Anna Le
Tini Tani
Billy Hazel
Theo Ortengren
Weronika Kumanek
The city’s footwear exports in the first three quarters this year are more than the total exports of 2009 both in value and volume, reaching US$2.9 billion and 517 million pairs.
Global economic recovery and the quick improvement of foreign trade in China are the main reasons for a strong growth of shoe exports in Wenzhou. High-priced shoes increased shares in exports, as of September this year, 191,000 pairs of shoes with more than US$40 were exported, and the high-priced shoes made by Zhongtian Footwear in Wenzhou city were exported at price of US$150, which is the highest average price for Wenzhou footwear exports.
In recent years the footwear export has a trend of diversification that covers 159 countries and regions that including United States, Germany, Russia, Britain, Croatia, Ukraine, South Africa, Japan, Spain and France, USA still dominates the first place, accounting for 15.76% of city’s footwear exports.
It is learned that another fast fashion giant GAP will come to China. Two of its stores will open in the end of October on Huaihai Road, Shanghai. After its entrance in China, other brands of GAP Group like Banana Republic and Old navy will open stores in China, too. It is expected China will surpass Japan and become GAP's second largest market in China in 2015.
Fashion chics in Shanghai have been looking forward to local GAP stores for a long time. According to GAP China, products sold in China are likely to be cheaper than those sold in USA or Japan. In fast fashion market, GAP products are more expensive than those of Zara and H&M in western market. However, GAP products in China are to be sold at lower prices because most of these products are made in China. So transport and production costs are cut drastically. It is possible that China will become the place where GAP products are sold at the lowest prices in the world.
Moreover, GAP Chinese website will be launched on the same day. Consumers can shop at this official Chinese website. Sources say that GAP is negotiating with the largest online shopping website Taobao. We can expect that GAP online store at Taobao will open soon.
According to a report of “China Footwear Market Analysis”, Chinese footwear firms are shifting their focus from developed countries to emerging markets like the Middle East and ASEAN countries to reduce the burden of anti-dumping duties imposed by the EU and America. Export to the Middle East countries has significantly increased over the previous year. Due to the establishment of China-ASEAN free trade zone, a huge growth has been seen in exports to the ASEAN countries.
Chinese footwear industry has witnessed robust growth both in terms of consumption and exports. The research has found that the footwear industry will recover from the 2009 downturn in near future. Liberalization and globalization have given required impetus to the Chinese footwear sector thus, enabling it to become the largest footwear producing country.
The country captured the largest chunk of the global footwear export and production in 2009. The research report has studied the production, consumption, and export pattern of the Chinese footwear industry in detail.
The Chinese footwear retail market can be subdivided into four sectors: Leather shoes, Rubber shoes, Cloth (textile) shoes, and Plastic shoes. As a whole, demand for rubber shoes is rising due to gradual diversification in functions and designs as well as constant improvement in comfort. The research report provides an overview on segments of Chinese footwear market.
It also provides future growth of leather shoes output, import, and export till 2013.
The domestic sales of footwear in China have significantly risen on the back of rising online sales and increasing brand awareness. Chinese have shown great interest in the branded shoes after the entrance of many global brands that employ various promotional methods to popularize their products. Besides online sales, our report has identified other future growth prospects. The report has discussed the market, by footwear components and regional hubs. The report also features some leading players in the footwear market with their business strategies and areas of specialization.
Frbiz's subsidiary website chinabagsnet.com reports that the current prospects for international market demand still include many uncertain factors, regarding raw materials, energy, rising labor costs and other factors for Chinese textile enterprises in production and operation, causing greater overall pressure. For this the Chinese government has issued a series of policies and measures to increase consumer demand for economic stimulus, and the future of China's textile industry will see its own domestic market become an important market.
Under a series of positive policy drives, the current textile products market has begun to appear relatively stable. The future of China's textile industry will accelerate the pace of structural adjustment; actively responding to all sorts of problems that may occur.
This financial crisis caused the world economy structure to change, and the textile industry needs careful consideration of factors including how to further explore new market development, how to more effectively develop the domestic market, and how to continuously enhance their capability.
