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.
"Nicholas Kirkwood Launches in Beijing in Next Step of Expansion Plan" (The Business of Fashion)
"British footwear label Nicholas Kirkwood opens its first own-brand presence in China, in partnership with Beijing department store Shin Kong Place."
"Hermès takes long view to feed China's appetite for understated style" (The Financial Times)
"Hermès represents what China aspires to be: not just another nouveau riche nation with more money than taste, but a country of sophisticated affluence and understated extravagance."
"Richemont Profit Hit By Asian Slowdown" (Bloomberg)
"Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, the world's largest jewelry maker, reported first-half operating profit that missed analysts' estimates as luxury-goods demand in Asia weakened."
"E-Commerce Is So Huge Now in China, Some Brands Skip Opening an Actual Store" (Advertising Age)
"E-commerce in China has gotten so huge that even big brands have to consider whether doing market entry with actual brick-and-mortar stores is worthwhile."
"Alibaba Goes Global to Top $5.7 Billion on Singles' Day" (Bloomberg)
"Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. turned an obscure Chinese holiday into the country's biggest shopping event. Now it's aiming to take the success of Singles' Day global by tapping foreign brands, including Calvin Klein and Blue Nile Inc."
"'Bling Dynasty' Author Erwan Rambourg Tells Why The Reign Of China's Luxury Shoppers Has Just Begun" (Jing Daily)
"Rambourg, a managing director at HSBC in Hong Kong with eight years of luxury marketing experience for companies including LVMH and Richemont, believes that worries about the China luxury slowdown are overblown as incomes rise and Chinese consumers increasingly travel abroad to shop."
Beijing’s Covid-19 policy shift will give the sector a boost in 2023 but a surge in infections and sluggish economic growth could dampen the recovery after an uplift from Chinese New Year.
This week, China rolled back some strict zero-Covid measures, opening a road to recovery for luxury and retail. But the journey is likely to be long and bumpy, experts warn.
Despite disappointing Singles Day sales results, harsh Zero Covid restrictions and supply chain woes, international beauty conglomerates continue to see China as a growth engine.
Disappointing sales were only part of the story, as brands increasingly used the world’s biggest online shopping festival as a marketing moment.