High-End Fashion Labels Woo the Rich and Finicky
Sales of Luxury Goods Rise
And So Does Taste Level;
Rewarding Loyal Customers
On a recent evening, the Paris-based fashion house Lanvin staged a runway show in front of Beijing's National Museum of China. Chinese models paraded in flapper-style dresses, gowns with black velvet bows and oversized trench coats.
During a lavish party afterward, guests -- including Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung, Taiwan singer Tsai Chin, and 50 of Lanvin's best customers in greater China -- sipped Mo?t & Chandon champagne on the museum's balcony.
Such scenes are common in fashion capitals like New York and Paris, but they didn't exist in China until recently. Lanvin, with several stores across China, hoped to boost sales and create buzz by rewarding loyal customers with the show and party.
Finicky Customers
As sales of luxury goods rise along with China's economy, high-end labels are doing more to cater to an increasing number of rich -- and finicky -- customers. China now buys 12% of the world's luxury goods and services -- including fashion, accessories, wine, cars and vacations -- generating more than $2 billion in annual sales, according to Ernst & Young China. That makes it the world's third-largest luxury market, after Japan and the U.S.
CHINA: SERVE THE PEOPLE
Read the other stories in the second part of this series:
? Media Counter Piracy in China in New Ways
? Local Art Collectors Help Drive Hot Market
Read stories in the first part of this series:
? Chinese Flock to English Class
? Local M.B.A. Programs Flourish
? Higher Education for Sale
"Everyone talks about this China market," said Lanvin Creative Director Alber Elbaz. "But China is more than a market. It's not just a group of buyers. I get inspiration from its people, from its beautiful, strong women."
Retailers appear to have been successful wooing women. Ernst & Young says that four years ago, women accounted for 25% of Chinese luxury-brand consumers nationwide. Market-research firm Jigsaw International contends that in first-tier cities, women now make up 40% of that group.
Private Viewings
To reach wealthy customers, retailers are organizing private viewings of new collections, bringing in merchandise from Europe that is unavailable in their stores, giving discounts to big-spending clients and opening local stores in prosperous cities beyond Beijing and Shanghai.
Such a strategy is necessary, experts said, because Chinese consumers are becoming more sophisticated and discerning, buying goods for their quality rather than for the sake of displaying their wealth. "People know what's carefully designed versus mass produced," said Angelica Cheung, editorial director of the Chinese edition of Vogue, which published its first issue last month.
High-end retailers have started by building brand loyalty first. "If Chinese consumers become customers of one brand, they stick to one brand," said Conway Lee, who researches retail and consumer products for Ernst & Young China. Some white-collar employees between the ages of 20 and 40 will spend an entire month's salary on a single purchase. These consumers usually live at home with their parents and make $400 to $1,000 a month.
Private viewings at stores have become a popular way to increase sales and build a brand image. Beijing's Armani Collezioni shop, part of the Giorgio Armani line, recently was closed for an afternoon so several dozen loyal customers could preview the line's fall collection.
Waiters in crisp white shirts served smoked salmon canapes, chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne. A nanny trailed behind a toddler dressed in a Ralph Lauren polo shirt and Adidas sneakers. Saleswomen fawned over one well-heeled woman trying on a rabbit-fur lined silk scarf.
"I like Armani because it's less logo-driven than brands like Louis Vuitton and Prada," said Holly Yuan, one of the event's attendees. She purchased a 5,700 yuan ($705) cashmere coat, an "impulse buy," she called it.
An Armani manager assured Ms. Yuan that the coat was the only one of its style and size that the company had delivered to Beijing. Ms. Yuan was relieved. "It's embarrassing to meet someone on the street with the same clothes on as me," she said.
Last month, Chanel held a fashion show in Shanghai, giving 350 guests complimentary rooms in the Four Seasons and the Grand Hyatt hotels, according to a person who helped stage the show. Grace Chao, a spokeswoman for Chanel in Shanghai, said the company flew in an undisclosed number of customers from across Asia and hosted their stays. Of the 800 Asian customers who attended the show, 400 were mainland Chinese, she said.
