Ｌｕｘｕｒｙ Ｂｒａｎｄｓ－Ｏｎｃｅ Ｓｈｉｎｙ， Ｎｏｗ Ｓｈｙ

Clothes， food， dwelling andcommunication are basic needs ofhuman beings and eternal topics of socialdevelopment. Changes in clothes， food，dwelling and communication mirrorthe status of the development of humanbeing society， especially the economy.Consumption of clothes， especiallyluxury apparels， is an importantindication of the level of economicdevelopment and the living standards.

With the rapid growth of ournational economy and the emergenceof the affluent class in the past decade，consumption of various luxury goodsis growing rapidly. International luxurygoods exhibitions heldin Beijing and Shanghaiin the past two yearshave caught the eyes ofmillions of wealthy peoplein China. The hot waveof luxury consumption inChina has attracted manycompanies that own theworld's best known luxury brands to diggold mines in the Chinese market.

Nevertheless， in the minds of Chinesepeople and foreign consumers， we havenot yet had one singleworld known luxuryapparel brand. In theinternational luxurygoods exhibitionsheld in Beijing andShanghai， it is noteasy to find Chinesebranded apparel，let alone the luxurybranded apparels，which makes Chineseentrepreneurs in the textile apparelindustry feel humiliated.

Regardless of the consumptionfigures of luxury branded apparels indomestic and international markets，or from the Best Global Brands， aninternationally accredited ranking doneby Business Week and Interbrand， LouisVuitton， Cartier， Hermes， Gabrielle，Chanel， Christian Dior from France，Gucci， Bulgari， Prada， Armani， Versacefrom Italy， Burberry from Great Britainhave always been held in esteem to bethe global luxury brands. China， thelargest apparel producer in the worldhas no single brand that is listed in theBest Global Brands， let alone the luxurybrands.

The reasons why world knownChinese original luxury apparel brandsare not created in China are worthour investigations. I do believe byresearching Chinese history and its statusquo， we can possibly find better answers.

In the Chinese 5000-year civilizedhistory which includes the Xia Dynasty，Shang Dynasty， Zhou Dynasty，Spring Autumn Period， Qin Dynasty，Han Dynasty， Three Kingdoms Period，Jin Dynasty， Southern and NorthernDynasties， Sui Dynasty， Tang Dynasty，F(xiàn)ive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsPeriod， Song Dynasty， Yuan Dynasty，Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty， theruling class and aristocracy had alwayslived luxury lives. Their consumption ofluxury goods including luxury clotheswas unlimited， no matter whether thedynasties were strong or the commonpeople were well off. In the rigidlystratified slave feudal societies， luxuryapparels and costumes were not onlyemblems of wealth but also of powerand social status. Take the Qing Dynastyas one example， the imperial code ofdress approved by the emperor clearlystipulated that different ranking peoplewore different apparels and costumes.The designs， patterns and materials of theapparel and costumes clearly defined thewearers' identity in the social hierarchy.Anyone who bypassed the code of dresswould face severe punishment.

It is safe to say that the rigidlystratified system in the slave and feudaldynasties completely eradicated theconsumption of luxury apparel andcostumes among the greater populationof people. We can understand why nobusinesses could think of creating andproducing a large scale luxury brand ofapparel and costumes for the commonpeople and is one of the many reasonswhy world known luxury apparel brandsare not created in China today.

There are quite enough examples ofluxury apparel and costumes in Chinesehistory. When we probe deeply into thedelicate tastes， rich culture and countlessartisans' manual work within the luxuryapparel and costumes in the Chinesefeudal dynasty and compare them withthe apparel branded in the name ofLouis Vuitton， Cartier， Hermes， Gucci，Bulgari， Prada， Armani， Tiffany Co.，and Burberry， these world known luxurybrands lose much of their greatness，dignity and appeal.

The imperial apparel and costumesexhibited in the Palace Museum cangive us a vivid picture of Chinese luxuryclothing and accessories.

