At this time last year, Shanghai, China’s fashion and luxury capital, was under a Covid lockdown that was strictly enforced. The city’s sparkling very good quality shopping centers and roads fixed with leader stores stood basically vacant.
Today, things are different. On a recent weekend, huge crowds flocked to top retail locations on or near Nanjing Road, which has been the center of glamour in China since the first large department stores opened there in 1917.
China Industry on the Rise
Six handbags were once purchased annually by Ms. Zhang, who works for a consulting company. She now buys up to five handbags each month. I go a little overboard more lavishly,” Radiant Zhang, 24, said as she held up in line to enter the Chanel store at Square 66 shopping center, where the passages are fixed with shops selling a portion of the world’s most costly clothing.
“I change my satchel consistently,” Ms Zhang added. ” During the lockdown in Shanghai, I felt like everything had no significance, so we should enjoy the moment.
Numerous Western design and extravagance brands have been receiving the rewards of this restored shopper outlook. The luxury goods group LVMH, which owns brands like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., and Dior, reported a 17% increase in first-quarter revenue from a year earlier last month. The French company’s biggest division, fashion and leather goods, saw an 18 percent increase, largely due to the recovery in China.
LVMH became the first European company to surpass $500 billion in market value last week thanks to record-setting shares. According to its French rival Hermès, “driven by a very good Chinese New Year,” sales in Asia (excluding Japan) increased by 23% in the first quarter.