Issue 6. Luxury Brands in China Bi-weekly: Tom Dixon / Burberry / WEDGWOOD

Through comprehensive monitoring and careful combing of Luxe.CO from the colorful luxury brand dynamics in the second half of July, we have found two major trends:

1.Major luxury brands continue to increase physical retail in China and upgrade their store experiences.

British luxury brand Burberry's first social retail boutique "Burberry Space" has opened at the The Mixc Mall Shenzhen. Meanwhile, Italian luxury watch brand Panerai has opened a pop-up store at Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing, using 3D technology to virtualize the store and enable customers to make appointments with store staff.

2. Lifestyle categories are heating up and high-end home furnishing brands are performing well

The world's first “WEDGWOOD Tea Room” boutique experience store has opened at  The Mixc Mall Shenzhen. British high-end home design brand Tom Dixon has opened its first boutique and concept bar in Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing.

Congratulations to British high-end home design brand Tom Dixon, British luxury brand Burberry andBritish high-end tableware brand WEDGWOOD on being selected as the top picks from this issue of 2020 Luxe.CO Luxury Brands in China Bi-weekly. Their brand stories will go directly onto the “2020 Luxe.CO Innovative Marketing Award” shortlist!

Here’s the complete rundown of 16 stories for July 13 - 26, 2020 (listed in no particular order):

1) French luxury brand Givenchy has cooperated with Wu Xian Wang Zhe Tuan, the virtual boy group of "Honor of Kings". The five virtual characters in the group will interpret the brand's 2020 Qixi limited series.

2) French luxury brand Chanel’s short story video "INSIDE CHANEL" has been officially launched on its WeChat Mini Program. The video tells the story of Ms. Chanel and the brand that she built.

3) Chinese artist Wu Jian'an has designed a new summer window for French luxury brand Hermès and presented it at "Shanghai Hermès House".

4) British luxury brand Burberry has opened its first social retail boutique "Burberry Space" at The Mixc Mall Shenzhen, which not only includes product display, interactive experiences, art appreciation, and dining but also integrates with the brand’s official WeChat Mini Program to bring an immersive retail experience. All the technology used in the space is supported by Tencent.

Luxe.CO comment: Compared with more than 60 other boutiques that the brand has opened in China, the uniqueness of this store lies in its distinctive digital functions, including the integration of online and offline platforms, store services, design, and the brand’s official WeChat Mini Program, to link up leisure, games, social interaction and shopping. Burberry has systematically created an interesting interactive experience space in this bold and innovative boutique.

Related reading: "Burberry Space"

5) The "Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams" exhibition by the French luxury brand Dior is on display at the Long Museum in Shanghai. It contains 275 items, including DIOR haute couture dresses, manuscripts and artworks, and alsointegrates the artwork of eight well-known Chinese artists.

6) Qeelin, a high-end Chinese jewelry brand under the French Kering Group, has announced Chen Feiyu as the brand's Millennium Ambassador.

7) French high-end beauty brand Guerlain has announced Karry Wang as the brand's skincare spokesperson.

8) Jay Chou has directed a commercial film for the royal series of Tudor, a Swiss high-end watch brand.

9) British high-end home design brand Tom Dixon has opened its first boutique and concept bar at Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing.

Luxe.CO comment: On major social platforms, Tom Dixon's products have always been widely sought-after, but it is undeniable that its product pricing is relatively high-end, and consumption frequency is relatively low. Through the introduction of the bar concept, more customers who enjoy life will enter the store and sit down to savor its home furnishing products.

Prior to this, the brand had also opened a one-month pop-up store in Xintiandi, Shanghai, a retail experience store at The Mixc Mall Hangzhou, the Coal Office restaurant at its London headquarters, and at The Manzoni concept restaurant in Milan.

Related Reading: Tom Dixon Beijing Boutique and Concept Bar

10) Italian luxury brand Fendi has opened FENDI CAFFE pop-up cafes at SKP Beijing and Chengdu IFS.

