All eyes are on China for luxury brands and targeting the Chinese luxury market is the object of every major luxury brand. So the desire to capture market share in China as a luxury brand leader is the future for luxury brands wanting to sustain. China is leading the market for consumers purchasing ultra luxury goods and products.
The open letter addressed to the top management of Gucci China from its former employees, who resigned en masse last month, ripped the veil off the luxury brand and its working practices. The public suddenly realized that people who work for luxurious brands are not leading a lifestyle that matches their employer’s image.
Gucci is not the only prestigious brand that sets up production factories in China. The likes of Prada and Zegna have them too.
Thirty-nine-year-old billionaire Philippe Gaydoul tells swissinfo.ch why he wants to expand by trying to sell his Navyboot, Fogal and other brands in China. The group currently comprises four brands: Navyboot (shoes and accessories), Fogal (legwear and knitwear), Jet Set (sports fashion) and Hanhart (watches). Navyboot is the first to dip its pedicured toe into Chinese waters.
Some of the best customers of luxury brands in China—gift-giving entrepreneurs and corrupt officials—might also turn out to be their worst enemies. Corruption is a fact of life on the mainland. China comes in 78th in Transparency International’s corruption index, ranking equally with Colombia. With expensive gifts a routine channel for corruption, the luxury sector owes a part of its explosive growth to the dark side of China’s rise.