Compared with western countries，China has a much longer history increating luxury apparel and goods.Chinese artisans have perfected difficultartistic techniques. The main reason ofour lack of world known luxury apparelbrands is that capitalism has never beenwell developed in China.

The luxury apparel brand (which isa totally different concept from luxuryapparel) has always been closely relatedto capitalism and a market economy. Itis clear that the world known luxuryapparel brands are all started， createdand developed in the well developedcapitalist countries.

Although some scholars point outthat in the Ming Dynasty and earlyQing Dynasty and in as early as theSong Dynasty， there appeared theseeds of capitalism in China. Based onmy opinion， there were no real seedsof capitalism because capitalism is awestern concept and the conditions in theMing Dynasty and Qing Dynasty werequite different from those in Europeancountries. Chinese traditional culturesand feudal systems in the Ming Dynastyand Qing Dynasty set unsurpassedbarriers for capitalism. In fact， therewas no fertile environment to developcapitalism at that time.

In the Republic of China era(1911-1949) after the last feudaldynasty was overthrown in 1911， thedevelopment of Chinese so-calledcapitalism was quite different from itswestern counterparts. During this period，because of bleeding civil wars amongBeiyang warlords，Kuomintang， war againstJapanese aggressorsduring the World WarII period and the warbetween Kuomintangand CCP after the WorldWar II， imperialism，feudalism and capitalismco-existed in China land.However， there was verylimited space for Chinesecapitalism to grow andprosper. Luxury apparel was exclusivelyfor the ruling class and the wealthiestgroup of people. There were no aspirantChinese entrepreneurs or capitalists thatwould have devoted their money andlifelong efforts to establishing， buildingand promoting their own luxury apparelbrands.

During the period from 1949 to 1978，a planned economy and public ownershipsystem dominated the Chinese economyfor three decades; private ownershipand commodity economy found noopportunity to grow. Capitalism wascursed to hell. Additionally， due tovarious subjective and objective reasons，the living standard of Chinese peoplewas much lower than that of westerners.In the above-mentioned shortage andplanned economy period， consumptionof luxury apparels was considered adecadent and dissolute capitalism way oflife.

It is not surprising that no Chineseentrepreneurs in the textile and apparelindustry were able to create one singleluxury apparel brand during the threedecades. During this period which iscalled the Golden Stage of Growthof Capitalism， many western apparelcompanies achieved organic growthand have gradually established theirunshakable positions in the world luxuryapparel market. At the same time，Chinese textile and apparel companiesgrowing in the planned economycradle had no opportunities to meetand participate in the intense and fiercecompetition in the global markets. NoChinese entrepreneurs in the textile andapparel industry knew what the luxuryapparel brands were and how to createthem. Since the open policy and privateeconomy gained its deserved socialrecognition， the Chinese textile andapparel industry has made unmatchedprogress in Chinese history. But we havemissed too many historical opportunitiesto create world known apparel brandsand luxury apparel brands.

The above explanations could beconsidered as political and economicalreasons. Investigation into Chineseculture could also partly explain whyworld known luxury apparel brands arenot created in China.

China is a great nation with a 5000year history and colorful culture， andis considered one of the four ancientcivilizations. China in the Han Dynasty，Tang Dynasty， Yuan Dynasty， MingDynasty and early Qing Dynasty enjoyedunparallel glory and respect in the world.Our GDP in the early Qing Dynastyranked No. 1. Our Chinese ancestors，unlike European ancestors never madean unshakable national strategy toutilize our various unmatched strengthsto systematically establish and runChinese colonies abroad or to promotethe morality， noble tradition and colorfulculture of great China. Our ancestorsseemed to enjoy the dream and conceptthat China was the center of the world.They also believed that Chinese culturewas the best and could be automaticallyspread among the world people.

Even today， we have not yet madeenough preparations with regard to howto combine and summarize Chineseculture (including apparel culture) andhow to promote it in the global village.We must keep in mind that no matterhow marvelous our culture， the globalvillagers will not care about or care for it.Compared with the widespread Europeanand American cultures， Chinese cultureneeds be promoted and strengthened byall means to have its fair share of theworld stage.

