The future of luxury

HAS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ONLY ACCELERATED THE TRENDS SHAPING THE FUTURE OF LUXURY IN THE WORLD’S LARGEST LUXURY MARKETPLACE, CHINA? CHRISSIE MCCLATCHIE FINDS OUT.

- CHRISSIE MCCLATCHIE

April 11 this year was a record day for Hermès in Taikoo Hui Guangzhou. After two months, the French luxury brand’s flagship address finally reopened when lockdown measures in the southern Chinese city lifted. As shopping-starved VIP customers filed in, the brand’s signature handbags (including an elusive diamond-studded Himalaya Birkin) and other leather goods flew off the shelves. By day’s end, the single store is said to have taken US$2.7 million in sales – a figure reported to be a national record.

There’s currently no country in the world that can match China’s thirst for luxury goods. Last year, mainland Chinese consumers were responsible for 35 per cent of all sales in the market, according to Ruder Finn and Consumer Search Group’s ‘China Luxury Forecast 2020’. Luxury consumption in the country grew by 26 per cent (compared to a 6.1 per cent national GDP growth rate). Clothing and watches top the wish list, led by international brand names such as Chanel and Rolex.

It must be noted that such insights were published before the COVID-19 pandemic, although by late last year (when the data was gathered), the health crisis was already on the horizon. Ruder Finn found an increase in consumers expecting to decrease their luxury spending in 2020 compared to 2019 (10 versus six per cent). But the first country to shut down has also been the first to reopen. Its swift response to the pandemic has seen it avoid the losses experienced in many other parts of the world. Author and Chinese luxury market expert Erwan Rambourg, writing for