H&M flagship store | Source: NY Magazine

Swedish fashion: How less can be more (CNN)
“Stockholm fashion may not have the clout of Parisian haute couture or the glamor of Milan’s upscale brands. But the city is turning its flair for sleek design into a major business export.”

Bulgari family sells LVMH shares (FT)
“People close to the deal said the Bulgari family had decided to reduce their stake after a strong rise in the shares in the past year and a strong set of results from the world’s largest luxury goods group.”

Savvy Chinese consumer comes of age (FT)
“China even seems to be losing its appetite for fakes. Counterfeit luxury goods, a hit with the girls in the Shanghai typing pool, are losing out to the real thing. Chinese shoppers still like an extra dose of bling on everything, but as salaries and sophistication rise, they prefer their glitz genuine rather than fake.”

Fashion Startup Moda Operandi: Now Opening to the World (Mashable)
“Moda Operandi, the closely watched online retail operation from ex-Gilt exec Aslaug Magnusdottir and Vogue contributing editor Lauren Santo Domingo, is in transition. Once accessible only via application, the year-old site is opening its doors and bolstering its content offerings in an attempt to draw new shoppers in and keep them there.”

Pitching a Few New Tents of Her Own (NY Times)
“Attention young fashion designers, editors, bloggers, stylists and others gearing up for New York Fashion Week. Fern Mallis, widely credited for making this week the huge news media spectacle it is today, has two words of advice: Be nice.”

Calvin Klein Menswear by Italo Zucchelli | Photo: Karim Sadli for 032c

In an exclusive two part interview, courtesy of our friends at 032c, Pierre Alexandre de Looz explores the work of Italo Zucchelli, Calvin Klein men’s collection creative director, known for grafting the infallible promise of technology — the 21st century’s cultural hope — to the fibre of masculine elegance. Today, in Part I, we examine Zucchelli’s menswear philosophy.

NEW YORK, United States — Snug. Well cut. Brilliant. A smack-your-lips example of product design, it defines a point of no return in menswear that equates less with the demise of the top hat than the birth of the iPod. In the story you are about to read, nearly everyone had something to say about Calvin Klein underwear, even the bootlegged kind: MoMA PS1 Curator Klaus Biesenbach, for instance, purchased emergency briefs after losing his luggage on a trip to China and “they are still going strong,” he said, 10 years later. Minimal, clear and universally known, they are like the dark slab of Kubrick’s Space Odyssey, a portal to somewhere beyond our tatty reality. Welcome to the tailored universe of Calvin Klein Men.

Beyond the spread of new men’s fashion rags, growing menswear revenues, and greater assimilation of male customers into the larger fashion system, the Calvin Klein identity sets an ideal stage for modern menswear. If fashion historian Anne Hollander is correct, that “Male dress was always essentially more advanced than female dress throughout fashion history, and tended to lead the way, to set the standard, to make aesthetic propositions to which female fashion responded,” then menswear is the future and the Calvin Klein man is like modernity to the second degree, our escort on the red carpet to a distant horizon.

Italo Zucchelli, an Italian-born designer picked by Mr. Klein, has directed the brand’s Men’s Collection since 2004. I dress as a man, and from this perspective, fashion seems more of a problem than a pastime, a frankly stiffer medium of self-expression than it has been for women. Zucchelli on the other hand doesn’t seem to shoulder any grudges. He wears New Balance sneakers as pleasantly as his Buddha-like face. Nian Fish, 18-year veteran of the KCD production agency and now an independent creative director, tells me, “People don’t get stressed around Italo because you ride his wave of being present and in the moment. He is very light.” Biesenbach, a friend, adds, “He is so modest and at the same time very precise – a rare quality.”

True enough, meeting Zucchelli was light, clear and precise like the tubular steel armchair that graces his living room, a signature Starck design of 1983. A large-scale print of model David Agbodji’s naked back, a molten monolith from Calvin Klein’s Spring and Fall 2010 campaigns sits close. More effusive than his portrait let on, Agbodji later confided: “Italo is probably the nicest, down to earth person I know in this business. Working with him greatly changed my own style. I had no clue how much I love modern minimalism until him.”

