NEW YORK: Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss are among the luxury fashion brands which affluent men are most familiar with and likely to have bought in the last year – but not necessarily the offerings they are most likely to recommend.

The Luxury Institute asked 3,900 high-earning males in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, China and Japan to rate 42 premium fashion lines in areas ranging from perceived exclusivity to whether they would be recommended to family and friends.

Globally, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss were joined by Burberry and Giorgio Armani among the top five brands that respondents knew about and were most likely to have purchased over the previous 12 months.

But when participants were tasked with picking which brands they were familiar with and would recommend, the leading manufacturers were Gianluca Isaia, Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli, Brioni and Ermenegildo Zegna.

More specifically, Gianluca Isaia was named as "a worldwide standout for being purchased by people who are admired and respected", and topped the charts in terms of "making buyers feel special across the full customer experience."

And while only 3% of shoppers could identify the brand, fully 75% of that group would recommend it to others, the analysis added.

"Smaller brands now more than ever are finding it easier to make a big impact on the fashion industry in a relatively short period of time as they use the latest technology to bring their designs to a global stage," added Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute.

"In this kind of landscape, both bigger and smaller fashion houses need to monitor the degree to which their brands resonate favourably with their target customers."

Elsewhere, when selecting the brands that could justify a price premium, the panel chose Armani, Hermès, Brioni, Ermenegildo Zegna and Loro Piana.

Data sourced from the Luxury Institute; additional content by Warc staff