ecently, the Chinese lifestyle app RED launched its “2020 RED Yearly Beauty Insight Report,” which showed that the number of views on the app related to domestic brands increased by 66 percent over the first half of 2020, garnering the highest year-on-year growth amongst sectors globally. Emerging domestic brand Colorkey experienced the most explosive growth, seeing an 8,529-percent increase in viewership. Although Western beauty brands still dominate RED with the highest percentage of content views, they have fallen slightly from 63.2 to 62 percent during the period. Views of overseas brands from Japan, Korea, and Thailand have also dropped — from 31.4 to 30.2 percent. Read more (Jing Daily)
Category Archives: luxury
Emerging geographies For Luxury in China – Looking Beyond Tier One Cities
According to Deloitte and Secco, Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities account for 56 percent of luxury goods consumption. However, growing disposable income levels, partly attributed to lower living costs, particularly in North and Southwest China provinces, will open up the luxury market to millions of new consumers. Digital avenues connect these new consumers to the luxury universe. And investments in infrastructure will also create a positive environment (it is no coincidence that Tesla targeted lower-tier cities like Weifang and Linyi when opening its new centers). Read more (Jing Daily)
LVMH’s latest venture — a deadstock fabric platform
Nona Source, which launches this Monday, is the brainchild of Romain Brabo, formerly a materials buyer at LVMH-owned Givenchy. “In my role, I would go to warehouses, and I saw the multiplication of deadstocks,” he says. “I thought: on one hand, there are young designers seeking beautiful fabrics to make their collections; on the other hand, couture houses are storing materials they have no use for. How to create a link between them?” Nona is one of the Parcae in Roman mythology, Brabo explains. She spins the thread of life, and Source is a reference to “sourcing”. Read more (Vogue Business)
Luxury beauty is betting on refillable solutions, but will customer behavior follow?
Luxury beauty has not always been at the forefront of all things eco-friendly. In the past, when a cosmetics house launched a new prestige product, it was sold with the idea that it was gorgeous enough to sit on your vanity well after you used it, or perhaps you’d be able to recycle it, if you lived where such a thing is possible. (Hint: Many don’t.) The refillable beauty category has offered a new alternative though, and brands like La Prairie and its new Pure Gold collection have embraced the trend. Rather than throw out or recycle the entire skin care product once you’re through with it, just pop in a new refill. Or, as La Prairie calls them, “replenishments.” Read more (TZR)
Covid Bunkers – The Newest Status Symbol for High-Net Worth Homeowners: Trophy Trees
For decades, Walter Acree operated a modest landscaping business in Deerfield Beach, Fla. A self-described rebel, he mowed lawns in his bare feet, his then-long hair falling around his shoulders. Then, a few years ago, he stumbled into a lucrative niche business: helping South Florida’s superrich find trophy trees—the latest in status symbols for the most well-off Americans. Read more (WSJ)
What Makes a Brand Sustainable Anyways?
Local, fair trade, carbon-neutral . . . What makes a brand ethical and sustainable anyways? While everyone has slightly different criteria, there are some universal standards these brands must uphold, and there are some that do so under relatively intense consumer scrutiny. Read more (Thread Magazine/Cornell)
Domestic Luxury Shopping is Here to Stay in China — To the Dismay of Overseas Retailers
The impact of the shop-near-home trend has been noteworthy. According to the Wall Street Journal, the China unit of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE — owner of Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Dior, and many others — saw 65% growth year-over-year in the second quarter of 2020, while Kering SA, whose portfolio includes Gucci and Bottega Veneta, recorded a 40% increase in revenue in China during the same period. Currently, demand at brick-and-mortar stores is so strong that Gucci and Hermès stores in Shanghai have limited shopper visits to avoid overcrowding. China was virtually the only bright spot for both LVMH and Kering, as global revenue for the two luxury giants in the second quarter of the year plummeted 38% and 43.7%, respectively. Read more (Jing Daily)
What Happens to Luxury if China Stalls?
China has emerged as the economic winner of the COVID-19 pandemic, and analysts predict that gains made in 2020 — when it was the only major economy to record growth — have set it on a path to become the world’s largest luxury market by 2025. At that point, Chinese consumers are predicted to make up nearly 50 percent of all luxury purchases globally, according to a November report from Bain & Co.
But could anything slow the runaway train that is China’s economy? Is there anything that would not make this a reality? Read more (Jing Daily)
Chanel Unveils Global Culture Fund To Support Pioneering Artists
Chanel has launched the Chanel Culture Fund, a global programme of initiatives and partnerships that aims to support innovators across the arts in advancing new ideas and greater representation in culture and society.
The fund seeks to champion equality of voice and give visibility to global game-changers at a time when the arts provide a vital source of inspiration and perspectives on the way we view the world. It builds on Chanel’s 100-year heritage of arts patronage, in the spirit of Gabrielle Chanel’s role as a patron and convener of the arts, reaffirming the house’s commitment to the freedom of creation and human potential. Read more (Tatler)
Luxury labels like Gucci are taking notice of the booming secondhand market
In the latest sign luxury companies can’t ignore the booming secondhand market, Gucci and luxury consignment site The RealReal today announced a new partnership. Read more (Quartz)
