Rihanna in Guo Pei at the 2015 Met Gala. (Weibo/Metropolitan Museum of Art) Making over 70 percent of luxury purchases outside of mainland China, Chinese consumers now support a vast network of brands and industries worldwide, boosting luxury and fashion brands as well as retailers, hotels and tourism providers. Now, a growing number of tourism…
Month: March 2019
Swatch Bellamy Payment Watch Wins China UnionPay Race Against Apple
Swatch’s new Bellamy smartwatch with UnionPay capabilities. (Courtesy Photo) Chinese consumers may as well throw their physical wallets out the window now that companies are stumbling over each other to offer the best mobile payment option on the market, with Swiss watchmakers particularly keen to compete with Apple’s evolving smartwatch capabilities. The latest piece of…
Industry Interview: How the Social Media Crackdown in China Will Affect Luxury Brands
On June 8, the Chinese government shuttered 60 accounts on some of the biggest social media platforms, including WeChat and Sina Weibo, among others, for publishing celebrity news and gossip because they undermined socialist values. Beijing’s Cyberspace Administration ordered internet companies including Tencent and Baidu to “take effective measures to contain the glorification of scandals…
China’s Top 5 Off-Season Runway Shows Of 2013
While China’s fashion weeks are all about showcasing local talent, foreign brands that unveil their collections in New York, London, Paris, or Milan are increasingly hosting off-season, China-based shows in order to gain the attention of the world’s largest group of luxury consumers. Free from the constraints of the conventional fashion week format, brands experiment…
3 Tips from Roger Vivier’s Nifty 7-Day WeChat Campaign
What: In collaboration with popular Chinese KOL Mr. Bags, French luxury brand Roger Vivier recently launched a WeChat campaign that featured a flash sale intended to drive users to its online store and recruit more followers. While the visually alluring campaign was only for a limited time—it was up for seven days—it gave the brand’s WeChat account…
Met Gala’s Catholic Theme Stumps Chinese Supermodels
In recent years, the star-studded Met Gala has increasingly appealed to China’s A-list actors, models, and designers as a way to boost their fashion status on the world stage. Last night saw the annual star-studded fundraising event take place in support of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. This year, three Chinese supermodels were…
‘Lady Dior As Seen By’ Marks Latest ‘Iconic Piece’ Exhibit To Hit Greater China
An image from the “Lady Dior As Seen By” exhibit, which will arrive in Hong Kong on September 11. (Dior) Earlier this summer, it was Chanel’s little black jacket. This month, it’s Burberry’s classic trench. Now, after originating in Shanghai two years ago, Dior is bringing its own exhibition of an iconic piece back to Greater…
Hublot’s Chinese Flag Watch Commemorates Sino-Swiss Free Trade Agreement
Swiss watchmaker Hublot was commissioned to create the official watch commemorating the Sino-Swiss FTA going into effect. (Hublot) As the provisions of China and Switzerland’s bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) signed last year are set to take effect, Swiss watchmaker Hublot commemorates the milestone with a special-edition watch that was presented to Chinese officials at the 2014 Sino-Swiss…
New York Fashion Week Interview: Chinese Model Jing Wang On The Changing Face Of Fashion
Chinese models are a rising force in the international fashion world with increasingly high incomes and a growing presence in print and on the runway. Before today’s start of Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week, we caught up with New York-based Chinese model Jing Wang, who will be taking part in her third show season and…
Bosideng Shifts UK Strategy To Emphasize Chinese Design
Bosideng’s London store. (Bosideng) When billion-dollar Chinese clothing brand Bosideng decided to expand into the UK with the objective of appealing to European customers, it hired British designers to create clothes with an aesthetic that is markedly different from the down coats for which it is known in China. In a recent change of branding strategy,…