Popular Media Figure’s Store, Located In Beijing’s Sanlitun Neighborhood, Sells And Promotes Local Brands
Media mogul Hong Huang (洪晃)
We’ve been watching the growing number of domestic Chinese luxury upstarts with a great deal of interest in recent months, from Hermes’ upcoming created-in-China sub-brand Shang Xia to jade and jewelry brands like Zhaoyi, Qeelin and LAN to fashion houses like NE-TIGER and independent designers like Zhang Binqiao. Though local designers and brands are fighting an uphill battle against the Western brands that dominate the Chinese luxury market, this week these newcomers have a powerful ally on their side: Hong Huang (洪晃), a popular media figure, publisher and blogger who has just opened the made-in-China boutique Brand New China (BNC) in Beijing’s swish Sanlitun neighborhood.
A Wall Street Journal profile of Hong and her new store notes that BNC will stock clothing, accessories and furniture by more than 100 designers, which will be sold on consignment at the 540 sq. meter Sanlitun location. Naturally, Hong’s promotion of local brands and designers is not without minor ulterior motives: since many of the designers will be featured in Hong’s magazine iLook, “there’s a potential pay-off for the magazine if local designers grow and have bigger advertising budgets.”
From Hong’s WSJ profile:
Though it’s unlikely that many of China’s most devoted luxury consumers — who have proven themselves thus far to be fixated upon European brands — will flock to BNC, it seems that Hong is actually making a smart move by throwing her weight behind local Chinese designers, who would otherwise have trouble finding a platform for their products. With so many newly-minted Chinese design and fashion graduates returning home from Europe or North America with dreams of establishing their own brands, and many “post-80s” white-collar workers interested in fashion but hamstrung by tight budgets, Hong Huang’s new store could be the perfect meeting place.
Brand New China (BNC)
Sanlitun Village, Village North, lower level LG9, below Rolex
三里屯village北地下LG9,在rolex的楼下
Map
Hong Kong designer Gary Chan trying on an outfit at BNC (Photo via Hung Huang's Weibo)
A dress by He Yan at BNC (Photo via Hung Huang's Weibo)
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