British Vogue editor-in-chief talks fashion and China
- By Tom Cunliffe
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E-mail China.org.cn, June 25, 2015
China also has its own edition of Vogue and is starting to heavily influence the fashion industry. All of the big brands are investing in retail outlets in numerous Chinese cities and they must take into account the desires and needs of China. Shulman suggested that we are unquestionably in the last days of the American fashion empire. Now it has become a "look East, young man" type situation in all aspects related to the fashion industry including deliveries, fabrication, and the revenue in marketing and retail. This means that what the fashion business is concentrating on is already being affected and shaped to a degree by China. Radical change has not happened yet however, and Shulman says this will occur when the Chinese really start rating and buying their home-grown talent's fashion designs, rather than just the big names in European fashion like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Chanel and their ilk. These foreign brands currently see China as a huge "holy grail" of revenue, but when China starts investing heavily in Chinese designers, which will probably happen sooner or later, this will have a huge impact on international fashion.
The Chinese saying "the local ginger is never as hot as somewhere else" perhaps accounts for the Chinese obsession with foreign fashion, suggested David Tang. Another interesting fact brought up was that around 60 percent of luxury goods bought by Chinese residents were obtained from outside of China. China's high import taxes on luxury goods can make them 30 to 60 percent more expensive in Chinese cities when compared to prices in cities like New York, London and Paris. Chinese residents buy luxury brands whilst travelling or studying abroad, and a rapidly growing number turn to overseas retail agents called "daigou". Based overseas, these agents help Chinese clients obtain luxury and designer goods at a far cheaper price than they are in China. The "daigou" posts or delivers the goods in person to their Chinese clients. Young Chinese consumers are especially keen on finding the best discounted prices they can.
The international fashion world is already being influenced by the vast Chinese market with around 250 million people now considered to be middle class (earning 30,000 US dollars or more per year). Once Chinese designers themselves begin to rise in the upper echelons of the fashion world, the changes could be very great indeed.
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