If the names Fendi, Dior and Valentino were rubbed from the shop fronts, Milan’s Via Monte Napoleone could pass for a slightly fancier than average street in the northern Italian style capital, with the typical jostle of vans and Vespas alongside Porsches, tourists and residents. But the 350 metre-long street has just been named the world’s most expensive shopping street, beating New York’s Fifth Avenue, London’s New Bond Street and Paris’s Champs-Élysées, and becoming the first European city to top the list in 34 years. According to the latest Main Streets Across the World report, by the real estate group Cushman & Wakefield, the change “reflects robust rental growth on the Italian street, exceeding 30% in the last two years, further bolstered this year by the euro’s appreciation against the US dollar”.