Mao jackets just a memory now
By Ann Mah
International Herald Tribune
Published: December 2, 2004
BEIJING: When Connie Hwang arrived here in 1986, she was struck by the drab, unvaried clothing.
“I only saw blues and grays on the street,” she recalled. Today, Hwang, 41, a native of Hong Kong, owns an upscale restaurant in Beijing’s central business district. She is amazed by the variety of what is now available here.
“Young people are really lucky,” she said. “They are absolutely aware of brands and designer names, and they have so much choice.”
In a city known for the Mao jacket, not Marc Jacobs, the desire for luxury products is blossoming. Attend a swanky cocktail party, and it’s likely you’ll spot women carrying Louis Vuitton handbags, wearing Prada shoes and powdering their noses with L’Oréal compacts. Stimulated by fashion magazines and the presence of brand name stores in premium locations, China’s desire for luxury products has touched both the rich and the middle class, sharpening their appetite for expensive goods, and defining their sense of style.
“In China, people still look to the West for inspiration and design,” said Sun Ming, a former editor at Madame Figaro, one of China’s leading fashion magazines. “Women learn about French or American fashions from magazines and ads in newspapers. Or they look at the styles in shop windows.”
However, she added, “Not a lot of people buy couture. Most people buy products with a prominent logo.”
Nicole Chen, 32, the owner of NC Style, a hip Beijing boutique that sells European brands, believes the presence of luxury stores in China has affected local style.
“Before you would hear about brands but only see them in magazines,” she said. “Even if you had money, you couldn’t buy the products. Now they’re available here — or you can buy them in Europe.”
Relaxed travel regulations have also influenced Chinese fashion.
“People can go abroad more easily, they see more things, think more things,” said Chen. “As a result, Chinese style is changing very fast,” she added.
But while China’s sense of chic may be evolving rapidly, expensive clothes remain low on the wish list. Instead, women purchase shoes or handbags for their quality and enduring elegance, as well as another vital element: status.
“A brand name handbag is a symbol,” said J.C. Ning, chief executive officer of Opus, which publishes Madame Figaro in China. “It shows you’ve made it among your peers, or better.”
Chen, who doubles as a fashion stylist for Chinese celebrities, agrees. “Many rich women buy expensive brands and think that makes them fashionable,” she said. “If Chinese people don’t know the brand, they don’t feel it’s a good value. They just look at the label.”
In the past, most consumers of luxury products were wealthy wives or “tai tais,” women who married or divorced well. Today’s market has expanded to include career women who work in white-collar sectors such as finance, the media or advertising, as well as female entrepreneurs who have found business success in China.
“Career women buy 8,000 yuan handbags,” observed Ning, referring to an amount equal to about $1,000. “They have a personal image to maintain. Entrepreneurs who have become very wealthy buy jewelry or watches. Men buy for their girlfriends or wives.”
Luxury stores are also courting younger women.
“There’s a second generation whose parents have money,” said Shen Qing, 38, a former editor at a Chinese celebrity magazine. “They’re young, they studied abroad and they’re very fashion-savvy.”
Shen, who describes herself as “passionate about fashion,” moved back to her native Beijing from the United States two years ago.
She believes young women will have even more purchasing power in the future. “They first buy fakes, and then when they have money they buy the real thing,” she said. “Five or 10 years from now, when they start making money, they’ll be a major force in supporting luxury brands.”
Chen, whose shop caters to a wide range of affluent customers, has her eye on another group with rapidly growing purchasing power: young women in their 20s, generally the only children of middle-class parents, who have been regularly indulged since childhood. “They spend a lot of money. They still live with their parents and so they don’t have to pay rent or buy food,” she said.
For most Chinese women, luxury purchases begin with high-end makeup and skin-care products. In fact, many expensive cosmetics are now considered essentials.
“Today, no matter how expensive, makeup is considered a necessity,” said Ning, whose magazine is peppered with ads from L’Oréal, Prada and Louis Vuitton, among others. “The relatively low price point allows women to own a piece of luxury without spending a fortune. It’s a good entry into luxury goods.”
Yet in a nation where even Chanel lipstick remains out of reach for most of the population, luxury retailers also face high taxes that lead to sticker shock for most potential customers.
“Tax is very high here, at least 20 percent more,” affirmed Hwang, who often shops in her native Hong Kong, where she recently brought a Christian Dior handbag. “Rich people travel so frequently that they only buy overseas. Once the tax and variety of goods are the same as in Hong Kong, then even more people will shop here.”
Still, luxury brands have already had an impact on Chinese style — and no one is surprised.
“The desire for luxury has always been here,” said Ning. Besides, he added, “All women love shoes, and they can never have enough. Chinese women are no different.”