Word is the French entrepreneur was heard singing praises as he browsed through the offerings, with the descriptions “exquisite” and “interesting” quoted in several news reports. With the luxury conglomerate already expanding the presence of its existing brands in the Middle Kingdom, the belief is that Arnault may now be looking to make some new acquisitions and partnerships with high-end Chinese labels.
Among such brands, Songmont is the name on everyone’s lips. Founder Fu Song, a former user experience designer, set out to make her ideal work bag when options on the market failed to meet both her practical and style needs. She named her label, founded in 2013, a portmanteau of the words “pine” (song in Mandarin) and the shortened version of “mountain” (mont), meant to reference commitment to longevity and quality.
The very first bag was made with the support of Song’s mother, who assembled a team of elderly craftswomen in their hometown of Shanxi to help her daughter realise the brand’s vision in its early days.
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The idea of craft and style enduring across generations is reflected in Songmont’s timeless designs and its inclusion of models from diverse age groups. Made from premium leather and suede, the bags are designed to last and consistently reflect Chinese cultural heritage. The Luna bag is the star product that shot the house into the international stratosphere.
Its multiway handle transforms the piece from a shoulder bag into an evening pouch. Larger models such as the Yore duffle and Gather tote — which take inspiration from travels to the Tibetan plateau and camel packs used by Silk Road travellers — are equally as popular. The brand also offers charms, with wish seeds and lucky gourds as the best-selling designs.
Arnault’s other dalliance Laopu Gold is also a major contender in the eastern luxury scene. While not yet as internationally recognisable as Songmont or European maisons, it is most known for gold medallions and charms engraved with Chinese spiritual and prosperity symbols. With only 37 stores across China, Macau and Hong Kong, as well as one flagship in Singapore, the jeweller’s exclusive retail experience rivals that of Western counterparts. Chinese consumers have dubbed it “the Hermès of gold” — a fitting nickname for a company receiving surging demand despite skyrocketing gold prices.
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Songmont and Laopu Gold are not where it starts and ends. A browse through Tmall, the premium business-to-consumer platform on Alibaba-owned e-commerce site Taobao, reveals exactly how deep China’s growing portfolio of high-end goods goes. You can shop for virtually anything, whether it is an osmanthus and tea-scented perfume or silk bedsheets. Clothing and accessories lead the sales here, with buyers from around the world having immediate access to the best that Chinese fashion has to offer. As the app often has special deals and discounts, pricing also tends to be cheaper than purchasing from a brand’s official international website.
The sudden craze for Chinese luxury goods may feel perplexing to some. For decades, the nation’s advanced supply chain infrastructure, relatively low labour cost and technological advancement have made it a prime destination for multinational enterprises looking to increase production volume while keeping expenses tight. Unfortunately, this led to the words “Made in China” becoming globally synonymous with “cheap” and “low quality”, reflecting the illusion that most of these products were produced with subpar materials and workmanship.
Strangely, people were more willing to overlook this tiny text if the product was sold by a European or American company. What was supposed to be a qualm over quality — fuelled by post-19th century Yellow Peril propaganda that China was a poor, developing nation flourishing on sweatshops — became a class division sprinkled with sinophobia. You bought from a Chinese brand only if you could not afford the Western price tag for the same item.
When we look at the news, though, the allure of the East becomes less of a mystery. With global tensions at a boiling point, foregrounded by US President Donald Trump’s trade wars and inflammatory remarks, more buyers are boycotting Western labels with ideologies they do not agree with. Justifying a splurge can be tough enough. To know that a fraction of your money might be funnelled towards conflict and genocide in a land on the other side of the world is enough to deter many from checking out their carts. Redirecting cash flow to labels with no ties to such atrocities is the metropolitan human’s easiest form of protest.
As China opens up to the rest of the world via rollouts of visa exemptions for short-term visits, buyers on the hunt for examples of extraordinary artisanship, firm brand identity and reasonable pricing are exposed to an alternative market. It would not be the first time the rest of the world has wanted to sink its teeth into what China has to offer. Papermaking, gunpowder, tea, porcelain — these are only a handful of things that originated there and then spread to the rest of the globe.
LVMH’s interest is just the latest notable occurrence in a movement that has existed for centuries. Eastern brands getting their long-overdue flowers is a call to finally unlearn the old-fashioned idea that luxury emerges only from certain continents and an even stronger reminder that you do not need the presence of a recognisable logo or KOL promotion to decide where to spend your coins.
