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 September 13-17:
Hermès Launches Shang Xia In Shanghai: Jing Daily’s Exclusive Coverage
Today in Shanghai, Jing Daily had the privilege of attending a media event hosted by Hermès’ new “created in China” luxury brand Shang Xia, the first-ever Chinese high-end lifestyle brand built from the ground up by a major European luxury house. Hosted at One Xintiandi, a multi-floored hot-spot in the Old Shanghai style, Shang Xia was finally unveiled at a media event attended by Jing Daily as well as local and international publications like Noblesse, the Hong Kong Journal, Modern Weekly, Time Out and FHM. Also in attendance were the district vice mayor and representatives of Nike and HSBC, among others.
At the unveiling, speeches were delivered by four individuals who have been key to the creation and development of the Shang Xia brand: Jiang Qiong Er (Shang Xia’s artistic director), Hermès CEO Patrick Thomas, Japanese architect Kento Kuma (who designed Shang Xia’s first boutique), and fashion photographer Paolo Roversi.
Top Artists To Buy, Priced Within Reach, At Sotheby’s HK Contemporary Asian Art Auction (Oct 4)
After a strong showing at this spring’s auction season in Hong Kong, where the total volume of Chinese Contemporary Art sales ($15.6 million) was more than double that of both Spring 2009 ($7.6 million) and Autumn 2009 ($7.1 million), we’re looking to see if new Chinese collectors will continue to dominate at the upcoming autumn auctions in Hong Kong, and if their high confidence in the Chinese art market will translate to more broken records.
Although top Chinese contemporary artists like Liu Ye and Yue Minjun are selling in the $1 million+ level again, nearly at pre-financial-crisis levels, that doesn’t mean there won’t be some good buys to be had at Sotheby’s Contemporary Asian Art auction, taking place in Hong Kong on October 4. Here are Jing Daily’s “top artists within reach,” top-quality works with estimates ranging from $4,000 to $52,000. Although an affordable estimate doesn’t necessarily translate to an affordable sale price when we’re dealing with Chinese collectors — as we’ve seen regularly — there may be some surprises.
This week, Phoenix Online brings us a list of China’s “10 Sexiest Cities.” Gauging sexiness on the city’s overall character and pizzazz, 17.3% of respondents from 30 cities considered Shanghai’s glittering skyline, revamped Bund area and World Expo makeover more alluring than Hong Kong’s international vibe or Macau’s notorious nightlife.
The Top 10 “sexiest cities” in China, via Phoenix Online (translation by Jing Daily team):
1. Shanghai (17.3%)
“Respondents felt, first of all, that Shanghai’s sexiness derived from the city’s modern temperament, developed economy and general prosperity. Second, even those who hadn’t been to Shanghai had certainly heard about the Shanghai Bund, Oriental Pearl Tower, Huangpu River and so on…Shanghai’s sexiness comes from these ’symbolic sights.’ Interestingly enough, respondents felt that the Shanghai World Expo contributed to the city’s overall sexiness.”
hanghai Holding Its Own Among Established Fashion Capitals
In today’s list-crazy world, Shanghai may be ranked China’s most luxurious city and one of the world’s top 10 in terms of retail spending, but according to the nonprofit group the Global Language Monitor, Shanghai is among the world’s top fashion capitals as well. As Luxury Insider (via China Daily) points out, this year New York topped the list of global fashion capitals — reclaiming the spot from Milan — Asian powerhouses like Hong Kong (this year’s #2) and Shanghai (#12) have made great strides, with Shanghai in particular surprising many by beating out Tokyo (#14) this year.
From China Daily:
“The Orient is definitely where Westerners wish to check out about fashion,” said Chinese fashion critic Lin Jian.
Dispatch From Paris: China’s European Textile Crusade
Formerly known as the European Trade Show, PV finally opened up to non-European mills in 2002 following a decline in participation from European textile manufacturers.
Jing Daily is in Paris this week for the event, and discovered at a preview that a small number of Chinese mills from Shenzhen and provinces like Shandong, Jiangsu, Fujian, and Hebei made it to this year’s edition of PV, most of them specializing in suiting, cotton and technical fabrics. Although their presence is still very limited, we’re likely to see an ever-increasing number of Chinese textile manufacturers continuing their “European textile crusade” as the Chinese economy continues to grow. Since most garments are currently still “made in China,” textiles produced in China will certainly help to reduce transportation bills for their American and European clients and sidestep certain import/export taxes.