Lunar New 12 months provides luxurious manufacturers an opportunity to win again large spenders in China – Company Technique & Outlook

Luxurious manufacturers from Harry Winston to Loewe are going all in on Lunar New 12 months collections in a bid to draw Chinese language prospects.

Forward of the 12 months of the Horse, which begins on Tuesday, Harry Winston unveiled a limited-edition, $81,500 rose gold watch with diamond bezels and a crimson lacquer horse. Excessive-end trend model Chloé launched a capsule assortment, starting from $250 silk scarves to a $5,300 snakeskin and leather-based shoulder bag with a horse head and tail linked by a horsebit chain. A slew of different manufacturers, together with Loewe, Gucci and Loro Piana, have launched new bag charms with horse motifs.

The 12 months of the Horse arrives at a time of cautious optimism for designer manufacturers and will mark the beginning of a China’s luxurious market comeback.

Chinese language customers had been as soon as the first driver for the worldwide luxurious sector however have in the reduction of sharply in recent times, weighed down by the nation’s slowing financial system and depressed housing values.

The Chinese language luxurious market stood at about 350 billion RMB in 2024, or about $50 billion, based on estimates from Bain. Whereas the consultancy estimates that market contracted by 3% to five% in 2025, Bain analysts famous that the sector began displaying indicators of restoration within the second half of 2025 on the again of stronger inventory market efficiency and client confidence.

Bernstein senior analyst Luca Solca stated he predicts Chinese language luxurious spending will stabilize, forecasting mid-single-digit proportion development in 2026. Nevertheless, the market remains to be much more aggressive than at its peak, he stated.

Earlier than the Covid pandemic, Chinese language customers accounted for about one-third of the worldwide luxurious items market, based on Solca. That proportion has since dipped to about 23%, he stated.

The posh market’s fortunes don’t solely relaxation on Lunar New 12 months, nevertheless it is a chance for Western manufacturers to indicate respect for Chinese language tradition, he stated.

The annual vacation is related to the colours crimson and gold, which symbolize good luck and fortune in Chinese language tradition. Every Lunar New 12 months is represented by one among 12 Chinese language zodiac animals. Final yr’s animal was the snake.

However Solca stated as a way to finest seize the Chinese language luxurious client, manufacturers must transcend the anticipated motifs.

“The Chinese language are not in awe of something that comes from the West,” Solca stated. “A perfunctory interpretation of CNY just isn’t going to go far.”

Veronique Yang, who leads BCG’s client apply in Larger China, stated literal interpretations can come throughout as lazy and even disrespectful to Chinese language customers. Youthful consumers are additionally on the lookout for brisker takes, she stated.

“Chinese language younger folks, they respect the previous Chinese language tradition, however to be trustworthy, loads of components of it they do not perceive, or they need it to be reinterpreted in a contemporary manner,” she stated. “It is necessary to weave a story that connects the heritage with a up to date imaginative and prescient.”

Lunar New 12 months collections date again to the early 2010s, as Western manufacturers had been desperate to faucet into the quickly rising Chinese language luxurious client market, based on Daniel Langer, professor of luxurious technique at Pepperdine College. On the time, newly rich Chinese language customers had been desperate to spend on designer items, particularly once they traveled overseas, he stated, as there have been few luxurious boutiques in China outdoors main cities like Shanghai and Beijing.

Now, with broader entry and extra alternative, manufacturers need to work more durable to usher in new purchasers.

And within the 12 years because the final 12 months of the Horse, Chinese language high-income customers have develop into extra discerning, Langer stated.

“They have been to the most effective locations on the planet. They’ve dined in the most effective eating places on the planet. They’ve shopped in the most effective retailers on the planet. Their expectations in direction of manufacturers are considerably larger,” he stated. “China has utterly modified from a rustic the place there was pent up demand for luxurious items to a rustic of the very best sophistication.”

Additionally they have grown accustomed to spending much less on Western manufacturers between pandemic journey restrictions and the rise of home high-end labels, based on Langer.

Earlier than the pandemic, Chinese language customers did most of their luxurious purchasing overseas. Pandemic journey restrictions completely modified that dynamic. In accordance with Bain, two-thirds of Chinese language luxurious items spending was performed overseas in 2019. Final yr, abroad spending made up solely a 3rd.

The 12 months of the Horse supplies a pure alternative for a large variety of Western manufacturers to hook up with the vacation. Langer stated he most well-liked manufacturers who take a much less literal strategy, comparable to Loewe, which adorned its signature Puzzle luggage with fringes and tassels for a cowboy aesthetic.

Yang famous, nevertheless, that the yr’s zodiac animal is an efficient luck image just for individuals who had been born in that yr, which makes taking part in an excessive amount of into horse imagery a danger.

As an alternative, she stated, manufacturers can use immersive experiences to hook up with Chinese language prospects, particularly youthful ones, in a extra genuine manner.

Valentino, as an example, held a three-day lantern pageant in January at Tianhou Palace, a historic temple alongside the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai. Burberry launched an intensive Lunar New 12 months marketing campaign in mid-December, with Chinese language model ambassadors and a pop-up boutique and ice rink in Beijing.

“There’s loads of totally different cultural components that you may combine and construct a story round,” Yang stated. “It is not solely about animals.”