香港成新的全球奢侈品募股中心

Second-hand bags are first-rate must-haves for Hong Kong's fashionably budget conscious. And Milan Station is the store where deal seekers climb aboard. The Hong Kong-based chain buys previously-used brand-name handbags from their owners and resells them at the stores across China, Taiwan and Macao. There’s no secret to their success.

"I heard that they have some of the most amazing handbags, et cetera. I'm from Europe. We're very fashion-keen, especially on handbags and shoes. And I need to come and check it up."

"Price is good, color is good and if in other places, we can only buy less good-quality bags."

"There is lots of variety."

Including new designer bags and Milan Station's business model isn't just pulling in consumers. It's propelling investor interest. In last week's IPO, Milan Station expected to make about $35 million, but actual subscription requests shot pass 7.4 billion, nearly 2,100 times more than forecast, breaking a 2006 record.

"With a lot of growth potential in China, I think there is a lot of room for imagination. And whether the long-term story of this stock will live up to the expectation, it really comes down to the execution capabilities of the management."

Now the IPO for Milan Station is a sign of more high-ends have hit Hong Kong. Later this June, Prada, the Italian fashion house will likely start trading here. That's after an expected $2 billion IPO.

And Prada's Hong Kong listing, the first for an Italian company, will usher in more high-end to the Hang Seng, adding bling to a global bourse dominated by financials and construction groups. Last week, Coach, the US leather goods maker, announced it'll IPO by the end of this year. Jimmy Choo in shoes, Luggage-maker Samsonite, and Ferragamo, the fashion-footwear maker, are likely to join too. Armand Yeung says this is no fad.

"They do realize that the growth potential in Asia, in particular China and India, will be quite phenomenal. I think, you know, according to, from our understanding, according to a CLSA report, I think, the Chinese luxury consumer market will grow from 15% of the global market to over 44%, you know, by 2020."

And that's why luxury brands are launching IPOs in Hong Kong. It's partly a big ad buy and partly a down payment on hope for future returns aimed at the world's fastest growing luxury goods market, China.

Ramy Inocencio, cnn, Hong Kong.