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.
"H&M Joins Uniqlo in Voicing Confidence Over China Amid Slowdown" (Bloomberg)
"Hennes & Mauritz AB is approaching the opening of its 300th store in China as the Swedish retailer sees its brand of affordable clothes appealing to cost-conscious shoppers in the slowing economy."
"Alibaba's Taobao Faces Call to Be Renamed a 'Notorious Market'" (Bloomberg)
"Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Taobao shopping website should be put back on the U.S. government's "Notorious Markets" list for failing to stop the sales of fakes, according to a group representing U.S. clothing makers."
"Chinese Still Spending on Luxury, Just Not at Home" (CNBC)
"China's luxury sector might be reeling from the twin blows of the government's anti-corruption drive and a weaker yuan but wealthy Chinese consumers haven't lost their urge to splurge, according to the CEO of high-end Swiss watchmaker Piaget."
"Fashion Designer Phillip Lim Celebrates 10 Years in the Industry" (South China Morning Post)
"'People have this perception that the Chinese will buy anything but they are not like that. We think China will stabilise eventually.'"
"As China Sparkle Fades, De Beers Sees Glint in Bridal, Gift Diamonds" (Reuters)
"Famed diamond supplier De Beers expects the value of its sales of the polished jewel in China may rise this year by just over a tenth of 2011's surge, as the economy that has long bolstered global luxury goods heads for its weakest growth in 25 years."
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.