Zucchelli invited me to sit at a comfortable distance from the overpowering photo. I hoped to learn a lesson similar to Agbodji’s, to understand Zucchelli’s world and philosophy of menswear. We sank into a soft gray couch that frames the view of midtown from his penthouse apartment. Reflecting on a skyline built of testosterone, I asked, “Should a man dress to show his power?”

“A man should dress to show who he is,” Zucchelli replied. His tautology dispelled any hopes I had of borrowing an identity from anyone or anything outside myself.

Editors and retailers alike appreciate Zucchelli’s no-nonsense focus. Reporter Eric Wilson from The New York Times explains: “He tends to start with a clean line that’s very accessible and adds elements that are more challenging and unusual, but always in a way that a customer can relate to. Italo keeps in mind that he is designing for men and not women, that there is a real world outside the bubble of fashion insiders. It’s a big mistake that a lot of designers make, especially the Europeans.”

Zucchelli keeps a constant reminder of American “realness” in his corner office, a portrait of bulging bare-chested Marlon Brando posing as Stanley Kowalski from the 1951 movie A Street Car Named Desire. Zucchelli has never removed his vintage paperback copy of Tennessee William’s play from its cellophane slip, as if to contain the power of its iconic cover model. Idols like Brando or James Dean served as widely accepted prototypes of masculine style, especially in the way they galvanized a generation of casual dressers (T-shirts and jeans), but was it them or the characters they played? Is Zucchelli thinking of Brando or Kowalski, or both?

David Agbodji, for example, defined the Calvin Klein man like this: “extremely confident and fearless, strong, in great shape and super duper confident. Classic American superheroes like Bruce Wayne or Superman come to mind.” But, how real is Superman? He may be more real than you think. The image of “real men,” particularly in American culture, combines fiction and fact to a degree where the two are inseparable, indistinguishable even.

Italo Zucchelli: When I do a collection I think about the things men would want to wear. On the other hand, when I do a fashion show I have to create a fantasy. My ideal is to reach a perfect balance. It’s like a perfect pop song. It is the most difficult thing to achieve for an artist: to create something that may not seem commercial, expressing his or her creativity to the fullest, and then to see it become a commercial success. Kate Bush’s first single “Wuthering Heights” comes to mind. She was 19 and she sang a song that in 1978 was not what the radio would play – just a girl with a piano and a voice. She fought to release it as her first single (her record company favored another song). It made her a star immediately, number one all over Europe. It was the perfect combination of creativity and commercial success and it’s very inspiring.

Pierre Alexendre de Looz : Perhaps the consumer we think exists is just a fantasy?

I recently read that Steve Jobs avoided focus groups. He believed you have to show people what they want and he proved it. The iPod is a great example. I obsess over music and to me it was revolutionary; a minimal and perfectly designed object that everybody uses, and the most commercially successful product of the last decade. Jobs was incredibly clever and intuitive. I’m fascinated by the fact he applied Zen principles in his “creative strategy” and the result was pure innovation.

How do you use intuition?

Without comparing myself to Jobs, I’ll give you an example. I wanted to use neon color for a while. I debated whether it was chic enough and the many ways to use it. Suddenly, in a vintage store in LA, I saw a wet suit with perfect neon colors. I thought it was a message and decided it was the right time. I assumed the fluorescent suits would simply be an editorial piece, but they did not even arrive in stores – people bought them over the phone! There was clapping in the middle of the show – it was a real moment.

How do you keep your intuitions fresh?

Transcendental meditation. Intuition is something everybody has and meditation is a great way to develop it. I was given a mantra 20 years ago. I sit down and close my eyes, repeating the mantra for 20 minutes. It’s a tool. I would do it even if I cultivated tomatoes because I love it!

What defines the style of American men?

