Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
"Hong Kong Visitor Curbs May Weigh on Mall Owners' Profits" (Bloomberg)
"Hong Kong may lose as much as HK$25 billion ($3.2 billion) in retail sales if the government goes ahead with a proposal to cut Chinese tourist arrivals, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The proposal, under consideration by Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, will put pressure on the earnings and asset values of landlords and retailers, analysts including Macquarie Group Ltd. and Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch & Co. unit said."
"China Online Spending Power Unmasked" (Businessweek)
"China's Internet sales are surging as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and rivals lure more of the nation's 618 million users to shop online, suggesting conventional retail-sales figures understate the strength of consumer demand. Online retail sales, first reported by the statistics bureau in April, jumped 52 percent in the first four months of 2014 from a year earlier, compared with a 12 percent gain in the broader gauge that represented the weakest start to a year since 2004."
"In Asia, Men's Skin Care Takes Off" (The Wall Street Journal)
"Mr. Shum and a growing number of men like him are making Asia one of the fastest growing markets for men's skin care. The region accounts for US$2.1 billion, or 64%, of the $3.3 billion spent globally in 2013 on such items as male skin creams, lotions and whiteners, according to data compiled in April by Euromonitor, a market-research firm."
"Sales of Luxury Goods Continue to Plunge in China" (Want China Times)
"International luxury goods brands are facing barriers in expanding their businesses in the Chinese market as local consumers have grown fussy, reports the Beijing-based China Economic Weekly. A report released by Bain & Company, in partnership with Fondazione Altagamma, an Italian luxury goods industry trade association, showed that the global luxury goods market advanced 2.2% to €217 billion (US$296 billion) in 2013."
"China Said to Deport Models for Working Illegally" (The New York Times)
"The Chinese authorities have deported scores of foreign models whom they detained earlier this month in Beijing on accusations that the models were working illegally, said a model who once worked in China. The model, Suzanne Loh, who now lives in Milan, said in an interview on Tuesday that Chinese officials allowed the embassies of the models' home countries to help with travel arrangements."
