Luxury Powerhouses Aren’t Just Betting On Chinese Shoppers, They’re Investing In Chinese Talent

Chinese shoppers are slated to help luxury sales rebound. But for luxury players like LVMH and Mytheresa, connecting with those valuable consumers also means investing in local talent.

What Happened: This week, German ecommerce platform Mytheresa unveiled the exclusive collections from its debut China Designer Program. Announced last fall, the initiative tapped four emerging Chinese designers — Xu Zhi, Jacques Wei, Susan Fang and Didu — to each contribute a capsule collection to the retailer. The designers were chosen by a jury that included Chuxuan Feng, editor-in-chief of T Magazine China, and Mytheresa Vice President of Fashion Buying Tiffany Hsu, who also offered guidance to the designers throughout the process. Mytheresa will promote the collections with a campaign created by a Chinese production team, including photographer Liang Zi and models Ci Ci Xiang and Emma Bei Pei.

Mytheresa joins the list of other global luxury entities looking to promote Chinese talent in recent months. Last December, 24s, the ecommerce retailer owned by LVMH, collaborated with Chen Peng on a 23-piece collection. The shortlist for the 2023 LVMH prize also included two Chinese brands, Louis Shengtao Chen’s namesake line and Marrknull by Wei Wang and Tian Shi.

Some luxury powerhouses are even looking beyond fashion and into culture. Last week, Kering invited Chinese choreographers Wen Hui and Weng Mengfan to its Women in Motion at West Bund dance festival in Shanghai, in support of local female creative talents. Additionally, Miu Miu will host a localized Women’s Tales screening, party and forum in the ancient town of Wuzhen in late April. Continue to read the full article here