On an elemental level there is a casual, less conceptual or philosophical way of living in America. American men have been trained to take good care of their bodies, practicing a sport or working out at the gym. It’s very different from Europe.

It’s an obvious exception to the distinction you just made, but what do you think of Versace’s menswear from the 90s, since his men were on an American scale?

I thought it was fantastic. It was the opposite of what was going on and it marked the moment of Versace’s career when he enjoyed his greatest success. Sadly, he died shortly after. I see the 90s as a reaction to the 80s, which were about flamboyance and excess. You could design anything, even skirts for men. It would sell and people would wear it. Then came the Gulf War and we entered a major recession. Fashion in the 90s turned to purity. It was almost “non-design” – the opposite of 80s maximalism. But then, Versace became even more baroque. He was making people dream in sad times, you might say. Did I wear it? No, it wasn’t for me. But, it was fun. He invented the super models. He worked with Bruce Weber and Avedon. He created the kind of excitement that fashion always needs.

If the Calvin Klein identity were ever to part ways with minimalism, it will have taken a radical turn; yet, you seem to flirt with the possibility. Do you ever let yourself be kitschy?

In a sort of minimal way, I actually did for one of my earliest runway shows (Spring 2007). The aesthetic was clean, of course, but I sent some models down the runway with leggings (I don’t think anybody got it, but I pretended they were the kind of swimsuit worn by Australian surfers.) When the first of the legging models came off the runway he said, “I think I caused a stir!” That was the show where everything changed: people gasped. It was borderline underwear, borderline kitsch without having to do skirts or brocade. I had taken a staple of American sportswear and combined it with the sex value of the Calvin Klein brand. One reviewer said that you could see whether the models were circumcised or not! A lot of people laughed and some didn’t like it at all, but you need these moments! The midriff T-shirt (Spring 2011) was also very risqué. In eight years it was the most photographed item I’ve designed!

You sexualized the man but did you also feminize him?

Androgyny as a concept was one of the things that drew me the most to the brand because I was always fascinated by it, but especially androgynous women. That’s why I love Tilda Swinton, Annie Lennox, and Grace Jones. David Bowie is on the other side. In fact, I hope Tilda Swinton will play David Bowie in a movie someday. She would be perfection in the role, not least because she is playing a man. There is something extremely modern about the genders coming together, or men and women who dress alike. Calvin always played with that. Even Kate Moss was a creature in the beginning. She was a girl but also otherworldly. That’s the power of unisex. I grew up with this fascination. Even if I am unaware of it, this attitude will come out of what I do from deep inside my imagination.

But you grew up in a country where the gender roles are so clear?

That’s probably why I was fascinated with the middle, as a rebellion.

Are you familiar with Fellini’s sketches where he imagines a muscle woman whose clitoris stands erect like a penis? Modern androgyny was probably invented in Italy.

The Park Hyatt in Tokyo has those drawings on display! It’s an ancient tradition, but that’s where we are headed. The future will be less worried about gender and it will be reflected in clothes.

You are nudging us there! Your collections could be described as a battle between the T-shirt, which is increasingly genderless, and the man’s collar shirt. Lately, the traditional men’s shirt seems to be losing.

Lately, it’s true. T-shirts are very American; just think of James Dean! I was not born here, so I fantasize about the American look – again, we go back to the fashion fantasy. How do I make menswear look relevant and iconic but at the same time highly designed? The T-shirt is the number one staple of American sportswear and the American identity.

Nevertheless you’ve manipulated the traditional shirt. Would you call that fashion in its truest sense – because you are making small changes to a prototype, and these changes can cycle from season to season – or is this what we call progress?

To achieve any results in fashion, it takes time; that’s why I have three fittings in my process. Every collection starts from what you achieved in the last one. Menswear elements like the suit are subtle, whereas sportswear can be extreme and bolder and it’s easier to update. In menswear you have more rules and fewer elements than in women’s fashion, which I like. I find it more challenging to achieve something new while staying within the rules, or, you might say, breaking but not destroying the rules.