11) The British high-end porcelain brand WEDGWOOD has opened the world's first “WEDGWOOD Tea Room” boutique experience store at The Mixc Mall Shenzhen, which has both retail and catering functions.

Luxe.CO comment: Cafes have always been the first choice for luxury brands to enrich their store experience. For example, in February this year, Louis Vuitton opened its first-ever restaurant and cafe Le Cafe V at its new flagship store in Osaka, Japan; at the end of 2019, Tiffany’s largest flagship store in China and the world’s third "The Blue Box Cafe™" opened at Hong Kong Plaza, Shanghai. For WEDGWOOD, a high-end porcelain brand with a long history, the experience of incorporating afternoon tea is even more logical.

Related reading: WEDGWOOD Tea Room

12) Italian luxury watch brand Panerai has opened a pop-up store at Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Beijing, using 3D technology to virtualize the store and enable customers to visit offline stores through the brand's official WeChat account.

13) Italian high-end brand Emporio Armani has launched its official flagship store on its WeChat Mini Program.

14) German luxury brand Montblanc and fashion blogger Mr. Bao have launched a special collaboration series for the 2020 Qixi Festival.

15) German luxury watch brand A. Lange & Söhne has identified problems with the time chime from its watches and conducted Q and A sessions with users on its official WeChat account to promote brand product features.

16) Swiss high-end watch brand Breguet has sharedits classic products and excellent watchmaking skills ina Q and A session on its official WeChat public account.

Upcoming events for luxury brands in China:

1) The fifth stop of "Prada Mode", from Italian luxury brand Prada, will be held in Shanghai. Jia Zhangke, a well-known Chinese director, producer and writer will present specific scene creations.

2) For its 2021 Spring/Summer Menswear Collection, the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton  will adopt the theme of "Message in a Bottle". It also held an offline show in Shanghai, China on August 7, the brand’s first offline fashion show anywhere in the world since the onset of COVID-19.

More updates: The latest developments in major luxury brands’ online and offline sales channels in China

1) Swiss luxury watch brand Vacheron Constantin has opened an official flagship store on Tmall.

2) Italian luxury menswear brand Ermenegildo Zegna has opened an official flagship store on JD.com.

3) Swiss luxury watch brand Breitling has opened an official flagship store on JD.com.

4) German luxury brand Montblanc has opened the world's first pop-up boutique showcasing its "M-Gram 4810" leather goods series at Shanghai Plaza 66.

5) Swiss high-end home appliance brand V-ZUG has opened its first retail store in China at Shanghai’s Xiyingmen Sanitary Ware Ceramics Shopping Mall.

6) Italian luxury brand Salvatore Ferragamo has opened a boutique at Suning Plaza, Pengcheng, Xuzhou.

7) Italian luxury brand Bottega Veneta has opened a boutique at Dalian’s Olympia 66 Plaza.

8) Canadian high-end silk home furnishing brand MANITO has opened a boutique in Sanlitun, Beijing.

9) Swiss luxury watch brand TAG Heuer has opened a boutique at Shanghai Hkri Taikoo Hui.

About “Luxury Brands in China – Top Trends” 

People often think that the advantages of international top-tier luxury brands are their wealth of experience, superb craftsmanship and use of rare materials. Every luxury brand that has stood the test of time must have an enterprising management team and innovative strategies behind the scenes to keep pace with the times. This is especially true in the Chinese market, where innovation among luxury brands is more agile and bolder than anywhere else in the world.

Launched in May 2020, Luxe.CO publishes “Luxury Brands in China – Top Trends" every two weeks, promptly selecting and summarizing the luxury brands whose recent work is most worthy of attention. It is worth mentioning that each trend on the list will directly go into the running for the "2020 Luxe.CO Innovative Marketing Award".

Notes:

1. From the perspective of industry innovation and leadership, the Luxe.CO Committee will select the top 20% of stories from each issue with the most outstanding performance.
2. The top 20% from each issue will directly go into the running for the "2020 Luxe.CO Innovative Marketing Award".

If you would like to contact us, please add Hualitea, Luxe.CO’s virtual assistant on WeChat, and note “双周榜”.