Why Chinese shoppers are choosing local luxury over LVMH and Gucci

BEIJING – When Mr Bernard Arnault, one of the world’s richest men and chairman of LVMH, dropped by Shanghai in September, many assumed his itinerary would be routine: check in on Louis Vuitton, Dior and the rest of his empire’s boutiques in China’s most prestigious malls. But instead, Mr Arnault did something unexpected.

He went shopping for Chinese brands.

At new-age luxury shopping mall Taikoo Li Qiantan in Shanghai, Mr Arnault stopped by Songmont, a minimalist leather goods label. There, he bought two handbags, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be named discussing a private matter.

He also went to another high-end mall and wandered into Laopu Gold, a home-grown jeweller that opened a store a few doors down from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. He reportedly lingered for half an hour, muttering words like “exquisite” and “interesting”. It was a small gesture with big symbolism.

Mr Arnault, whose companies helped define modern luxury, was now browsing in boutiques that may represent its next chapter, at least in China.

The anecdote reflects how China’s US$49 billion (S$63.7 billion) luxury market is changing fast.

As the economy cools, spending on foreign premium brands has stalled. Instead, when Chinese consumers do splash out, they are turning to home-grown labels. Their rise is redrawing the map of one of the world’s top luxury markets and forcing global players to take note.

Online retail platforms have been key to their growth. According to data compiled by BigOne Lab and analysed by Bloomberg News, five domestic prestige brands in handbags, apparel, fragrance, cosmetics and jewellery have outpaced seven foreign rivals in sales growth over the past two years. 

E-commerce sales at Laopu Gold surged more than 1,000 per cent during the first three quarters of 2025 compared with two years ago, while Songmont’s online bag sales have grown about 90 per cent.

By contrast, Gucci’s online bag sales in China have slumped more than 50 per cent and Michael Kors’ has dropped about 40 per cent. Other Chinese labels, such as make-up brand Mao Geping Cosmetics, perfumer To Summer and luxury clothing label Icicle, have pulled off similar feats in their categories. 

On Tmall, the country’s largest online retailer, revenues for some Chinese brands are on a par or even higher than overseas ones: Laopu sold US$630 million at its Tmall store over the 12 months to October, compared with US$57 million for Van Cleef & Arpels, according to industry consultant Hangzhou Zhiyi Tech.

Mao Geping’s revenue was US$125 million, more than doubling Bobbi Brown’s sales. For Laopu Gold, sales for both online and in-store jumped 250 per cent in the first half of 2025, after doubling in both 2023 and 2024, according to its financial results.

Mao Geping, a home-grown beauty label named after its celebrity founder, has reported double-digit revenue growth so far in 2025, as well as in 2024. 

Meanwhile, Bain & Co estimates that China’s luxury market, which is dominated by European giants like LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Kering and Burberry Group, shrank by as much as 20 per cent in 2024, its steepest decline since at least 2011. Though there have been glimmers of recovery, executives talk about “caution” and “uncertainty”.

China’s worsening economy has wrecked the appetite for global luxury brands. Demand that was supposed to return after the lifting of strict Covid-19 restrictions has instead slumped for overseas firms. This disappointment has helped erase shares at key luxury houses, with LVMH down about 30 per cent from its 2023 peak, while Kering has plunged roughly 60 per cent since its high in 2021 in Paris.

In the US, Estee Lauder Companies shares are about 76 per cent off their high in 2021. After spiking following the easing of pandemic lockdowns in 2021, consumer spending in China has largely flat lined.

Representatives of LVMH, Kering, Channel, Richemont, Estee Lauder, Max Mara and Capri did not respond to requests for comment.

That is leading shoppers to turn to domestic brands with their lower pricing.

Icicle’s cashmere and wool Aircoat is priced between about US$1,123 and US$2,808. Max Mara’s 101801 coat, often highlighted as comparable by Chinese consumers, costs more than US$4,200. Songmont’s bucket bags, described by social media users as a dupe for Hermes’ Picotin Lock bags, sell for around US$421, while the latter costs between US$5,054 and US$8,016.

It is not just a China phenomenon. Shoppers globally have become more discerning, with consumers turning to labels that look premium at lower price points as they grow increasingly weary of spending on big-name brands that keep raising prices.

But what is more surprising is that the price tag alone is not the deciding factor, said Mr Jacques Roizen, managing director of China consulting at Digital Luxury Group. 

“Contrary to common perception, Chinese beauty brands aren’t competing on price – they’re building rich brand universes and prioritising storytelling,” said Mr Roizen.

“For Western prestige beauty brands, the rise of local competitors should serve as both a wake-up call and a warning.”

That story is rooted in craft and cultural pride, and is resonating with younger Chinese shoppers who no longer see Western logos as tickets to sophistication. Instead, modern shoppers are hunting for items that feel more tailored to them, and many Chinese brands have turned that shift into their core identity.