Hindsight shows us moments when contemporary fashion reached decisive points, like the little black dress or pantyhose. Do you have any inkling what the next major step for menswear will be?

When Chanel did the little black dress, fashion as we know it was at its beginning. She was a genius, but she arrived at a point when women were still wearing frocks. She simplified the woman. When Giorgio Armani put women in suits, that was genius and both times fashion was still young. These kinds of avenues have been well explored. I am not sure a statement as vast could be made now. My biggest fantasy for the future is that we’ll be able to disappear and not even need clothes. When we live on spaceships, maybe then someone will come up with something as groundbreaking as Chanel.

So, the revolution will come from life and fashion will respond. Thinking back over the last 60 years, who together with Armani has shaped menswear to modern life?

Armani created the power suit for both men and women and empowered women to be as powerful as men. He also created a whole new language, still very relevant today, for men in business and for celebrities – think of Richard Gere in American Gigolo. He created an effortless, everyday man that lives in a modern world, unfussy and real. He always speaks about sobriety. That is his mantra. His company is 30 years old this year, but something so good doesn’t have an expiration date. Helmut Lang created something very sleek, street cool and desirable, especially for men. He defined an era and it was a big loss when he retired. I wore a lot of his clothes because they fit me so well – like a reflective pair of pants!

What other American designers besides Calvin Klein attracted your attention?

Stephen Sprouse was the only alternative designer in America that I was interested in as a student. I never wore anything by him, but I know his vintage is hard to find, and expensive. The fluorescent colors, graphics, graffiti and punkiness; everything about it was underground.

In a similar way, Hedi Slimane has been recognized as having applied countercultural references to men’s tailoring. How do you describe his contribution?

He brought back youth culture. He influenced fashion through the shape he created – a skinny idealistic guy – which was androgynous in a way. All his muses are very young. I relate to his music interests and his interest in the underground, which is where everything comes from.

In the Wim Wenders movie A Notebook on Cities and Clothes from 1989, you see Yohji Yamamoto explaining his love of August Sander’s photographs. They are predominantly images of early 20th century working class men whose clothes are loosely fitted. It reveals a secret code of fashion: if something fits perfectly, it looks tailored and non-proletarian. You are clearly obsessed with precision, so what does looseness mean to you, and how do you use it?

I recently started doing over-sized shapes – let’s use that word – in sportswear. For Fall 2011 I did a bomber and I wanted to make the classic bomber even rounder, to emphasize the iconic. Yamamoto is a master and Japanese fashion has been over-sized since the beginning. But, I would never do this with a suit.

Tomorrow, in Part II, we explore the designer’s creative process and approach to innovation.

This article was written by architect and writer Pierre Alexandre de Looz and was first published by 032c. Click here for a preview of the current issue 0f 032c.

Stella McCartney’s Fashion Message (On the Runway)
“Stella McCartney appears in a new video by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, released today. It’s worth watching. The subject is animal suffering in the leather industry and the risks to human health and the environment from tanneries.”

At Fashion Week, a Peek at a New Tactic for Marketers (NY Times)
“Made Fashion Week’s mobile app… has been designed to listen for specific sound waves that will be played over the speakers during runway shows throughout the week. The app will then automatically pull up a photograph of the outfit — taken by a photographer on the scene — as well as the designer’s name, biography and contact information.”

Models form rights group ahead of New York Fashion Week (Reuters)
“Fashion models in the United States launched a rights group on Monday ahead of New York Fashion Week to seek workplace standards including backstage privacy to stop unauthorized nude photos and a program to provide confidential advice on dealing with sexual harassment.”

Startup of the Week: Lux Fix (Wired)
“Lux Fix is an e-commerce site that works with designers to offer super-curated luxury fashion with members-only discounts… We are the only site which is able to provide its customers with current season offers from top luxury fashion brands; this is possible because we provide marketing and sales generation for our designer partners’ brands and websites.”

