How Far Can Jiang And Shang Xia Go To Build Luxury With Chinese Characteristics?
Jiang Qiong Er, ShangXia’s CEO and artistic director (Image: Luxury Society)
Jiang Qiong Er, artistic director and CEO of Shang Xia, the “designed in China” sub-brand of French luxury titan Hermès, is widely considered one of the most promising individuals working to build Chinese-style luxury today. Fluent in French, conversant in English, and a native Mandarin speaker, Jiang has, since the official launch of Shang Xia last fall, leveraged her experience in the luxury and design worlds to integrate traditional Chinese and contemporary Western culture and create a cosmopolitan and sophisticated new brand that is distinctly Chinese in spirit and craftsmanship.
Located at Shanghai’s Hong Kong Plaza, Shang Xia’s Kengo Kuma-designed boutique has caught the attention of the media world and called attention to the brand’s mission to become China’s first true Chinese high-end brand. Currently, though, the brand is fighting a common obstacle faced by most upstart Chinese brands: apathy among Chinese consumers. As the Wall Street Journal noted at the launch of Shang Xia last fall, resistance among domestic shoppers will remain a difficult hurdle to cross for domestic brands with international backers for years to come:
In terms of style, for Shang Xia Jiang has sought to pair traditional Chinese materials with the temperament of Western luxury brands. Although other designers, such as “red princess” Wan Baobao, are also attempting to build Chinese-style luxury brands, few have the design skills, team or backing to capture the complexity of Chinese design culture.
Shang Xia’s inaugural boutique in Shanghai
Many of us are curious to see how far can Jiang can take Shang Xia. Will it will catch on with China’s affluent consumers? Or could it eventually see more success in overseas markets that are developing an interest in neo-Chinoiserie? From the Chinese-language portal Sina Style (translation by Jing Daily team):
While we haven’t seen sales reports from Shang Xia’s inaugural boutique, we’ve kept a close eye on the brand’s art- and culture-focused efforts, such as its recent “Pass It On” exhibition, which are going a long way in building the brand’s image as culturally attuned. Like other aspiring Chinese high-end brands like Shanghai VIVE, Shang Xia lets its comparatively understated image do most of the talking. However, for any upscale brand, the most important thing is to transfer branding efforts to sales figures, and it is this that will likely be one of Shang Xia’s greatest challenges in the months and years ahead.