Chanel Shows Metier d'Arts Collection In Shanghai

China Show, Taking Place On December 4 At New Boutique, Follows Last Year's Debut In Moscow Shanghai, arguably China's most fashionable and cosmopolitan city -- and inarguably its largest -- will be the center of the fashion world's attention this week, as Karl Lagerfeld shows his annual Metier d'Arts collection on December 4. Taking place at Shanghai's new Chanel boutique, and viewable online, the show has been heavily promoted through a dedicated website, http://chanel-paris-shanghai.com, which featured short videos of Chanel's Paris operations and Lagerfeld himself organizing the show. Located at the Peninsula Hotel, Chanel's Shanghai boutique, which opened last month, features localized luxury products with Chinese accents, such as bright red fabrics and exclusive mousseline stoles, according to the Independent UK. Chanel's choice to hold the Maison d'Arts event in Shanghai is perhaps no coincidence. This year, French luxury brands have been in full courting mode in the China market, following last year's anti-French boycotts in the wake of the Olympic torch relay. Late last month, French luxury brand organization Comite Colbert, in partnership with Chinese internet portal Sina, launched a trilingual (English, French, and Chinese) luxury portal designed to showcase a wide range of French luxury goods. Whether the French luxury charm offensive will prove successful in China will remain to be seen. But as a recent Independent article noted, the desire of French luxury brands to establish themselves in China -- and the intense negotiations required to do so -- could ultimately benefit China (and future Chinese luxury designers) more than the French companies themselves: Women's Wear Daily reports that the Comité Colbert, France's union of luxury brands, has signed an agreement with the Chinese goverment November 27, assuring its help in developing the republic's creative industries. According to the paper, the signing took place during a formal visit to France by Chinese minister of commerce, Chen Deming. "This agreement will allow us to find organizations in China that would be willing to join us in advocating the values specific to creative industries: respect for intellectual property rights, the transmission of know-how and ethical conduct," the Comité Colbert's CEO, Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes, said. The self-protecting move follows another initiative introduced by the committee in October that saw the inauguration of a new web portal (ccolbert.fr) to promote French luxe products in China, the fastest-growing markets for companies such as Louis Vuitton.

Chanel Shows Metier d'Arts Collection In Shanghai

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Published December 03, 2009

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Chanel Shows Metier d'Arts Collection In Shanghai