French Vogue embraces the digital age with website relaunch (Guardian)
“Vogue magazine has stayed at the pinnacle of fashion. From launching the careers of designers to creating trends and showcasing the latest in culture, Vogue has always been seen as the taste maker in an industry dedicated to the creation of taste makers… Today sees a new website launch from French Vogue.”

Santee Alley in LA by Gina Ferazzi | Source: LA Times

Counterfeit Gap joins the counterfeit Gucci (LA Times)
“The economy is one reason for the trend. ‘The recession has more people trading down,’ said Susan Scafidi, academic director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham University’s law school. ‘Even lower-priced brands feel like a stretch in this economy, and people are more likely to trade down to counterfeits.’ There are several other factors driving the low-rent-counterfeit trend, including the Internet, a changing consumer mind-set and beefed-up anti-counterfeiting efforts by the giant apparel companies.”

An awful lot of fashion in Brazil (FT)
“If France and Italy, the world’s fashion capitals, are content with one big ready-to-wear fashion week, does Brazil really need two? Yes, the country boasts the world’s sixth-largest economy, a growing and appetising consumer market and great tourist appeal, but is there so much going on style-wise that the world requires both Fashion Rio and São Paulo Fashion Week.”

Cashmere maker Cucinelli files for Milan listing (Reuters)
“Italian cashmere goods maker Brunello Cucinelli said on Friday it had filed with Italian regulators for an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares on the Milan bourse , as signs emerged recently of steadier market conditions.”

Beyond the Runway: Meet the PR Pros Who Run Fashion Week (AdAge)
“Those outside the tight-knit fashion PR community might be familiar with Paul Wilmot, who sold his firm to Omnicom’s Fleishman-Hillard; HL-Group, which got snatched up by MDC; or People’s Revolution owner Kelly Cutrone, who through reality TV demystified the frantic nature of fashion-show seating and swag-labeling. But inside the sartorial bubble live some highly influential shops unfamiliar to those outside the industry.”

Embracing the Ghost of a Faraway Past (NY Times)
“‘Who you are today is a ghost of your past,’ said the fast-rising New York designer Prabal Gurung. The observation sounds a bit dark and moody for the amiable young talent, who introduced his line three years ago, full of bright colors and sexy, feminine silhouettes that instantly endeared him to, among many others, the first lady. Lately, though, Mr. Gurung has shown that there’s bite behind the smile.”

Loewe Spring/Summer 2012 | Source: Her World Plus

LVMH Profit Meets Estimates, Sees 2012 Growth (Bloomberg)
“LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (MC), the world’s largest maker of luxury goods, reported full-year profit that met analysts’ estimates and said it’s “well- equipped” to maintain growth in 2012. Net income rose 1 percent to 3.07 billion euros ($4 billion) in 2011, the Paris-based maker of Zenith watches said today.”

In cities, clothes maketh the man (China Daily)
“Cosmetics are not the only luxury goods attracting increasing numbers of Chinese men. More than 76 percent of urban males bought clothes in 2010, with 24 percent regarding clothes as ‘important purchases’, according to Chinese market researchers CTR.”

Luxury Flash Sales Sites Regroup After Layoffs (BetaBeat)
“Mass flash sales—deep discounts that expire usually after one to three days—had been touted as the first real innovation in e-commerce in years, and start-ups that applied the flash-sales phenomenon to the luxury market had investors salivating. But the former venture capital darlings suddenly seemed to be hemorrhaging employees.”

Polo Puzzle: What Goes Into a $155 Price Tag? (WSJ)
“Every piece of clothing has a story: There’s far more to a $155 polo shirt than a yard of fabric, four buttons and a length of thread. The tale of a KP MacLane polo shirt offers a rare look inside the planning and global transactions behind the clothes people wear.”

