liberty33r1b
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I thought this was rather interesting to post here: 
[FONT=Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif]Shaping The New Looks [/FONT]
The new rich of the developing world are not only attracting posh brands but helping determine luxury trends.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]By Emily Flynn Vencat[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Newsweek International[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]At a swish Paris dinner on the eve of L'Oréal's annual financial-results announcement in February, guests drank champagne and mingled over canapés—but that's where the resemblance to a typical Parisian luxury event ended. Guests chatted in English, German and Mandarin as well as French. One managing director paused before handing out his business card to make sure it was the French, not the Chinese, version. Most notably, the consumer everyone was discussing wasn't the stylish European mademoiselle worrying about wrinkles but the young Chinese woman craving whiter skin and the Indian lusting after bright Bollywood-style eye shadow. Thierry Prévot, managing director of L'Oréal Asia, noted that L'Oréal's definitive "wet lipstick" look last season arrived in Europe and America by way of the Asian market, where it launched first. Cracking a playfully contentious smile, he added: "Asian women are the [world's] most sophisticated consumers."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Shanghai, Mumbai and Moscow are set to join Paris, London and New York as luxury style capitals of the world—not only getting the latest Prada show, Armani boutique and Bentley dealership, but also setting the agenda for what the rest of the world wants. At Mumbai's Lakme Fashion Week last month, buyers from Brown's in London and New York's Saks Fifth Avenue kept a close watch; already they carry a handful of collections by innovative Indian designers like Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla. Western arbiters of beauty now covet distinctly foreign models. Chinese "Memoirs of a Geisha" actress Ziyi Zhang, Indian Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai and Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova recently landed top spots on the "Most Beautiful Women" list compiled by Britain's blueblooded Harpers & Queen. All three appear in the global marketing campaigns of such companies as L'Oréal and Calvin Klein. The advertising campaign for Motorola's eye-poppingly popular RAZR phone (a best seller in Asia, America and Europe) was originally designed for the Chinese market. "Today, if a product doesn't work well in every market, it's not well conceived," says Bernard Fornas, CEO of Cartier International. "Beauty has no borders."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Does that mean the developed world is losing its hold on luxury? Already the third biggest luxury-goods consumers, the Chinese are on their way to displacing the Japanese as the world's highest-spending buyers of luxury products by 2014, when analysts expect the country's rich to account for almost a quarter of global luxury sales. By 2010, China will have a quarter of a billion consumers who can afford luxury products—17 times the present number, predict analysts at Ernst & Young. Experts estimate that India—where half the population is under the age of 25—is as little as five years behind China. Already, China has 300,000 millionaires, Russia has 88,000 and India has 70,000. All in all, says Merrill Lynch analyst Antoine Colonna, there are 15 million consumers in China, Russia and India who can afford to buy luxury goods today. And they are more willing to do so than their developed-world counterparts; it's not uncommon for affluent, educated young Chinese to spend a month's salary on a Gucci belt or Louis Vuitton handbag. Russians spend 13 percent of their household budgets on clothes and shoes—more than double that of the Japanese and British.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The never-ending list of luxury stores opening in China makes it seem as if the streets there are now paved with platinum: Giorgio Armani has plans for 30 new stores by the end of 2008; Louis Vuitton hopes to open 13 next year; Bulgari is planning six for this year alone; Dolce & Gabbana is moving into Shanghai and Beijing later this year for the first time, and Montblanc says it will have 200 boutiques across China by the end of the decade. Bentley sold more of its $1.2 million Mulliner limos in Beijing than in any other city in the world last year. Cartier expects 10 percent of sales to come from China as early as 2012, and has begun branching into other developing markets including Ukraine, Georgia and Kazakhstan.