Home-Grown Brands, Creating Everything From Sporting Goods To Jewelry, Have Their Eyes Set On International Markets
Chinese fashion houses like JNBY have, over the past 10 or 15 years, quickly established reputations for world-class design and quality.
While foreign luxury brands maintained their comfortable lead in China throughout 2009, even cementing it further in smaller or more remote interior cities, developments in 2009 have shown that home-grown brands are confident that they’ll not only grab more market share on their home turf in coming years, they’ll also gain popularity overseas.
From sporting goods maker Li Ning opening the company’s first American branch, to luxury collaborations between German designer Michael Michalsky and sports clothier Dongxiang, to Warren Buffet’s high-profile endorsement of suitmaker Trands, to Qeelin’s new “east meets west” jade collections, 2009 was a year of global momentum for some of China’s more ambitious brands.
As we wrote earlier this year,
Ironically, it is the Chinese consumer that may prove these brands’ biggest obstacle in 2010. If home-grown brands, particularly in the luxury segment, want to raise their brand visibility (and the capital required for overseas jaunts), they’ll have to convince domestic buyers of their quality and value — not as easy as it sounds, as Chinese consumers have gotten used to most domestic brands competing on price alone, with a requisite sacrifice of durability, material quality, or design.
However, some brands, like the aforementioned jewelry house Qeelin, may have a head start on others. As we wrote this fall, by fusing traditional and modern materials that Chinese buyers are particularly fond of, Qeelin may have found Chinese luxury buyers’ weak spot: for certain materials, like rare jadeite, high price equals high quality, and as such, a Qeelin jadeite necklace should be seen by Chinese buyers as an attractive investment:
In 2010, look for more Chinese brands to hit the spotlight, particularly in the jewelry and haute couture spaces. While sports brands like Li Ning won’t be able to compete with Nike or Adidas on the world stage for years (although they’re more optimistic), and Trands won’t make a dent in the dominance of Ferragamo or YSL, the unique design and materials used by companies like Swire, Liwai, Qeelin, JNBY and others gives them a natural leg up on major global competitors.
While it’s unlikely that a significant number of wealthy Japanese, European or American luxury fans will be covered in jadeite or swathed in haute couture inspired by the traditional qipao for a while, keep an eye out for China’s ambitious, motivated brands in the year ahead.
Previously
Success In China’s Luxury Market: 8 Tips For Increasing Appeal
Retro Chinese Brand Feiyue Collaborates On Limited Edition Steph.Cop Sneaker
Comme des Garçons Hong Kong Reopens With Ai Weiwei T-Shirt Collaboration
In China, Bespoke Is “In”
Ferrari Collaborates With Chinese Artist Lu Hao On Exclusive “Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano China”
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