Following A Legend (Vogue)
“The film, entitled Bill Cunningham New York, profiles the visionary 81-year-old taking pictures on an old Nikon camera of its best dressed residents. Directed and produced by Richard Press, the documentary features anecdotes from New York’s biggest names, from Anna Wintour to best-selling author Tom Wolfe.”

Savigny Luxury Index January 2012 | Source: Savigny Partners

LONDON, United Kingdom — It’s been a strong start to 2012 for the luxury good sector, as equity markets made significant gains in January.

Big news

• The Savigny Luxury Index (‘SLI’) outperformed the benchmark MSCI World Index (‘MSCI’) by 6 percentage points, gaining 11 percent over the month of January, relative to an increase of close to 5 percent for the MSCI.

• Investors have been exposed to continued good news.  Indeed almost all luxury groups have announced outstanding Christmas trading and 2011 year-end results driven mainly by growth in Asia excluding Japan.

• However, uncertainties have not dissipated.  Although the US market seems much better, Europe remains a concern, with sector sales highly dependent on tourist spending.

Going up

David Beckham for H&M | Source: Zap 2 it

David Beckham Fetes H&M Launch in London (WWD)
“It takes an unusual amount of sex appeal for a man to make a pair of long johns look good — and David Beckham has pulled it off. After serving as the face and body for Armani Underwear, Beckham decided to develop his own range together with his business partner and manager, the entertainment mogul Simon Fuller.”

Yoox Chief Marchetti Raises Stake, Forecasts Strong U.S. Growth (Bloomberg)
“Yoox Chief Executive Officer Federico Marchetti raised his stake in the online retailer of fashion and luxury goods after exercising stock options, saying the Italian company is being undervalued by investors.”

Fashion Changes, and So Do the Magazines (NY Times)
“Glamour’s newsstand sales were down substantially last year, by 17 percent through June and (as submitted to the Audit Bureau of Circulation) 9.9 percent in the second half. Most women’s titles were down. Part of the problem, it would seem, is that by exploiting a winning formula, fashion magazines have made themselves indistinguishable.”

Fashion Tech Boom: Why It’s Happening  (Fashionista)
“Last year saw a major influx of new fashion-focused tech startups. With the early success of pioneers like Gilt Groupe and Ideeli, an industry that has typically been slow to embrace new technology has spawned a burgeoning community of game-changing ecommerce sites, mobile apps and social networking and discovery platforms.”

An Intellectual Fashion | Scott Schuman (AnOther)
“Scott Schuman is the founder and editor of the iconic fashion blog The Sartorialist which he set up in 2005. He achieved considerable influence with his photographs taken in the streets, a selection of which was published as a book by Penguin in 2009.”

Benetton Unhate campaign | Source: Foto Telegraf

Benetton to make decision on delisting (FT)
“The Benetton family will decide at a board meeting on Wednesday whether to delist the Italian knitwear group known for its brightly coloured jumpers after the company posted another plunge in profits as it struggles to compete with Inditex and H&M.”

Luxury Companies That Can Bring You Closer to the Good Life (Money Morning)
“A lot of consumers are hurting right now, but you wouldn’t know that looking at the earnings of major luxury companies. Many luxury companies like LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Hermès, and Coach Inc had a stronger-than-expected 2011 campaign.”

Bright Young Things (Vogue)
“The British Fashion Council has announced the launch of International Fashion Showcase – a platform for international emerging designers – which will take place during London Fashion Week. Nineteen embassies and cultural institutes across London will display work from over 80 rising designers, spanning the world from Belgium to Botswana.”

The Finnish Fashion Blogger Who Landed A Deal With Diesel (Business Insider)
“Sandra Hagelstam, 24, is the founder of the hot fashion blog 5inchdesandup.com. She started blogging to create a daily log of what she wears… ‘(The blog) has opened up doors for me I never would have imagined in terms of being able to design my own collection and collaborate with others.’”

Divided they stand: the new extremists (Telegraph)
“This may look like a classic case of Roundhead versus Cavalier. Or Minimalist meets Maximalist. But that’s too simplistic.Neither Mary Katrantzou or Osman Yousefzada can be that easily pigeonholed.”

The Real McCoy's Tokyo | Source: One and Beyond

Made Better in Japan (WSJ)
“Louis Vuitton sales are plummeting, and magnums of Dom Pérignon are no longer being uncorked at a furious pace. That doesn’t mean the Japanese have turned away from the world. They’ve just started approaching it on their own terms, venturing abroad and returning home with increasingly more international tastes and much higher standards, realizing that the apex of bread making may not be Wonder Bread–style loaves, but pain à l’ancienne.”

Luxury brands long to bond with China’s elite (FT)
“Chinese shoppers have become a fixture of the luxury retail scene in the US and Europe, drawn by prices that can be up to 50 per cent lower than tax-elevated levels at home. But many upscale brands have yet to bond with the truly wealthy – China’s million millionaires.”

A fashion revolution? (FT)
“By far the most exciting thing I saw last week during the couture in Paris wasn’t couture at all, but a website that launches today: www.honestby.com. The brainchild of Belgian designer Bruno Pieters, late of Hugo Boss, it is the most subversive etail initiative I have seen.”

CFDA Controversy (Vogue)
“The CFDA has caused controversy after deciding to relocate its offices from New York’s beloved Garment District to Bleecker Street – a move designers have described as a snub to the area – a location that the organisation has always tried to protect and promote through initiatives such as Fashion Incubator and the Made In Midtown study.”

Custom shirts, cut from a different cloth (LA Times)
“Custom-made men’s dress shirts were once considered the privileged peacockery of the moneyed set… Thanks to advances in technology, a competitive market and consumer demand, custom clothing has moved within the barrel-cuffed arm’s reach of the common man.”

Louis Vuitton Maison in Sydney | Source: moluxury.com.au

SYDNEY, Australia — 2011 was an extremely busy year for luxury retail expansion in Australia. In April, Burberry opened a new flagship on Sydney’s George Street. In July, Prada and Miu Miu opened flagships in Sydney’s Westfield  shopping mall, where Gucci also opened its own two-level emporium in November. Then, in a dramatic end-of-year crescendo, Louis Vuitton opened a grand Maison on George Street and Bottega Veneta and Gucci opened stores in Sydney hotel and casino The Star.

This year, store openings in Australia are set to continue at a similar pace. Chanel is planning to expand its flagship on Castlereagh Street and relocate its Melbourne store to a stand-alone building, while Christian Dior will open its first Australian boutique on the site of the old Louis Vuitton store on Castlereagh Street.

So what’s behind the flurry of store openings in Australia?

A Relatively Rosy Macroeconomic Picture

On a macro-economic level, Australia is the only advanced economy that did not enter a deep recession during the global financial crisis. The country’s economy did slow in 2008 and 2009, but recovered quickly thanks to government action in the form of a stimulus package and trade agreements with Asia. “Seventy-five percent of Australia’s exports go to Asia and commodity prices have been very high in recent years,” said Peter Jolly, head of research at National Australia Bank, referring to the spectacular rise in prices, over the last decade, of the country’s major commodity exports to Asia, including iron ore, thermal coal and gold. “The Australian economy is leveraged to China and more generally, Asia, and these economies have continued to grow well in recent years,” he continued.

Indeed, today, the country boasts above-average growth, very little foreign debt and a stable banking system, which, along with a strong Australian dollar, have made the market highly attractive to international brands.

“I think this new move is quite symbolic of how ourselves [sic] and, I believe, the rest of the industry is considering Australia today,” said Yves Carcelle, chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, at the press conference for the opening of the brand’s new Sydney store.

“We see great potential in thriving flagship markets globally, and Sydney and Melbourne, with their cosmopolitan local populations and strong tourist flow, are no exception,” commented Burberry CEOAngela Ahrendts.

