Paweł Lewandowski
Faustine Lara
Jess A
Steve Frous
Luci Matheus
French luxury brand Comité Colbert is partnering with The Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination, to organise the region’s first-ever Colbert Festival in Dubai, from October 29 to November 7, 2010.
Comité Colbert is an association that consists of a membership of 75 French luxury brands and 11 associate members – prestigious French Cultural institutions - and is famous for the promotion of the international aura of French Art de Vivre.
The Dubai Mall is regarded as the fashion trend-setter in the region with a dedicated Fashion Avenue featuring over 70 global haute couture brands. The partnership highlights the premier position of The Dubai Mall as the destination for high-end fashion and cultural events.
The Middle East constitutes a promising market for French luxury. In all of the Middle Eastern countries, the number of projects undertaken by Colbert companies is on the rise; Festival Colbert is a celebration of their commitment to the region and promises to be an event with French style that is conceived as a journey into the imaginative world of French luxury and an initiation to French Art de Vivre, with The Dubai Mall partnering to bring the prestigious event for the first time in the region.
Colbert members specialized in jewellery, fragrances, crystal, leather goods, decoration, hospitality and gastronomy, faience and porcelain, silver and bronze, haute couture and fashion design are mobilized to present the best of French luxury. Most participating brands have their flagship stores or Middle East debuts in The Dubai Mall, highlighting the high-end offering of the world’s largest shopping and entertainment destination.
The Colbert Festival is a special path that will run past the stores of Colbert members and through the public areas of The Dubai Mall and outstanding objects will be displayed, many of them for the first time in the Middle East. There will also be a programme of special events and demonstrations including artisans showing their skills or talks by designers.
Speaking about Festival Colbert in Dubai Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes, President and CEO, Comité Colbert said, “It gives us great pleasure to announce an event of this magnitude in the Middle East; it reassures the commitment by the French luxury brands to the region. The Middle East makes up eight percent of the overall French luxury brand market, which we have seen grow year on year.”
She added, “We at Colbert feel that having an event of this nature not only allows us to impart the French know how, but also allows us to further learn about the art and culture of the region, which is both rich and unique. We are also honoured to partner with The Dubai Mall, an international shopping destination, for the preliminary Colbert Festival in the region; what better setting could an event ask for with its convenient location and beautiful settings that attract all genres of people.”
Mr Nasser Rafi, CEO, Emaar Malls Group, said, “The first-ever Colbert Festival – both within a mall as well as in the Middle East - is a perfect testament to The Dubai Mall’s unsurpassed position as the fashion capital of the region. We are committed to bringing high-end and culturally significant events that set industry standards. The Colbert Festival will serve as a new benchmark by blending high-fashion and modern lifestyle choices that appeal to connoisseurs.”
Festival Colbert will be showcased in the high-profile Grand Atrium, Fashion Avenue and Catwalk in The Dubai Mall which features over 30 French luxury brands. The Dubai Mall, the must-visit retail and leisure destination, features over 1,000 retail stores and 160 F&B outlets and hosted more than 37 million visitors during its first year of operation.
The Dubai Mall has several world-class leisure amenities, and offers exclusive access to At the Top, Burj Khalifa, the world’s highest observatory deck with an outdoor terrace in the world’s tallest building. The Dubai Mall’s waterfront promenade opens to spectacular views of The Dubai Fountain, the world’s tallest performing fountain.
The Government of India has announced that it has removed all restrictions on exports of cotton from October 1, which is the beginning of the new cotton marketing season.
However according to the notification released by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, all export contracts will still have to be registered with the Office of the Textile Commissioner.
The notification also adds that, all duties that were imposed on the exports of cotton too have been withdrawn, effective from October 1.
It may be recalled that the government had announced a ban on cotton exports in April 2010 on pressure from spinners due to the flare up in cotton prices.
Lights and dancers can be seen in the windows of The Standard hotel during a light show for the company's "Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular" in New York August 18, 2010.[Photo/Agencies]
Xtep sports shoes become more and more popular among the young consumers as its unique feature and fashion style, but in recent years Xtep frequently met brand infringements, for instance the latest crackdown that took place on July 14. 7000 pairs of fake Xtep brand worth one million yuan were seized on a shoemaking factory in Jinjiang city.
Xtep Group calls for the branded products should increase the awareness to combat violators on intellectual property rights, and take legitimate way to protect their interests and let the criminal receiving their deserve punishment.
In addition the local government takes action to coordinate their campaign, Jinjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau and Industrial and commercial department sent an inspection team on this crackdown campaign.