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If China's streets are platinum, India's are gold. Though there are no luxury shopping malls or districts in India at present, Burberry, Christian Dior, Gucci, Cartier, Chanel, Omega, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton and Versace all plan to move in before 2007, if they haven't already. India's luxury-car market has tripled in the past five years (albeit only to 2,000 cars annually), despite import duties of about 100 percent. Analysts McKinsey & Co. predict that India's branded-jewelry market will grow by 40 percent annually until 2010, when it will reach more than $2 billion. Last month Indians' love of high-quality yellow-gold jewelry helped push the price of gold globally to a 25-year record of $600 an ounce.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The really rich in the developing world are setting themselves apart from the brand-name masses by eschewing showy displays in favor of bespoke gowns and contemporary art (sidebar), just like their wealthy counterparts from the developed world. This means that at the very top end, luxury style is being defined by the tastes of a truly international set, who in turn influence, and are influenced by, each other.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Indeed, from fashion and food to interior design and debauchery, international flavor is de rigueur in high-living circles. Wearing an item that demonstrates how much one travels is the ultimate modern status symbol. Swanky Shanghai hipsters prize the Burberry jackets sold only in the brand's flagship London Bond Street store more than those that can be snagged in Shanghai. In the same way, the British elite covet so-called authentic products made by niche designers in far-flung cities—think of Prince Harry's wearing the leather bracelet he picked up in Africa for his official Mario Testino 21st-birthday portraits last year. "It's becoming possible to use the phrase 'Made in China' to your advantage," says Malte Nuhn, an analyst at Millward Brown Optimor, who coauthored a new report last month identifying the world's Top 100 Most Powerful Brands.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There is so much cross-cultural osmosis that it can be hard to figure out where you are anymore. Luxury textiler Joss Graham sells hand-knotted rugs from Rajasthan, India, Afghanistan and Tibet for thousands of pounds in the middle of London's millionaire neighborhood, Belgravia. Every major high-end interior-design chain now offers Chinese-inspired décor, from Maison de Famille's Chinese well bucket to Ralph Lauren's Ming-dynasty vase lamps. At Yauatcha, London's newest Michelin-starred offering from Alan Yau, the first restaurateur to win a star for a Chinese restaurant with Hakkasan, staff wear uniforms created by the Oscar-winning costume designer of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and serve Parisian chef Stephane Sucheta's French-Chinese fusion pastries on minimalist tables designed by Christian Liaigre. Italian "[Roberto] Cavalli's cheongsams are better executed than Shanghai Tang's," says Yau. "Having a non-Chinese person do Chinese stuff brings out a freshness that ethnic Chinese sometimes miss."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ultimately, this move-ment to a single luxury esthetic that incorporates influences from every corner of the globe means that a brand's ethnicity is no longer an indicator of where its owners are from, where the goods are produced or who buys them, but rather a matter of preference. In Hong Kong, the Swiss giant Richemont bought Shanghai Tang, the first Chinese luxury brand, a decade ago; L'Oréal recently bought China's only domestic luxury cosmetics label, Yue-Sai. And the spending spree is rapidly becoming a two-way street: within the past five years, Chinese entrepreneurs have bought the European labels Asprey, Mulberry and Lanvin.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]At the most recent Business of Luxury summit in London, Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli announced that the company was planning eventually to outsource some production of the ultimate Italian brand, replacing the MADE IN ITALY label on some garments with MADE BY PRADA. In the brave new world of luxury, brands are the new countries. And traditional markers of ethnicity—from saris to ball gowns, champagne to sake—can be had anywhere, by anyone who can pay the price.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]With Quindlen Krovatin in Beijing [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.[/FONT]
pd_top('Story','handheld','12666628','Shaping The New Looks','The new rich of the developing world are not only attracting posh brands but helping determine luxury trends.','Newsweek Home','International Editions','','','','19:28, 11/05/06','Emily Flynn Vencat','printThis','','','3037880','70882','', '1');pd_om('msnbcom','100');
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]© 2006 MSNBC.com[/FONT]
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');if(window.print){window.print()}else{alert('To print his page press Ctrl-P on your keyboard \nor choose print from your browser or device after clicking OK');}}[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12666628/site/newsweek/[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif]Shaping The New Looks [/FONT]