Frbiz.com emphasized that after the international financial crisis, the state council has clearly stated China's textile industry positioning, and fully reflects the Chinese textile industry regarding the country's economic development status and role. The current state in the macro-control obviously requires Chinese demand, especially to stimulate consumption. Therefore, the Chinese market is the future of China's textile industry. The textile industry's core competitiveness still lies in the textile enterprise.
Local shoppers take a look at clothing in a Burberry store on in Shanghai, China
The world's biggest luxury brands have their eyes set on the Chinese consumer - a strategy that is reaping profits.
In the next few months, the British fashion house Burberry will expand its retail space in China to capitalize on strong Chinese consumer demand for luxury products. Already, sales in China have contributed 4 percent to the company's 20 percent increase in global retail sales in the six months that ended in September.
The company bought out its Chinese partners in July so it now directly operates 50 Burberry shops there.
Stacey Cartwright, the company's chief financial officer, says sales in China would keep on rising.
"Last year, it was sort of low- to mid-single digits as a percentage [of global sales]," Cartwright said. "Clearly as you transfer that from wholesale to retail, you can increase that significantly and we would expect also that the underlying organic growth in China would be higher than elsewhere around the world. It will be quite a significant percentage as you look through to 2012."
China's rapid economic growth over the past two decades has made many urban residents rich, although the rest of the country is still largely poor.
A Burberry woolen men's coat could cost around $1,400, while the minimum wage in Shanghai ?? among the highest in China ?? is only $168 a month.
But the investment bank Credit Suisse says China's total household wealth may more than double to $35 trillion by 2015. Moreover, a strengthening yuan is boosting Chinese spending power, because it makes imports cheaper.
In Paris, LVMH, which owns scores of luxury brands, such as Louis Vuitton and Hennessy, says its global sales in the third quarter jumped 24 percent, partly because of an expansion in China. The German fashion house Hugo Boss saw third quarter revenue rise 19 percent, also partly fueled by Chinese sales. It plans to open as many as 20 more stores this year in China.
A recent study by the U.S. consulting firm McKinsey said that almost all high-income women surveyed in China increased spending on clothes more than the average Chinese consumer did; 81 percent spent more on shoes. Forty-five percent of Chinese consumers said shopping is their favorite leisure activity, compared with 25 percent in the United States and 17 percent in France.
Here in Hong Kong, retailers saw a 30 percent surge in sales during the Chinese Golden Week holiday that started on October 1, when more than 600,000 mainland Chinese tourists flocked to the city. Many splurged on tax-free handbags, watches, clothes and other luxury items.
Taking advantage of this trend, the upmarket British department store Harvey Nichols will open its second store in Hong Kong next year, while the Italian brand Prada is reportedly planning to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
The price of cotton reached an all-time high on Friday, reflecting insatiable appetites from textile mills and raising concerns about more expensive garments.
New York cotton futures hit $1.1980 a pound on the ICE Futures US electronic marketplace, the highest nominal price in the 140-year history of the exchange and its predecessors. In real terms the price of cotton remains less than a third of levels touched in 1973.
The fibre has soared 48 per cent this year as resurgent demand and supply disruption created a short-term squeeze.
Textile mills in China, the world's largest consumer, are using more cotton this year as the world economy recovers. Bad weather, however, has reduced its cotton harvest. This has sent mills streaming into world markets, with cotton imports more than doubling so far this year compared with 2009.
From a consumption standpoint, they are the elephant in the room, Jordan Lea, president of the American Cotton Shippers' Association, said of China.
Devastating floods in Pakistan have also damaged crops in the world's fourth largest cotton grower, while higher prices are stoking worries that India, a main exporter since adopting genetically modified plants, will extend an export ban.
As a result, world cotton stocks are expected to fall 5 per cent this year to their lowest levels in 14 years.
The surge in cotton prices could end an era of cheaper clothing, popularised by brands such as Zara and H&M, industry executives said. While the impact was likely to be muted on clothes with high mark-ups, such as jeans, it could be more noticeable in budget items such as underwear, they said.