Chanel rented two Maglev trains -- the fastest train in the world at 430 kilometers per hour -- and decorated them with the brand's black-and-white logo. Guests traveled to the Maglev station at Pudong International Airport for a 25-minute fashion show. Upon their return, they were greeted with a performance by the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.
To make up for the limited selection at their stores in China, retailers like Louis Vuitton sometimes fly in merchandise from Europe for loyal customers. Chanel's clients can schedule sessions with in-house tailors for fittings and custom-made designs. Christian Dior occasionally gives top Chinese customers invitations to its Paris fashion shows.
Special Lounge
Lane Crawford, the Hong Kong-based upscale department store, plans something unheard of in a Chinese department store: a lounge to relax in and a concierge service that assists top customers in previewing and reserving new designs at its second Shanghai store, set to open in 2007.
Frequent customers at certain retailers receive discount cards. Sun Jing, a 25-year-old Beijing housewares exporter, spent more than $12,000 in one year at Versace and now gets 10% off her purchases there. Her favorite brands keep new items on reserve for her to peruse before releasing them to the public. "I would never buy a copy," said Ms. Sun. "My heart would not feel comfortable with it."
Luxury brands are expanding to fast-developing cities like Chengdu, Dalian, Hangzhou, Harbin, and Xian. "There is a critical mass of affluence in up to 15 cities with quality retail centers and hotels that make it viable for luxury brands to open there," says Paul Husband, the founder and managing director of Hong Kong-based Husband Retail Consulting.
Retailers have a way to go to build brand names in China. Most don't report revenue from their China operations -- although Giorgio Armani says its 2005 first-quarter sales were up 52% in greater China, which includes mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. At the Lanvin show, one guest asked another: "How do you pronounce Lanvin?"
高档时装品牌向中国富人示爱
最近的一个晚上，法国时装公司Lanvin在位于北京的中国国家博物馆(National Museum of China)门前举行了一场时装表演，中国的模特们向人们展示著飘逸的裙装、系有黑色丝绒蝴蝶结的礼服、以及超大号的军用风衣。
在随后举行的盛宴上，贵宾们－－包括香港影星张曼玉、台湾歌星蔡琴和Lanvin在大中华地区的50位最佳客户－－站在博物馆的阳台上品尝著Moet & Chandon香槟。
