Source: Vogue
Western luxury houses are losing market share in China as domestic designers—Li-Ning, Uma Wang, and Shushu/Tong among them—move from niche followings to mainstream prestige. The shift reflects aesthetic maturation: Chinese design has developed its own language rather than mimicking European codes, positioning it as a competitor rather than a derivative market. This matters because it ends China as a guaranteed cash machine for LVMH and Kering, forcing them to either relocate production and design thinking to Asia or cede the world's largest luxury consumer base to homegrown alternatives.