As London Fashion Week gets underway, a leading investment house looks at the business prospects of fashion brands much loved by the Duchess of Cambridge - Burberry and Hugo Boss.

By Iona Bain

Kate Middleton, Alexa Chung and Emma Watson are some of the most famous fans of Burberry, which is showing its latest collection today for London Fashion Week, but the iconic label isn't just catching the eye of fashion mavens.

It has now become a firm favourite among investors, who believe that the revamped fashion house is well-placed to capitalise on the growing demand for luxury goods in Asia.

Tom Ewing, portfolio manager at Fidelity UK Growth, believes that Burberry is a strong brand name with an "excellent" management team and "robust" balance sheet.

He says: "Despite strong growth in recent years, the brand remains under-penetrated in many markets, so there is plenty of potential for growth. Burberry has a strong presence in China where the rapidly growing middle class is increasing its demand for aspirational goods."

The Duchess of Cambridge wore a red scarf from Hugo Boss on the recent royal tour of Canada, and experts say the German fashion house could be another canny choice for investors.

Sam Morse, portfolio manager at Fidelity European Fund, says that investors with the brand are enjoying "a generous level of dividend and double-digit dividend growth".

He observes: "A newish management team, who were put in place a few years ago by majority owners Permira are now delivering on this, having done a good job in improving the basic operations of the company.

"Sales and margins are showing evidence of this improvement. It has low levels of debt and a high level of free cash flow, most of which it pays out in dividends."