The new rich of the developing world are not only attracting posh brands but helping determine luxury trends.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]By Emily Flynn Vencat[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Newsweek International[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]At a swish Paris dinner on the eve of L'Oréal's annual financial-results announcement in February, guests drank champagne and mingled over canapés—but that's where the resemblance to a typical Parisian luxury event ended. Guests chatted in English, German and Mandarin as well as French. One managing director paused before handing out his business card to make sure it was the French, not the Chinese, version. Most notably, the consumer everyone was discussing wasn't the stylish European mademoiselle worrying about wrinkles but the young Chinese woman craving whiter skin and the Indian lusting after bright Bollywood-style eye shadow. Thierry Prévot, managing director of L'Oréal Asia, noted that L'Oréal's definitive "wet lipstick" look last season arrived in Europe and America by way of the Asian market, where it launched first. Cracking a playfully contentious smile, he added: "Asian women are the [world's] most sophisticated consumers."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Shanghai, Mumbai and Moscow are set to join Paris, London and New York as luxury style capitals of the world—not only getting the latest Prada show, Armani boutique and Bentley dealership, but also setting the agenda for what the rest of the world wants. At Mumbai's Lakme Fashion Week last month, buyers from Brown's in London and New York's Saks Fifth Avenue kept a close watch; already they carry a handful of collections by innovative Indian designers like Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla. Western arbiters of beauty now covet distinctly foreign models. Chinese "Memoirs of a Geisha" actress Ziyi Zhang, Indian Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai and Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova recently landed top spots on the "Most Beautiful Women" list compiled by Britain's blueblooded Harpers & Queen. All three appear in the global marketing campaigns of such companies as L'Oréal and Calvin Klein. The advertising campaign for Motorola's eye-poppingly popular RAZR phone (a best seller in Asia, America and Europe) was originally designed for the Chinese market. "Today, if a product doesn't work well in every market, it's not well conceived," says Bernard Fornas, CEO of Cartier International. "Beauty has no borders."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Does that mean the developed world is losing its hold on luxury? Already the third biggest luxury-goods consumers, the Chinese are on their way to displacing the Japanese as the world's highest-spending buyers of luxury products by 2014, when analysts expect the country's rich to account for almost a quarter of global luxury sales. By 2010, China will have a quarter of a billion consumers who can afford luxury products—17 times the present number, predict analysts at Ernst & Young. Experts estimate that India—where half the population is under the age of 25—is as little as five years behind China. Already, China has 300,000 millionaires, Russia has 88,000 and India has 70,000. All in all, says Merrill Lynch analyst Antoine Colonna, there are 15 million consumers in China, Russia and India who can afford to buy luxury goods today. And they are more willing to do so than their developed-world counterparts; it's not uncommon for affluent, educated young Chinese to spend a month's salary on a Gucci belt or Louis Vuitton handbag. Russians spend 13 percent of their household budgets on clothes and shoes—more than double that of the Japanese and British.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The never-ending list of luxury stores opening in China makes it seem as if the streets there are now paved with platinum: Giorgio Armani has plans for 30 new stores by the end of 2008; Louis Vuitton hopes to open 13 next year; Bulgari is planning six for this year alone; Dolce & Gabbana is moving into Shanghai and Beijing later this year for the first time, and Montblanc says it will have 200 boutiques across China by the end of the decade. Bentley sold more of its $1.2 million Mulliner limos in Beijing than in any other city in the world last year. Cartier expects 10 percent of sales to come from China as early as 2012, and has begun branching into other developing markets including Ukraine, Georgia and Kazakhstan.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If China's streets are platinum, India's are gold. Though there are no luxury shopping malls or districts in India at present, Burberry, Christian Dior, Gucci, Cartier, Chanel, Omega, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton and Versace all plan to move in before 2007, if they haven't already. India's luxury-car market has tripled in the past five years (albeit only to 2,000 cars annually), despite import duties of about 100 percent. Analysts McKinsey & Co. predict that India's branded-jewelry market will grow by 40 percent annually until 2010, when it will reach more than $2 billion. Last month Indians' love of high-quality yellow-gold jewelry helped push the price of gold globally to a 25-year record of $600 an ounce.