In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of February 4-8: Heathrow Braces For Chinese New Year Rush When it comes to luxury spending at London’s Heathrow Airport, Chinese tourists are clearly punching above their weight. As they have at other major airports around the globe, Chinese tourists and business travelers have become a regular sight at Heathrow luxury duty-free shops, stocking up on items that — in mainland China — regularly include a more than 40 percent markup. According to the Hurun Report, Chinese travelers became the world’s biggest duty-free shoppers back in 2011, with Global Blue noting that the Chinese spent more than twice as much as Russians, US and Japanese tax-free shoppers in 2010. 10 Minutes With...Twin Horizon, Purveyors Of Shanghai Street Style Launched last year, the Shanghai street-style label and creative house Twin Horizon has quickly developed a reputation for keeping fashion fresh and authentic, with hand-drawn artistic statements that push the boundaries of “simple clothing.” For its first collection, Shanghai DIY, Twin Horizon debuted with t-shirts sporting designs inspired by five prominent independent bands: Stegosaurus?, Friend Or Foe, Boys Climbing Ropes, Rainbow Danger Club, and Moon Tyrant. Chinese Travel Sites Go Upmarket As Tourists Demand Luxe Digs With China’s burgeoning luxury e-commerce market expected to have surpassed US$3 billion this year, fashion retailers like Net-A-Porter, YOOX, and Neiman Marcus, designers like Alexander Wang and brands like J. Crew and Coach aren’t the only companies hoping to tap China’s wealthier online big spender. As more Chinese outbound tourists hit the world stage, over the past year high-end travel has emerged as another online battleground. No longer driven by a singleminded focus on spending the majority of their time overseas on shopping, a steadily increasing number of wealthy Chinese tourists are spending more on accommodations and experiential travel, a development on which a handful of niche travel e-commerce sites have been quick to pounce. Home-Grown Chinese Luxury Brands: From Acquisition To Discovery While Chinese luxury consumption has slowed, it remains strong, with a recent HSBC report finding that shoppers now have a stronger focus on quality, and subtlety has gradually taken the place of blatant branding. This changing focus means that consumers will no longer grab the first logo-festooned purse they see at a brand’s flagship store, but will spend the time to better understand and discover the product story and company history. In fact, another KPMG report on The Global Reach of Chinese Luxury found that heritage of the brand plays a significant role in the purchasing decisions of 72 percent of those surveyed. Burberry Jumps On Chinese New Year Bandwagon Following just about every other luxury brand in releasing special Chinese New Year editions, Burberry recently rolled out a campaign aimed at getting Chinese customers to part with additional cash just in time for the holidays. Offered in just about every shade of red imaginable, Burberry is promoting a special version of its Blaze Bag — part of the S/S 2013 collection — as well as small leather accessories and scarves in a “Chinese New Year Gifts” section on its website. The items will also be available in brick-and-mortar Burberry stores, as will personalized “red envelopes” (红包), which staff will hand out to customers around the holiday, which falls on February 10 this year.