这样的场景在纽约和巴黎等时装之都可谓司空见惯，但它们在中国出现却只是最近才有的事情。Lanvin在中国已经设有几家专卖店，公司希望通过举办此类时装秀和晚会回报忠诚客户，从而提高销售额，制造看点。
随著中国经济的飞跃，奢侈品的销售也在不断攀升，高端品牌正在采取越来越多的措施迎合一个日益扩大的富裕－－而且挑剔－－的客户群体。根据安永中国公司(Ernst & Young China)的统计，目前，中国奢侈品和服务－－包括时装、配饰、酒类、汽车和度假－－的年消费量占全球市场的12%，年销售额超过20亿美元。这使中国成为仅次于日本和美国的全球第三大奢侈品市场。
Lanvin的创意总监阿贝尔?阿巴兹(Alber Elbaz)称，“每个人都在谈论这个中国市场。但中国不仅仅是一个市场。它不仅仅是一群顾客。我从中国人、美丽而坚强的中国女性身上汲取了创作灵感。”
一直以来，零售商们似乎在吸引女性顾客方面相当成功。安永称，4年前，中国25%的奢侈品消费者为女性。市场研究公司Jigsaw International则认为，在一级城市，这个比例现在已经达到40%。
为了招揽富有顾客，零售商们纷纷组织新款商品的私人观摩会，从欧洲运来国内专卖店没有的商品，向消费金额高的顾客提供折扣，并在北京和上海以外的富裕城市开设专卖店。
专家称，这样的策略是必须的，因为中国消费者正变得越来越老练，越来越有眼光，他们购买商品是为了追求品质，而不是为了炫耀财富。Vogue中国版总编Angelica Cheung表示，人们知道精心设计与批量生产的区别。Vogue中国版第一期刚刚于上个月推出。
高端零售商的第一个策略就是树立品牌忠诚度。安永中国公司负责零售和消费产品研究的Conway Lee表示，如果中国顾客成为一个品牌的顾客，他们会一直追随这个品牌。一些年龄介于20至40岁的白领雇员往往愿意花费整整一个月的薪水购买一件奢侈品。这些顾客通常与父母住在一起，月薪在400到1,000美元之间。
专卖店的私人观摩会已经成为一个增加销售和树立品牌形象的流行方式。北京的Armani Collezioni专卖店在最近的一个下午特意停业半天，以便几十位忠诚的客户可以预先观看该系列的秋季新品。Armani Collezioni是Giorgio Armani系列的一部分。
店内，穿著崭新白衬衫的服务生提供熏鳜鱼烤面包、脆皮巧克力草莓和香槟。一位保姆跟随在一个身著Ralph Lauren polo T恤和Adidas运动鞋的小孩身后。几位女店员殷勤地帮助一位脚登高跟鞋的女士试戴一款兔毛镶边丝质披肩。
此次活动的参加者之一Holly Yuan说，“我喜欢Armani，因为它不像路易-威登(Louis Vuitton)和Prada那样追求品牌标识。”她买了一件人民币5,700元（合705美元）的羊绒外套，她称之为“冲动购物”的结果。
Armani的一位经理向Yuan女士保证，这种款式和尺码的外套是公司运到北京的唯一一件。Yuan女士听后舒了一口气。“在街上碰到和自己穿著一样衣服的人很尴尬，”她说。
上个月，Chanel在上海举办了一场时装秀，根据协办时装秀的一位知情人士称，Chanel为350名贵宾免费提供了Four Seasons和Grand Hyatt酒店的客房。Chanel驻上海的发言人Grace Chao表示，贵宾们来自亚洲各地，公司负责他们的机票和住宿。她说，参加此次时装秀的800名亚洲顾客中，有400人来自中国大陆。
Chanel租下了两辆磁悬浮列车－－这是时速达430公里的世界上最快的火车－－并用该品牌的黑白标识把车身装饰一新。宾客们前往位于浦东国际机场的磁悬浮列车站参加历时25分钟的时装秀。回来后，还有上海交响乐团(Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra)的表演欢迎他们。
为了弥补中国专卖店款式有限的不足，像路易-威登这样的零售商有时候专门为忠诚顾客从欧洲运来最新商品。Chanel的客户可以预约店内裁缝，进行试穿和定制设计。Christian Dior偶尔邀请中国的大顾客参加它在巴黎举办的时装秀。
香港高档百货商店Lane Crawford正筹划著一些在中国百货商店前所未闻的举措：定于2007年在上海开设的第二家专卖店将提供顾客休息室，并有接待员帮助顾客预览和定制新款服饰。
经常光顾部分零售商的顾客会收到优惠卡。现年25岁的家用器皿出口商Sun Jing在Versace专卖店一年的消费额超过了12,000美元，现在她便得到了10%的折扣。她喜欢的这个品牌会专门为她保留新品，在公开发售前供她精挑细选。“我决不会买假货，”Sun女士说，“那样的话，我会感到不舒服。”
奢侈品品牌还在不断扩张到快速发展的城市，如成都、大连、杭州、哈尔滨和西安。总部位于香港的Husband Retail Consulting的创始人兼董事总经理Paul Husband说，有多达15个城市具备高质量的零售中心和酒店，以及一个相当规模的富裕阶层，使奢侈品品牌可以发展下去。
零售商在中国树立品牌知名度自有办法。多数零售商并不报告其中国业务的收入，但Giorgio Armani称，2005年第一季度，包括中国大陆、香港和台湾在内的大中华地区的销售额增长了52%。在Lanvin的时装秀上，一位宾客问另一位宾客：“你知道Lanvin怎么念吗？”
