Jing Daily’s Top Posts for the Week#
In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of February 7 - 11.
China Progress Report: Diane Von Furstenberg
While other well-known international designers have recently attempted to draw on Chinese star power to build fashion “cults of personality,” with Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana hobnobbing with Vogue China’s Angelica Cheung and model Naomi Campbell in Shanghai and Miuccia Prada recently rubbing shoulders with actresses Gong Li and Maggie Cheung at CAFA Beijing, Diane von Furstenberg appears to be taking the long view of her brand’s foray into China. While her strategy — significantly brasher and more visible than that of her competitors (sometimes to a fault) — isn’t to everybody’s liking, von Furstenberg certainly is making the right friends in people like the publisher and Chinese fashion booster Hong Huang and contemporary artists Hai Bo and Zhang Huan. At the same time, her approach to brand expansion, somewhat surprisingly, is more restrained than many brands.
Currently, DVF operates two boutiques in Beijing and Shanghai, and plans for a major nationwide rollout have yet to be announced. At the moment, building a strong foothold in two of China’s wealthiest cities, while amassing a network of influential brand advocates, is DVF’s broader plan.
Sotheby’s To Auction 106 Pieces Of Blue-Chip Chinese Contemporary Art From Ullens Collection
While the auction market struggles to find its feet in New York, look for Hong Kong to heat up even further on April 3, as Chinese collectors will have a rare opportunity to get their hands on one of 106 pieces of Chinese contemporary art from the collection of Baron Guy Ullens, benefactor of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. Featuring dozens of rare works by blue-chip Chinese artists expected to bring in a combined total of US$17 million, “The Ullens Collection – The Nascence of Avant Garde China” at Sotheby’s Hong Kong presents a comprehensive cross-section of the last 30 years in Chinese art, from the earliest stirrings of the late ’70s to the Political Pop and Cynical Realism of the 1990s and today.
Spanning a full range of mediums, from oil painting to photography, “The Ullens Collection” is anchored by several important works that have rarely been seen by, let alone available to, collectors, such as pieces originally included in the pivotal China/Avant-Garde Exhibition of 1989.
$4.5 Million Luxury Helicopters To Be “Made In China”: Private Jets Next?
The Wenzhou-based manufacturer Zhong’ou International Group has signed an agreement with Eurocopter, a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, to assemble private luxury helicopters in Jiangsu Province. According to the agreement, Eurocopter, the world’s No. 1 helicopter maker, will provide spare parts and technical support, while Zhong’ou will produce the aircraft chassis and interiors. Projected to cost between 30 million yuan (US$4.55 million) and 60 million yuan ($9.1 million), the first helicopters, seating anywhere from six to eight people, are set to roll off the assembly lines next year.
Taken at face value, this story is interesting in itself, as it indicates the growing capacity of Chinese manufacturers to continue rising up the value chain, but going deeper, it also reflects what we’ve seen in other potentially lucrative manufacturing sectors.
Shanghai Tang Channels Miao Minority Culture In S/S 2011 Collection
The Hong Kong-based, Richemont-controlled luxury fashion house Shanghai Tang, which recently turned heads with its Mongolian-influenced “Devastating Beauty” Autumn/Winter 2010 collection, pulls inspiration from the Miao minority of southern China with its upcoming “Metamorphosis” Spring/Summer 2011 line. Numbering around 10 million in China, with significant populations in Vietnam and Laos, ethnic Miao are traditionally concentrated in the southern Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Hainan, Guangdong, and Hubei.
Renowned for their skill in silk-weaving, embroidering and jewelry making, the Miao place importance on symbols such as the phoenix, birds and butterflies.
For The Taste-Impaired Coal Boss: World’s Most Expensive SUV Coming To China
This week, the Russian armored car and SUV manufacturer Dartz announced that it will soon begin shipping its high-priced, tank-like, Latvian-made SUVs to China, in an attempt to shove its way into an already-crowded luxury auto market. In a market dominated by the Porsche Cayenne, Land Rovers and the occasional Hummer, Dartz — which once upholstered seats in its Prombron Red Diamond SUV with, shall we say, an objectionable material — manages to stand out by virtue of its pricing and sheer chutzpah alone. And that’s saying a lot in China, where exploitative Shanxi Province coal bosses have made an art out of conspicuous consumption.