endeavours for survival. Many sources have stated that the luxury market is not hit by recessionary times. The consumers of this market are assumed not to have any inclination to the market, even if bad news is pouring in. In order to check the claims of the executives and the companies and to check the resilience of the market, the present study examined the financial performance of the luxury market pre and post the financial crisis of 2007-08. The luxury market is scattered across the globe. So, the S & P Global Luxury Index was taken as a proxy of the market. It has 80 members from various countries; 2004-2013 data was collected from the Bloomberg database. Paired t -test was applied on all the measures, and the results were discussed. The results revealed that the tough time of recession proved to be difficult for the luxury market as a whole. The liquidity of the market in all the segments did not change significantly. Almost all sectors were hit by the downturn, but the textiles, apparel,&luxury goods sector proved to be the most profitable to entrepreneurs and to investors as well.

1. Bain & Company. (2011). Luxury goods worldwide market study (10th edition). Retrieved from <a href=http://www.bain.de/Images/Bainbrief_Luxury_Goods_Study_10thEdition.pdf target="_blank">http://www.bain.de/Images/Bainbrief_Luxury_Goods_Study_10thEdition.pdf</a>
2. Bowman, E. H., & Haire, M. (1975). A strategic posture towards corporate social responsibility. California Management Review, 18 (2), 49-58. DOI: 10.2307/41164638
3. Claessens S., Djankov, S., & Xu, L. C. (2000). Corporate performance in the East Asian financial crisis. The World Bank Research Observer, 15 (1), 23-46.
4. Csaba, F.F. (2008). Redefining luxury: A review essay (Working Paper #15). Retrieved from <a href=http://openarchive.cbs.dk/bitstream/handle/10398/7765/Creative%20Encounters%20Working%20Papers%2015.pdf?sequence=1 target="_blank">http://openarchive.cbs.dk/bitstream/handle/10398/7765/Creative%20Encounters%20Working%20Papers%2015.pdf?sequence=1</a>
5. Harvey, C. R., & Roper, A. H. (1999). The Asian bet. In, A . Harwood, R. E. Litan, & M. Pomerleano (Eds.). (1999) The crisis in emerging financial markets. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press.
6. Kapferer, J.N., & Bastien, V. (2009). The luxury strategy. London: Kogan Page.
7. Kapferer, J.N., & Tabatoni, O. (2010). Is the luxury industry really a financier's dream? (HEC Paris Working Paper). Paris : Groupe HEC.
8. Lopez, A., Monroy, A., & Cervino, E. (2011). The impact of financial crisis on profitability, asset turnover and state aid in SMEs. African Journal of Business Management, 5 (33), 12749-12753.
9. Marques, T., Gonzales, I. S., Cruz, P., & Ferreira, M. (2011). Downsizing and profitability: An empirical study of Portuguese firms in 1993-2005. International Journal of Business and Economics, 10 (1), 13-26.
10. Pomerleano, M. (1998). The East Asia crisis and corporate finances. The untold micro story. Emerging Markets Quarterly, 2 (4), 14 - 27.
11. Saji, T.G., Harikumar, S., & Kasim M. C. (2013). The global financial crisis and performance of the Indian corporate sector: A firm level analysis. Indian Journal of Finance, 7(5), 14-23. DOI: 10.17010/ijf/2013/v7i5/72110
12. Singh, S., Jain, P.K., & Yadav, S. (2010). Financial management analysis of profitability of selected industries in India: Empirical research. Journal of Financial Management and Analysis, 26 (l), 75-95.
13. Sombart,W. (1992). Leibe, Luxus und Kapitalismus. Wagenbach: Germany.
14. Sur, D., Chakraborthy, K., & Das, S. (2007). Measuring the efficiency of asset management of private sector enterprises in india during the pre and post liberalization periods: A study on Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited. The ICFAI Journal of Management Research, 6 (7), 25-35.
15. Wilson, J., & Eilertsen, S. (2010). How did strategic planning help during the economic crisis? Strategy and Leadership, 38 (2), 5-14.
16. Wilson, N., Wright, M., Siegel, D.S., & Scholes, L. (2012). Private equity portfolio company performance during the global recession. Journal of Corporate Finance, 18, 193-205.