In the modern era in which peace anddevelopment dominate the world order，utilizing power to influence the world isundoubtedly a wisenational strategy.Films and TVprograms are alwaysconsidered mirrorsof a nation's culture，morality and tradition.Based on myexperience of viewingthe Chinese filmsand TV programs， Icannot find a singlefilm that not onlyplays a positiverole in promoting Chinese culture andgood image but also creates enormousinfluence in the globe. Even if a coupleof Chinese film directors have won someawards， what impression and imagedo foreign viewers get from the awardlaureates' Chinese films?

In this regard， we lagged behindSouth Korea. With the hot wave of filmsand television programs created by SouthKoreans， the food， apparel， industrialproducts have become the daily topicsin some southeastern Asian countries，which deserve our close attention.

Of course， there are some otherreasons that could explain why worldknown luxury apparel brands are notcreated in China besides the political，economical and cultural reasonsdiscussed above. Due to the limitation ofthe article space， I would not touch uponthose topics.

As a nation with a 5000-year historyand the largest population in the world，with a rapidly growing and top-rankedGDP and the largest apparel productioncapacity in the world， could there beany chance for China to create its worldknown luxury apparel brands? Theanswer is yes， based on the followingobservations.

First， the rapid and stable growth ofChinese economy.

According to the annual reportreleased by the World Bank， China'sGDP reached 2，234，297 million US$ atthe annual growth rate of 10.2 percentin the year of 2005. China has becomethe fourth largest economic entity in theworld after USA， Japan and Germany;while in 2004， China's GDP ranked7th place in the world economy. It issafe to say that the rapid and stablegrowth of the Chinese economy as wellas improving living and consumptionstandards， the Chinese have a richenvironment for creating its own globalrenowned luxury apparel brands.

Secondly， the enormous profit inthe Chinese huge luxury consumptionmarket is the strongest motivation tocreate the global renowned luxuryapparel brands.

Even if the GDP per capita inChina was only 1，740 US$ in 2005，which ranked 128th in the world，the emergence of large population ofwealthy people in China will definitelylead to a high consumption of luxurygoods， including luxury apparel. AffluentChinese people's active participationsin the 2006 Beijing InternationalLuxurious Goods Exhibition and 2005 2006 Shanghai Luxury Exhibitionshave repeatedly shown the world theirunquestioned consumption abilities forluxury.

According to \"China: The New Lapof Luxury\" released by Ernest Youngin September， 2005， China is the thirdlargest luxury consumer of high-endfashions， accessories and other luxurygoods in the world. China accountsfor 12% of global sales， dominating asignificant share of the global luxurymarkets when compared with Japan，41%， the USA， 17%， and the Europeancountries， 16%. The Chinese luxurymarket currently generates more thanUS$ two billion in sales a year.It is expected to grow 20% annuallyuntil 2008 and then 10% annuallyuntil 2015， when sales are expectedto exceed US$11.5 billion. By 2010，China is expected to have a quarter-billion consumers who can afford luxuryproducts， nearly 17 times the presentnumber. By 2015， Chinese consumerscould be as influential as the Japaneseand account for 29% of all globalluxury goods purchases. China'sbooming economy， coupled witha substantial increase in thenumber of buyers of luxurygoods， has fueled the growthof the Chinese luxury market，which has enormous potential forfurther growth， and is thestrongest motivationfor Chinese entrepreneurs tocreate luxuryapparel brands.

Thirdly， China's policy encouragingChinese enterprisesto create and buildworld renownedbrands notonly turn onthe greenlight butalso providethe relatedpolicy supportfor Chineseentrepreneursto createdluxuryapparelbrands.

But， to create worldrenowned luxury apparelbrands， Chinese enterprises need tobe armed with the following abilities，global promotion abilities， strong R D abilities， market control abilities andcapital operation abilities. The lack ofany of abilities will make CreatingWorld Known Luxury ApparelBrands a remote dream.