Next, the popular UK-based clothing retailer, shocked competitors last month by warning of price rises of 5-8 per cent next year. For 2011 we are exploring significant product cost price pressure from around the world, it said.
An executive from a rival company added: There are strong pressures on the import prices area.
But industry executives said the surge in cotton prices would stop the disinflation seen in the clothing sector since the late 1990s, rather than reverse it. Cotton's price rise comes against a backdrop of rising commodity, and especially agricultural, prices as the dollar weakens. The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a basket of raw materials, hit a two-year peak high this week.
The situation has been a boon for cotton farmers, who for years had been tempted to abandon cotton for more profitable crops such as corn and soyabeans.
Cotton's rise has revived anger against speculators. China's National Development and Reform Commission said this week:The hype of speculative capital has increased the cotton price fluctuations.
A commentator on the China Cotton Association's website also warned: Those who are increasing cotton futures are those who hate the country to be peaceful. There will be serious social problems if increasing prices aren't stopped.
More than 450 jewelry pieces, including a rare blue diamond, should draw at least $40 million in a Christie's auction this week from buyers seeking to hedge against financial market risk.
Diamonds and colored-stone jewelry prices have shot up 20 percent from a year ago, and record prices likely will be set at this sale, Rahul Kadakia, head of the jewelry department at Christie's in New York, said in an interview.
"A lot of investors and clients who enjoy jewelry have started purchasing important diamonds and gems as a hedge against what's going on in the stock market, against what's going on with currencies," he said.
Diamonds are typically traded in U.S. dollars, which this week weakened to around eight-month lows versus the euro and near 15-year lows versus the yen.
"A lot of people are putting their money into a gem, and then there's the appreciation of the gem and the appreciation of the currency that they buy in," Kadakia explained.
"Jewels: The New York Sale" on October 20 features the Bulgari Blue Diamond, a two-stone ring designed in the 1970s being sold from a private European collection likely for at least $12 million. The ring, which was given as a gift from the collector to his wife to celebrate their first son's birth, was purchased for about $1 million in 1972.
The ring features a 9.87 carat colorless triangular-shaped diamond paired with a triangular 10.95 carat "Fancy Vivid" blue diamond, the largest such blue diamond of this cut ever offered at auction. One in about 10 blue diamonds of this size has a color pure enough to qualify as "Fancy Vivid."
"Ear pendants" designed by Joel Rosenthal, known as JAR, originally owned by actress Ellen Barkin and sold four years ago are being auctioned again for $300,000 to $500,000. Barkin wore the 2-3/4 inch long imperial topaz, ruby and diamond earrings at the 2005 Oscars.
"Every single client who tried to buy them back in 2006 is going to be back again," Kadakia said, adding the sales price could reach $700,000.
"We were able to secure goods from all of our top clients worldwide who wish to sell given the market," he said.
Buyers from Europe and Asia have already arrived in New York to view the exhibit, he said.
The auction also includes jewels from Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Boucheron.
There are more than 160 signed pieces from major designers being sold by a single collector.
A special benefit sale of the most expensive Barbie doll ever made sports a rare pink diamond that matches her "peep-toe" stilettos.
The necklace on this Barbie, created for the doll's 50th anniversary celebration last year, boasts a one-carat pink diamond from the Australian Argyle mine and is expected to raise $300,000 to $500,000 for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
"They literally only produce a handful a year, so the value has been going up every single year" for these pink diamonds, said Stefano Canturi, who designed this Barbie and offers to use the diamond to create a jewelry piece for its buyer.
"The most interest we've had so far has been from pink diamond collectors. They're the ones who really want to sink their teeth into it," he said. "
Christie's said its sales of jewelry, jadeite and watches rose to $227.3 million in the first half of this year, a 75 percent leap from the same period last year.
Models display creations during Toronto Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011 in Toronto, Canada, Oct. 18, 2010.
Models present fashion creations of the brand "LIZ LISA" in Tokyo, Japan,Oct. 18, 2010.The 11th Japan Fashion Week was held in Tokyo from Oct. 15 to 24.
Models present creations by Laboratoriya 13 during the Russian Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011 in Moscow, Russia, Oct. 18, 2010.