As of July our footwear exports reach to the equal amount of last year, it is only three years for our transition from internal sales to overseas markets, foreign trade department of Mingzhi Sportswear Co., told our reporter.
Since beginning of this year the foreign-oriented companies in Jinjiang footwear sector see an unexpected increasing on foreign market demand and orders, exports for first half increased by 64.25% to 182.25 million U.S. dollars, according to the Jinjiang Bureau of Commerce.
Jinjiang Bureau of Commerce attributes the significant growth in footwear exports to the market rebounding in EU and America, consumption grew rapidly as economic turning to better. Almost all of enterprises are satisfied with their achievements in the first half. As for the second half exports many enterprises still expressed their concern because they thought European debt crisis may take effect on the second half year, but others expressed optimism as they thought European debt crisis has less impact to Chinese footwear exports, further more ASEAN countries made huge contributions to Chinese footwear exports.
As more and more enterprises transform to inland areas, labor shortage has become a headache for local industry, the offices of bureau urged enterprises to raise wage and improve working condition for maintaining their production.
Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles
China International Trade Fair for Home Textiles & Accessories
Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Shanghai, China
24-26 August 2010
Show area expanded to meet exhibitor demand
Key trade buyers join tailor-made business matching programme
Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles 2010 has been expanded from nine to ten halls. Exhibitors who benefit from the expansion include suppliers exhibiting in the international hall, especially those participating under the Taiwanese and Turkish pavilions, which have significantly increased by 40% in scale.
With the Chinese market becoming more important and sophisticated, Mr Ibrahim Burkay, the president for Uludag Exporters' Association and the person in-charge of the Turkish Pavilion will bring more leading home textile brands to exhibit in the 2010 show. Among them include Verdi, Vanelli, Demor, Elvin and Guleser.
We are seeing an outstanding increase in Turkish home textile exports to China, up 44% in the first quarter of 2010. The show always exceeds our expectations. During the previous edition our companies not only met with existing clients but also established new business contacts with Chinese and overseas buyers. The show is an ideal platform in Asia to conduct business,?? said Mr Burkay.
Mr Wang Zhi Hung from Full Colour Co Ltd, a repeat exhibitor in the Taiwanese pavilion agreed with Mr Burkay. ??This year, we expect to meet even more international buyers and existing customers, so we have enlarged our booth.?? Mr Wang further added that the booth design would be upgraded to promote the company??s new collection of upholstery fabrics.
Influential industry buyers also consider the show a vital sourcing destination for home textile products. IKEA from Sweden and Target from the US have both confirmed their attendance and will be participating in the business-matching programme offered by the show organiser. This value added service will make certain that selected VIP buyers and exhibitors get connect based on their needs.
Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles will be held from 24 ?? 26 August 2010 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China. The show is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd.; the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; and China Home Textile Association (CHTA).
The cases of canceling dealership contracts between foreign brand operators and Chinese agents take place frequently in recent years. In 2009, UK's men's wear brand Dunhill took back the dealership in Wenzhou, Ningbo and Hangzhou.
In addition, other renowned brands such as Zegna and LOEWE also terminate the dealership. Throwing off the agents, international brands adopt the direct marketing like a raging fire.
With the opening of China's domestic market, brand operators can operate directly in China and hope to know about China's sales channels and consumers. This is why they take back the dealership and operate by themselves.
The world leading sports brand Adidas announced its cooperation with Taobao on 16th, August. On that day, the Adidas online store opened, too. Until now, many famous brands including Uniqlo, Lining, Belle and Bestseller had their online stores on Taobao.
Adidas' president of Great China Region, Mr. Christophe Bezu expressed his happiness of cooperating with Taobao. This online store can help Adidas to learn more about Chinese consumers through Internet. What's more, it can also help to meet demands of Chinese consumers. This online store is an important step for Adidas' e-commerce strategy.
It is known that this Adidas online flagship store is operated directly by Adidas China. A large number of different collections of Adidas will be sold on line. Different from other brands, Adidas will sell its latest products at this online shop instead of selling inventory.
Since online shopping has become a trend for young consumers, Adidas cannot ignore this huge online market. Moreover, Adidas faces furious competition when the cost of traditional commercial mode remains high. The financial report of Adidas released in August showed that the revenue of Great China Region reduced by 16% year on year. Great China Region is Adidas' only market experiencing a negative growth. This online shop can help to save cost while cover more consumers especially those in the second and third tier cities.
