Luxury: Hermes Will Launch a Brand New Brand in China

"Xie xie Hermes!"

Launching a new brand in the midst of a recession sounds not only risky but runs contrary to all the received wisdom about survival in difficult economic times. While it may seem counter-intuitive, this is precisely what French luxury brand Hermes has just announced it will do. The announcement was made earlier this morning in Paris by Patrick Thomas, President of Hermes International.

The new brand will be called Shang Xia (meaning "topsy-turvy" in Mandarin), will be based in Shanghai and is scheduled to launch in Spring 2010. Shang Xia's creative director is Qiong-Er Jiang, daughter of a noted Chinese architect. Shang Xia will include ready-to-wear and decorative arts inspired by Chinese culture and traditions of craftsmanship. According to Thomas, the new brand will be tailored for the Chinese market where Hermes lags behind its competitors. Now there's something to look forward to in the new year!

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Comments

[Helene]

Dear Readers:

One of the most satisfying aspects for me of writing The Luxe Chronicles are your comments. Blogging is hard work as I'm sure many of you know from your own experiences but discussions such as this one prompted by the impending launch of Shang Xia make it all worthwhile! Thank you!!

I agree with WillowBlue. I think that over the next decade, we will see the emergence of a homegrown or local luxury brand coming out of China. This is why I'm fascinated by Hermes' move. They've obviously been thinking about the future of the luxury industry beyond the current model which involves selling Western luxury goods to Asian consumers and have staked their claim.

I also think that over the next decade or so, we in the West will have to revise the way we think about Chinese goods. "Made in China" has come to mean cheap, mass-produced goods of dodgy quality and counterfeits. In fact, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Europeans imported all manner of finely crafted decorative arts and goods from China which were highly sought after by the French and English aristocracies. I think this move by Hermes may very well usher in another period where Chinese luxury goods will become highly sought after by the style and design cognoscenti.

Helene

[pulchra]

What an intriguing topic...do you think that the Chinese designer will replace the Japanese ones?
I am afraid I do not know perfectly the Chinese market but as far as I know they created some clone brands of sport brands like nike that are performing very well in mainland china.But they just copied and translated into the chinese culture and using chinese celebrities to communicate the brand.
It would be surprising to discover a sophisticated taste among the wealthy chinese, I perceive them as more show off and less understated than the japanese people but maybe I am wrong.
I still do not understand the purpose of Hermes but I suppose they are trying to conquer market share in mainland china and that's all.
Is it a new trend? After "go green", the "go chinese"? Scary.

[willowblue]

If not mistaken, Qeelin was launched by the former chief of the watch brand Ebel, who was allegedly then linked with the actress Maggie Cheung. Ebel was formerly under the LV group.
Initiatives such as the Hermes may well anticipate the next wave in the China luxury market. There's a seminal interest in traditional Chinese culture on the mainland, as noted in some media.
For more than a century, and especially in the early years of the communist revolution, tradition was widely rejected by the elite as a root cause of China's backwardness in the modern age.
But wealth and confidence, and the need to ``cross the river by feeling the stones'' - moving forward carefully, in the words of Deng Xiaoping - has ignited the need for old beacons.
Director Zhang Yimou said in a recent intvu that, in using multimedia to show off China's culture and history for the opening ceremony of Beijing 08, he wanted to prove that tradition and technology were not incompatible. His grand oeuvre, imo, has contributed to the uptick of interest in old culture.
Hermes will uphold the true tenets of luxury - exclusivity - and expand its market share at the same time.
Other brands should do well to watch. The China market may follow the Japanese curve: that exploded with Japan's wealth in the mid-1980s through the late 1990s, and has peaked.
Also, the late 70s/80s saw the emergence of the great designers such as Kawakubo and Yohji (still the greatest!!) who rejected the Western aesthetic and delved into the Japanese sensibility to craft their own.
China may be on that curve, with a generation of St Martins-trained designers finding their own thread of inspiration.
The next wave of global designers may well come from Shanghai or Beijing - though not necessarily Chinese by ethnicity. For instance, Giles DuFour is the creative director of a leading cashmere brand.

[Helene]

Thank you for the correction Ginevra. I don't speak Mandarin so I wouldn't know. The French news accounts translated the term as "dessus-dessous" meaning literally over-under or figuratively topsy-turvy. Perhaps greater precision will be offered by Hermes when the brand actually launches in Spring 2010.

Helene

[ginevra]

'Up & down', or 'above & below' may be better translations of the name. Even perhaps 'high & low' (interesting fashion connotations). I'm guessing it's 上下. If so, shang is also the same character as in Shanghai.

I don't think there's the implication of disorder 'topsy-turvy' has in English: but I could be wrong, I only just started learning Mandarin.

[Bermard]

You should all have a look to the jewelry brand Qeelin ...same brand positionning, launched 5 years ago, Chinese designer, Chinese elements and know how, French management and launched simultaneously in Hong Kong and Paris ....great success.

[pulchra]

Dear Helene,
I am curious as well as it is a real revolution, especially for a brand like Hermes.
I visited China several times and I am convinced that speaking the same language and communicating the same values can be a way of catching Chinese prospects...
But are the Chinese interested in their own roots or are they willing to dream "go west"? An interesting dilemma.

[Helene]

Thank you for your comment Pulchra. I'm not absolutely certain that it would be accurate to characterize Shang Xia as "a Chinese brand launched by French people".

Shang Xia's creative director Qiong-Er Jiang is Chinese and the brand will be based in Shanghai. I think it might be more accurate therefore to describe it as a hybrid. Also, I don't think Hermes' strategy is to compete with local luxury brands so much as to compete with other European luxury brands already well ensconced in China (Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc.).

Only time will tell but I must admit, I'm immensely curious to see what will emerge from this. I think it's very forward thinking.

Helene

[pulchra]

Scary! It seems like a strange thing...Chinese brand launched by French people? Why?
Is the target to conquer market share in China in competition with local brands?
Scary...

[Make Do Style]

Interesting.