Hermès, Other Brands Recognizing Importance Of Chinese Luxury Market, Designing Shanghai-Inspired Collections And Limited Edition Items
Shanghai Tang calls itself "China's first luxury brand."
Lingering global economic woes have sent Chinese luxury consumers leapfrogging past their counterparts in more established markets, leading the world’s top luxury brands to fight tooth and nail for more market share in a market that now accounts for over 25% of the world’s annual luxury consumption. To do this, many brands are embarking on ambitious expansion plans, branching out from the top-tier markets that have incubated brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci for the past couple of decades into second- and increasingly third-tier cities. Other brands, however, are taking a somewhat different approach.
As Jing Daily wrote recently, companies that are worried about spreading themselves too thin in China and alienating the wealthy customers who have bankrolled their success in the mainland are increasingly looking to bring together their western pedigree and Chinese cultural or historical design cues in order to make a stronger connection with their key demographics. The oft-noted example of this is the new brand currently in the works by Hermès, Shang Xia, which Hermès has committed to building from the ground up using Chinese designers, Chinese materials and Chinese craftsmanship. While we’ll have to wait a while longer to see Shang Xia’s collections in person, it’s likely one of the first of many China-only partnerships we’re likely to see among the world’s top luxury brands.
Looking to bring together east and west, both in terms of design as well as marketing, many brands are eyeing Shanghai as a source of inspiration. This January, Prada teamed up with the Chinese artist and filmmaker Yang Fudong to produce the short film “First Spring,” and that same month Karl Lagerfeld held the Metier d’Arts show at the newly opened Chanel boutique on the Bund. Also in January, David Lynch filmed his “Lady Dior” advertisement with Marion Cotillard in Shanghai. Clearly, the former (and perhaps once again) “Paris of the East” is the place to be for the world’s top luxury brands. But will they be the only ones to profit from Shanghai’s allure? Or will up-and-coming Chinese brands find their niche as well?
This week, Ifeng (Chinese) looks at the phenomenon of “Shanghai Inspiration,” noting that the multiculturalism of Shanghai has done nothing to blunt the city’s mysterious Eastern atmosphere. (Translation by Jing Daily team.)
Karl Lagerfeld in Shanghai
The article goes on to mention Karl Lagerfeld’s recent event in Shanghai, saying that his recent event on the Huangpu River, which straddles the Pudong new area and the Bund, captured the zeitgeist, with Pudong’s gleaming skyscrapers providing the ultimate backdrop for the party. After a short profile of Yang Fudong’s “First Spring” short film/advertisement for Prada, the article goes on to point out the most effective ways that brands can enter — and create products that will appeal to — the Shanghai market:
The article goes on to discuss Chinese brands that have made an impression on the global stage, including Shanghai Tang, started in 1994 by David Tang: