The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
"Burberry's Sales to Chinese Ease Concern of Fading Luxury" (Bloomberg)
"Burberry Group Plc reported first-quarter revenue that exceeded estimates as strong sales to Chinese shoppers eased concern of fading luxury demand and sent the shares up the most in six months."
"Parkson China Checks Out At A Beijing Location" (China News Service)
"Medium- and high-end department store operator Parkson Retail Group Ltd has temporarily closed one of its Beijing stores following two closures elsewhere in the country, adding to a chorus of doubts being voiced about the challenged retail format."
"Alibaba Cheat Sheet" (Women's Wear Daily)
"Investor excitement about Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s upcoming initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange is gathering pace. The market debut — expected to raise more than $20 billion — is predicted to be one of the largest in history globally and is slated for the first half of August, although a date has not yet been specified."
"Global Brands Begins Hong Kong Trading After Li & Fung Spinoff" (Bloomberg)
"Global Brands Group Holding Ltd., a brands management unit spun off from Li & Fung Ltd., begins trading in Hong Kong today. Global Brands, which manages over 350 labels including Coach Inc. shoes and licensed characters such as Angry Birds and Spiderman, started trading at HK$2.09 and rose to HK$2.13 as of 9:49 a.m. local time."
"ASEAN Nears Its 'E-Commerce Moment'" (Financial Times)
"It is a truth almost universally recognised that internet penetration in the 10-member bloc known as Asean – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – is low, even though the region is humming economically. Or is it? UBS finds that Asean has a 32 per cent 'internet penetration rate', or almost 200m users, out of a total population of 620m."
With consumers tightening their belts in China, the battle between global fast fashion brands and local high street giants has intensified.
Investors are bracing for a steep slowdown in luxury sales when luxury companies report their first quarter results, reflecting lacklustre Chinese demand.
The French beauty giant’s two latest deals are part of a wider M&A push by global players to capture a larger slice of the China market, targeting buzzy high-end brands that offer products with distinctive Chinese elements.
Post-Covid spend by US tourists in Europe has surged past 2019 levels. Chinese travellers, by contrast, have largely favoured domestic and regional destinations like Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.