The volume of production orders for Vietnamese footwear in the year to date has increased 15-16% year-on-year, said Vietnam Leather & Footwear Association (Lefaso) vice chairman Diep Thanh Kiet.
"We're informed by several local footwear producers that they received a good volume of orders and big contracts," the vice chairman responded to reporters on the sidelines of a conference in HCMC on Wednesday.
Kiet explained that China is facing a shortage of workers in labor-intensive industries, including footwear production, causing some of its partners to move to Vietnam for footwear products.
"China's per capita income of US$3,000 improves their living conditions, so they want to have better jobs," he said.
Kiet added that the quality of Vietnamese footwear products is quite good while they are reasonably priced. Besides, the country is located near China, a source of cheap materials for footwear production.Vietnamese producers, however, face a lack of laborers.
The country's footwear producers mostly provide foreign companies with outsourcing services. They now can turn out 90% of shoe soles but have to import most of high quality leather.According to Lefaso, footwear exports fetched US$2.75 billion in the first seven months of this year, up 13.8% compared with the same period of last year. Exports to the US accounts for 25% of the total, reaching US$700 million.
Chinese households have far more money than previously thought, according to recent research, which says casino operators, property companies and even European luxury goods makers could be about to benefit from the rise of these deep-pocketed consumers.
The research, conducted by China Reform Commission professor Wang Xiaolu and commissioned by Credit Suisse, found official estimates of household income were well wide of the mark.
On average, mainland China''s urban household income was 32,150 yuan ($4,746), or 90% above the 16,880 yuan indicated by official data, according to the study which assessed spending and income patterns in China in 2008.
The study found that the "hidden" household disposable income could be as high as 9.3 trillion yuan in 2008, equivalent to about 30% of China''s gross domestic product.
Most of this wealth -- 63%, according to the survey -- is concentrated in the top 10% of Chinese households. That means the top bracket is about 3.2 times richer than official estimates suggest.
The report also said the government''s flow of funds data don''t accurately track the income of top households because much of it are the results of "illegal or quasi-legal" activities.
Wang reports "grey" disposable income -- the shortfall in the figures revealed in the economic census and what households really received -- at 5.4 trillion yuan in 2008.
Credit Suisse said the finding helps explain China''s growing wealth gap and could help explain "the rationale of the Chinese government''s recent strong push for faster wage growth and a more equitable income-distribution pattern."
Credit Suisse said investors may be setting their sights too low when it comes to gauging the impact of this vast pool of wealth.
Investors, the broker said, should look to casino operators in the party-zone enclave of Macau. Among its favored selections in the former Portuguese colony is Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. /quotes/comstock/22h!e:27 (HK:27 5.34, +0.09, +1.71%) /quotes/comstock/11i!gxyef (GXYEF 0.73, +0.01, +0.97%) , which is set to unveil a new casino geared to value-conscious gamblers.
Shares of high-end property developers with Chinese projects are another good bet, Credit Suisse says, pointing to Hong Kong-listed groups China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. /quotes/comstock/22h!e:688 (HK:688 16.32, +0.16, +0.99%) /quotes/comstock/11i!caovf (CAOVF 2.04, -0.02, -0.97%) and Hang Lung Group Ltd. /quotes/comstock/22h!e:10 (HK:10 45.45, +0.50, +1.11%) /quotes/comstock/11i!hnlgf (HNLGF 6.05, +0.15, +2.54%) , as well as the mainland-listed developer China Vanke Co. /quotes/comstock/28b!e:000002 (CN:000002 8.84, +0.38, +4.49%) /quotes/comstock/11i!cvkef (CVKEF 0.00, 0.00, 0.00%) .
In the food area, Credit Suisse suggested specialist yoghurt-drink maker China Mengniu Dairy Co. /quotes/comstock/22h!e:2319 (HK:2319 23.10, -0.25, -1.07%) /quotes/comstock/11i!ciadf (CIADF 3.25, 0.00, 0.00%) . The largest dairy producer by market share in China has unveiled new products as part of efforts to re-brand itself under new management following the melamine-tainted milk scandal in 2008.
Among internationally-listed beneficiaries, favored selections were German luxury automobile maker BMW AG /quotes/comstock/11e!fbmw (DE:BMW 41.72, -0.30, -0.70%) , and Paris-listed handbag and drinks group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA /quotes/comstock/24s!e:mc (FR:MC 92.85, -0.08, -0.09%) /quotes/comstock/11i!lvmuy (LVMUY 23.80, +0.08, +0.34%) .