Labels like To Summer and Songmont draw deeply from local history, art and everyday life. The message: modern luxury can be proudly Chinese. 

Songmont’s philosophy emphasises “Eastern aesthetics”, with the designs of its stores reflecting Chinese calligraphy. To Summer builds scents around traditional ingredients like tea, osmanthus and preserved orange peel and uses porcelain made in Jingdezhen, China’s most important ceramics production centre. Icicle draws on the Confucian ideal of harmony and restraint. 

It is a concept that Songmont’s founder Fu Song consciously designed from the start.

“We’ve positioned ourselves as a Chinese brand rooted in local culture,” she said. “In the global fashion conversation, there are still too few Chinese voices.”

The strategy works especially well online, with the marketing more attuned to local consumers. Songmont launched its own podcast focusing on the lives of urban women, which is resonating for its celebration of self-worth and diverse life values rather than social status, said BigOne partner Amber Zhang.

The campaign struck deeper than those from global brands, she said.

For shoppers like Ms Wan Yihuan, a 30-year-old Shanghai finance worker, that message hits home. Once a self-described Hermes and Tom Ford addict, she now carries a US$210 Songmont hobo bag and wears Mao Geping make-up.

“I fell into the trap of consumerism when I was younger,” she said. “Now, I just want things I truly like.”

Among the new Chinese players, Laopu Gold stands out for its over 100 per cent revenue growth in physical stores since early 2024, where Tiffany and Bulgari have seen double-digit declines, according to BigOne data.

At Beijing’s exclusive SKP mall, Laopu Gold’s sales rose more than 200 per cent in the first half of 2025, according to a person familiar with the figure who declined to be named discussing a private matter. In October, it opened a store in Plaza 66, a glass-clad cathedral of luxury long dominated by European names, becoming the first domestic brand to establish a presence in all 10 of China’s top-tier malls. 

It may seem strange to associate Made-in-China with luxury, a country where low-cost manufacturing helped drive its economy to the world No. 2 spot. But these domestic premium brands are challenging that perception with a slower and more premium manufacturing process that is relayed to consumers through localised marketing campaigns. 

In 2013, Icicle bought a garment factory that manufactures for Max Mara in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Songmont uses full-grain top-layer cowhide and gold-plated hardware, crafted by artisans with decades of traditional sewing and craftsmanship experience from the founder’s home town. Laopu Gold incorporates elaborate filigreed shapes and enamel glazes into its jewellery. Mao Geping, China’s answer to America’s Bobbi Brown, teaches make-up application on local models to millions of fans online. 

Their popularity is spreading outside China’s border. In London, 16-year-old Naomi Jiang now looks beyond marquee labels when buying handbags.

Finding designer brands like Hermes overpriced, she chose Songmont for its design and value instead. “We’re getting a more diverse, higher-quality selection of clothing,” she said.

Executives at the Chinese brands, including Songmont, To Summer and Mao Geping, say they want to expand globally. The brands have not disclosed their overseas sales yet, but analysts’ consensus is that the amount is likely still small.

“Chinese brands must look beyond China,” To Summer’s founder and chief executive officer Elvis Liu said. “Why are global brands often better positioned in their competition against Chinese brands? Because they are backed by the global market. If you only have the Chinese market, it’s like you are a local brand, and this will put you at a very disadvantageous position amid the competition.”

Still, obstacles loom. Few domestic brands have crossed the annual revenue mark of 10 billion yuan (S$1.8 billion), said Ms Michelle Cheng, retail analyst at Goldman Sachs Group.

“China’s market is huge, so you can hit one billion yuan with hot products, or even three to five billion,” she said. “But further growth depends on having a strong management team, talented staff and long-term vision.”

The high sales growth figures also stem from a low base: The top 10 best-selling brands in China’s personal luxury segment are all Western brands, accounting for 63 per cent, or about US$31 billion, in sales in 2024, according to Euromonitor International data.

In contrast, no Chinese brands have more than 0.5 per cent of the market share, the data showed.

The bigger risk may be psychological, with the same economic malaise that led to European brands’ sales waning potentially spreading to domestic brands too, said Ms Cheng.

“For luxury to truly grow, you need rising wages and a growing middle class, both of which are being challenged by ongoing economic headwinds,” she said.

Take Ms Guo Wenjun, who once spent more than US$70,000 in a shopping spree – Rolex, Chanel, even a toddler-size Armani jacket. Now, the 37-year-old has a child in an expensive international school and feels job uncertainties are mounting.

She has turned to buying US$7 tote bags and US$4 T-shirts from budget shopping site 1688.com. 

“Luxury used to make me feel like a queen,” she said. “Now, it no longer has that magic.” BLOOMBERG