The Importance of Asian Tourist Flows

Indeed, Australia is not only a comparatively vibrant, ‘Western’ economy. It’s also part of the rapidly-growing Asia-Pacific region, making it doubly attractive to international brands who stand to benefit from the country’s healthy flow of Asian tourists, especially from China. In fact, Philip Morrice, director of The Friday Group, a Sydney-based consulting company, estimates that up to 35 percent of Australian retail traffic can be attributed to tourists.

“[Luxury brands] are boosting their presence and catering to the travelers coming to Sydney from Asia,” said Peter Esho, chief market analyst at City Index, a factor Carcelle acknowledged: “[Australia is] one of the big centres of interest for Asia-Pacific. You are quite a centre of attraction for high-end tourists from this part of the world.”

In 2010, the number of tourists from China grew by 24 percent (figures for 2011 have yet to be released) contributing $3.26 billion to the Australian economy. And in July of 2011, Tourism Australia unveiled its China 2020 Strategic Plan, which aims to further increase the number of Chinese tourists over the next eight years. Part of their sales pitch: Australia as a luxury shopping destination.

“While we know Australia’s incredible nature experiences are the main reason why Chinese travelers choose to visit, other aspects such as our food and shopping experiences are also part of the mix,” said managing director of Tourism Australia Andrew McEvoy. “Certainly the increasing presence of luxury brands in Australia will help to enhance the shopping options for Chinese visitors when they are here.”

Importantly, the price of international luxury goods is substantially less in Australia than in China, meaning that shopping in Australia can mean significant savings for Chinese tourists. “[They avoid] China’s mainland sales tax of up to 17 percent, consumption tax as much as 56 per cent and hefty import duties,” said Melinda O’Rourke, director of Sydney-based consultancy MO Luxury.

Targeting Asian tourists is such an important part of a successful Australia retail strategy that some luxury brands have even launched special Australia-inspired products which, experts say, are much more likely to resonate with visitors than locals. For example, to celebrate the opening of the brand’s 7,500 square foot flagship at Westfield Sydney, Gucci launched a limited-edition ‘Sydney’ collection, which included monogrammed koala, crocodile and kangaroo key chains and bags emblazoned with the Australian flag and the stars of the Southern Cross.

Store openings in hotel and casino complexes — Gucci, Bottega Veneta have opened in Sydney’s The Star, while Louis Vuitton, Prada and Burberry have stores in Melbourne’s Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex — are also designed to help brands tap the tourist market, said O’Rourke.

What’s more, brands are placing significant importance on recruiting multilingual retail staff to cater to tourists. “Right now, as the Chinese tourist market is strong, it is part of the strategic plan of brands to ensure they have Chinese-speaking staff on the floor,” said O’Rourke.

But as China’s economic growth rate declines — year-on-year growth in China has slowed for four straight quarters — can luxury brands depend on tourist spending to boost their Australia sales?

An Uncertain Future in Australia

“The vast majority of our business is done with the Australian consumer. The tourist business is a welcome addition, but in this world it is very unpredictable,” said Philip Corne, CEO of Louis Vuitton Oceania.

“If luxury brands are forecasting and managing their businesses correctly the tourist dollars should be the cream on the top,” said O’Rourke. “Budget and profit targets should be achieved with local consumer spending.”

But local spending in Australia may not be as dependable as once thought, either. Indeed, much of the country’s economy — not just tourism — is dependent on China’s growth, which has driven astounding demand for Australian commodity exports over the last decade.

However, as Philip Bowring reports in a recent Wall Street Journal article entitled “Australia’s Economic Luck May Not Last,” with China’s engine of growth slowing, Australia’s economic outlook is looking less rosy. “One of the challenges will be how China and Asian economies perform,” said Jolly. “Although on this front we have some comfort, as we expect soft-landings for presently slowing Asian economies.”

But according to Bowring, commodity prices can move much more violently than changes in demand, painting a worrying picture for the commodity-dependent Australian economy. “The bottom line is that Australia is more vulnerable than is usually assumed.”

Alice Cavanagh is editor of Oyster magazine.