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The really rich in the developing world are setting themselves apart from the brand-name masses by eschewing showy displays in favor of bespoke gowns and contemporary art (sidebar), just like their wealthy counterparts from the developed world. This means that at the very top end, luxury style is being defined by the tastes of a truly international set, who in turn influence, and are influenced by, each other.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Indeed, from fashion and food to interior design and debauchery, international flavor is de rigueur in high-living circles. Wearing an item that demonstrates how much one travels is the ultimate modern status symbol. Swanky Shanghai hipsters prize the Burberry jackets sold only in the brand's flagship London Bond Street store more than those that can be snagged in Shanghai. In the same way, the British elite covet so-called authentic products made by niche designers in far-flung cities—think of Prince Harry's wearing the leather bracelet he picked up in Africa for his official Mario Testino 21st-birthday portraits last year. "It's becoming possible to use the phrase 'Made in China' to your advantage," says Malte Nuhn, an analyst at Millward Brown Optimor, who coauthored a new report last month identifying the world's Top 100 Most Powerful Brands.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There is so much cross-cultural osmosis that it can be hard to figure out where you are anymore. Luxury textiler Joss Graham sells hand-knotted rugs from Rajasthan, India, Afghanistan and Tibet for thousands of pounds in the middle of London's millionaire neighborhood, Belgravia. Every major high-end interior-design chain now offers Chinese-inspired décor, from Maison de Famille's Chinese well bucket to Ralph Lauren's Ming-dynasty vase lamps. At Yauatcha, London's newest Michelin-starred offering from Alan Yau, the first restaurateur to win a star for a Chinese restaurant with Hakkasan, staff wear uniforms created by the Oscar-winning costume designer of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and serve Parisian chef Stephane Sucheta's French-Chinese fusion pastries on minimalist tables designed by Christian Liaigre. Italian "[Roberto] Cavalli's cheongsams are better executed than Shanghai Tang's," says Yau. "Having a non-Chinese person do Chinese stuff brings out a freshness that ethnic Chinese sometimes miss."[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ultimately, this move-ment to a single luxury esthetic that incorporates influences from every corner of the globe means that a brand's ethnicity is no longer an indicator of where its owners are from, where the goods are produced or who buys them, but rather a matter of preference. In Hong Kong, the Swiss giant Richemont bought Shanghai Tang, the first Chinese luxury brand, a decade ago; L'Oréal recently bought China's only domestic luxury cosmetics label, Yue-Sai. And the spending spree is rapidly becoming a two-way street: within the past five years, Chinese entrepreneurs have bought the European labels Asprey, Mulberry and Lanvin.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]At the most recent Business of Luxury summit in London, Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli announced that the company was planning eventually to outsource some production of the ultimate Italian brand, replacing the MADE IN ITALY label on some garments with MADE BY PRADA. In the brave new world of luxury, brands are the new countries. And traditional markers of ethnicity—from saris to ball gowns, champagne to sake—can be had anywhere, by anyone who can pay the price.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]With Quindlen Krovatin in Beijing [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.[/FONT]
pd_top('Story','handheld','12666628','Shaping The New Looks','The new rich of the developing world are not only attracting posh brands but helping determine luxury trends.','Newsweek Home','International Editions','','','','19:28, 11/05/06','Emily Flynn Vencat','printThis','','','3037880','70882','', '1');pd_om('msnbcom','100');
var url=location.href;var i=url.indexOf('/did/') + 1;if(i==0){i=url.indexOf('/print/1/') + 1;}if(i==0){i=url.indexOf('&print=1');}if(i>0){url = url.substring(0,i);document.write('[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]URL: '+url+'[/FONT]
');if(window.print){window.print()}else{alert('To print his page press Ctrl-P on your keyboard \nor choose print from your browser or device after clicking OK');}}[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12666628/site/newsweek/[/FONT]
