Forget Cartier: Made-in-China luxury captivates Chinese consumers

Well-off Chinese used to chase Western luxury bags and jewelry as symbols of status.

- Shen Lu

Now, in a challenge to the likes of Cartier and Yves Saint Laurent, they are turning to homegrown brands.

Little-known in the West, names such as Laopu, Mao Geping, and Songmont are winning over Chinese customers with a pitch that combines locally inspired designs and cultural pride.

Beijing auditor Zhou Linanfang, 35, noticed long lines outside a store selling Laopu gold jewelry from her hospital room last year when she was about to give birth. Her social-media feeds added to the buzz around the brand.

Zhou, like many in her generation, considered gold jewelry unfashionable but changed her mind after seeing the filigree flower rings, gourd-shaped pendants, and phoenix hairpieces in Laopu designs. Soon after the arrival of her baby boy, her husband lined up at a Laopu store in Beijing for an hour to buy her a butterfly-shaped pendant for $1,600.

"It's just stylish," Zhou said. "Now that we have luxury gold pieces, as someone who loves fashion, how could I not get one?"

Also taking notice are Western luxury-brand CEOs such as Johann Rupert, chairman of Cartier parent Richemont. He was asked in May whether Laopu was a threat.

The brand is "tied to nationalism and tied to patriotism, and they have a lot of wins in their favor," Rupert said. However, he added, "Cartier is universal."

Sales of luxury products in mainland China, mostly Western brands, fell around 20% last year to less than $50 billion, according to consultants at Bain. They said China accounted for about one in eight dollars spent on luxury globally. For the year ended March 2025, Richemont's sales in China fell 23%.