This week centered on international affairs, mainly developments in China. To start, Neiman Marcus celebrated the launch of its new Chinese website through a fashion show on the Bund waterfront that featured spring collections from revered designers including Reed Krakoff, Alexander McQueen, Valentino, Donna Karan and Tory Burch. There were only a few hundred attendees, comprising current or potential Neiman Marcus customers including artists, musicians and socialites.
Meanwhile, Christian Louboutin became one of the most recent brands to build a presence in China. The footwear brand reportedly launched a Sina Weibo profile, YouKu and Toudu pages. Content on these sites includes behind-the-scenes videos and shows of the designer. WWD also reports that an ecommerce site for Louboutin will set to launch in a few months.
Much like the United States’ fascination with its own First Lady Michelle Obama, former singer and current First Lady of China Pen Liyuan has caught the attention of her home country – most especially its high-end fashion labels. Experts and journalists are thinking that this interest in Ms. Liyuan’s fashions could dramatically shape the Chinese fashion industry, especially the way that consumers see domestic labels. High-end Chinese brands have waned in the marketplace in the existence of foreign brands from the U.S. and Europe, but when Ms. Liyuan went on an overseas visit wearing a Guangzhou fashion brand called Exception, internet searches for the brand went from 290 to 31,626 in two days. This provides a huge opportunity for high-end Chinese labels.
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