But buyers beware -- other hot luxury offerings have fizzled

You might have seen Michael Kors judging alongside host Heidi Klum on the popular show ��Project Runway.” And if you have enough money, you might have bought some of his luxurious handbags, shoes and watches.

Now you can buy stock in his company, simply called Michael Kors (NYSE:KORS), which has come public today. The IPO priced at $20, which was above the $17-$19 price range. The underwriters included Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).

As expected, there was lots of demand for KORS shares, with shares gaining more than 24% to end the day at $24.87.

Michael Kors is one of the world��s top lifestyle luxury brands. Its focus is on the jet-set crowd — or at least those who pretend to be a part of it. Some of the notable customers include Angelina Jolie, Blake Lively, Penelope Cruz and even Michelle Obama.

Michael Kors sells its offerings through a variety of channels. For example, it has a distribution footprint with retailers like Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue (NYSE:SKS), Neiman Marcus, Harrods, Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) and Macy��s (NYSE:M). But Michael Kors also has its own chain of stores, with 169 locations in North America and 34 in Europe and Japan.

Even with the sluggish economy, affluent consumers have had few problems, and they certainly want premium brands. The result is that Michael Kors has been growing at a hefty clip. In fiscal 2011, revenues hit $803.3 million, up 58.1% from the same period a year ago. Net income was $72.5 million, and same-store sales increased 48.2% for the past year.

True, the fashion industry is extremely ri! sky. A t op brand can easily become pass��. Yet Michael Kors consistently has been an innovator since the early 1980s. In other words, it��s a good bet that Michael Kors’ momentum will continue.

But with all the excitement the IPO has garnered, it probably is a good idea to wait before buying any shares. Typically, a hot offering eventually will fizzle out as the buzz subsides. After all, other luxury IPOs this year, such as Prada and Ferragamo (both trade in foreign markets), have shown muted performances since their hot offerings.

Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog ��IPOPlaybook,�� a site dedicated to the hottest news and rumors about initial public offerings. He is also the author of ��All About Short Selling�� and ��All About Commodities.�� Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not own a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.

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