China is more than an emerging market for luxury – it is a potential avalanche of opportunity for luxury and tech retailers. With that in mind, Apple has opened its second store in China. The first was in Beijing in 2008. The new one is in Shanghai – arguably the mecca for luxury goods in [...]

Luxury fashion houses, jewelers and automakers have been targeting China more often, including China-only limited editions. The latest of these is from Absolut, which collaborated with the Chinese pop artist Gao Yu on an edition of 350,000 bottles that will become available in China this August. Absolut’s Gao Yu-designed “72变” (72 bian, or “72 transformations”) [...]

The emerging Chinese market continues to draw in top brands – this time Hermès. China’s growing position in the luxury market is clearly being felt by Hermès, who have announced the launch of a new brand called Shang Xia. Hermès have appointed Qiong-Er Jiang as the creative director of the brand which will be based [...]

With spending on luxury goods down across the developed world in the economic crisis, luxury brands are increasingly looking far beyond the chic avenues of New York, London or Paris for revenue. The new names on the lips of luxury professionals are far less familiar — Almaty, Shenzhen, Ulan Bator — respectively, the commercial capital [...]

A look at the growth of Beijing’s luxe market. A few weeks ago, I was riding in the back of a taxi along Beijing’s congested West Chang’an Avenue, edging past the enormous Gucci flagship store, when I did a double-take: Hadn’t we just passed Gucci? As the driver swerved to avoid an old woman riding [...]

Interesting article from the New York Times: But China, the world’s most populous nation, has already become the biggest global car market, having overtaken the United States earlier this year. And Credit Suisse forecast last month that China’s share of global consumption would overtake that of the United States by 2020. China’s population of “high [...]

Here’s Bloomberg on the latest expansion for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., the luxury hotel company, may open more hotels in China because domestic business and leisure travel may rise on the country’s 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package. “We are definitely looking at opening more hotels in China,” Simon Cooper, [...]

As American orders dwindle, Parisian haute couture houses woo wealthy Asian clients, reports Jess Cartner-Morley: At Chanel haute couture, the latest look is a long, slim dress in a rich, opulent fabric, slit to the thigh on each side to give a glimpse of a contrast lining. That this style borrows from the traditional Chinese [...]

Martell’s L’Or selling out in China. Pernod Ricard SA’s Martell says Chinese buyers cleaned the cognac house out of L’Or at $3,600 per bottle, suggesting some of Asia’s richest consumers are shrugging off the financial crisis. L’Or, French for “gold,” was introduced in China at the end of last year, and some of the blend’s [...]

Gucci opened its 28th store this weekend, and will add 2-4 more in the next year. Luxury brand Gucci plans to open two to four more stores this year in China, after opening its 28th on Saturday, undeterred by uncertainty in the global economy as China is set to lead future luxury consumption, Gucci CEO [...]