Famed Shoemaker Manolo Blahnik Has The Unique Opportunity To Be Finally Big In China. This May Help Redefine Luxury As We Know It.

After settling a legal battle of over two decades to secure the right to use its name on the Chinese market two years ago,?the iconic British shoe brand has finally set foot in the heart of the Empire of the Middle. A long overdue presence materialised by the formation of a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE) in mainland China and the opening of a flagship in Shanghai earlier last month. Though highly prejudicial in many respects, the 20+-year delay may have been a blessing in disguise for the luxury footwear label founded in 1970 in Chelsea by Spanish fashion designer?Manuel Blahnik Rodríguez, as we will see later.

Launched on November 7, the long-awaited boutique is located in the west gate atrium of Plaza 66, a mall whose tenant list reads like a who’s who of the world's most renowned luxury brands. The glamorous grand opening – whose glitzy guest list included celebrities such as actor-singer Ou Hao, influencers?Angelene Sun and Yvonne Du,?entrepreneur Wendy Yu or cellist?Weiping Chen –?brings the label’s global footprint to 20 exclusive points of sale.

Testament to its importance, this very first physical store in mainland China was designed by CEO Kristina Blahnik herself. A trained architect who joined her uncle’s company 14 years ago, she specially came out of retirement to create a design that is a nod to both the brand’s London roots and Chinese culture. The symmetrical space features a geometric design as its focal point alongside minimal, modern floors designed locally set off with vivid accents provided by the vibrant furniture imagined by designer Chen Darui. It also reflects the brand’s signature “living room” concept, first established in its Burlington Arcade boutique in London, aiming to create a welcoming, refined environment.

The very quiet design taps into some of the vernacular from Georgian aesthetics but with dynamic displays such as folding shelves. Showcasing seasonal men’s and women’s collections and the iconic Silhouettes collection, the Shanghai boutique debuts two exclusive styles for its opening. Alongside the brand’s classic models, the store will retail an exclusive capsule collection to pay homage to traditional Chinese gardens through exquisite embroidery and beadwork.

The opening of the Shanghai store is part of Manolo Blahnik’s recent push in greater China. Prior to the Plaza 66 flagship, the brand launched a point of sale at?BR4 Sogo department store?in Taipei in July and two stores in Hong Kong, the latter in collaboration with brand operator Bluebell Group – one at?Lee Gardens in April and the other at Pacific Place in October. The company bets on a slow yet steady progression that includes opening additional brick-and-mortar outposts in the region and ramping up digital efforts to court clients (this is earmarked for early 2025 with a debut on Tmall, Alibaba Group’s dedicated B2C platform for online retail).

Because it coincides with some of the worst economic conditions for luxury brands on the Chinese market, the move may sound excessively bold and risky. After all, behemoths such as LVMH, Kering and Richemont all blame a weakened China market for their recent dwindling earnings. Despite robust operating profits, Manolo Blahnik itself revealed last August a turnover down 10% from the previous fiscal year due to the luxury market slowdown. But the challenge does not impress its CEO: “We’re doing this now because it‘s the right time and location,”?Kristina Blahnik?told Forbes.

Right Kind of Value

She definitely may have a point.

The Chinese luxury market has changed deeply over the past few years. It’s a brand new ball game now. The problems the big names are currently confronted with are not just related to the woes of China’s economy. They also have to do with the growing maladjustment of their positioning and supply to the local demand driven by a new generation of consumers. The rise of Gen Z and the über-wealthy (despite the current crisis, China is expected to double its number of millionaires and billionaires over the next few years), is redefining the very notion of luxury in the Empire of the Middle, which will inevitably impact the future of the industry not just in Asia, but globally. Therefore, those?who succeed there are likely to succeed anywhere.

The days of simply showcasing a massively advertised product and expecting clients to buy it almost automatically because they have seen it in Vogue or Vanity Fair are gone. It’s also no longer enough to have an iconic logo or a storied history. It takes much more than that to appeal to the new breed of Chinese luxury shoppers.

In China today, the pressure to innovate, adapt, and deliver is more intense than anywhere else: loyalty and desirability must be earned every single day. Well-to-do younger customers have very specific aspirations. Social-media natives, Zoomers see the brands they buy as symbols of their public persona. Therefore, they expect a personal connection: a brand story that feels meaningful and relevant to their lives, exceptional and distinctive products that set them apart, a level of service bordering on perfection that meets their higher standards.

That’s what industry leaders have been struggling with of late on the Chinese market because their business model based on mass production and mass marketing is largely incompatible with the deeper, individualized connection China’s new luxury consumers crave. The market is just reminding these top players of a crucial golden rule: luxury is not supposed to be for everybody and each client must feel like they are treated like royalty.

Emotional and Cultural Connection

That’s where Manolo Blahnik and its likes can make a difference. The timing is right and they can bring the right kind of value to the table. The brand from London is relatively new to local customers and its freshness is undeniably an asset in a context where brand fatigue is already impacting negatively the industry’s household names that not so long ago reigned supreme. This is giving more confidential brands with an uncompromising approach to innovation and excellence a window of opportunity to win over the discriminating customers who don’t identify with the increasingly standardized, unimaginative offering of luxury majors.

With its timeless elegance and style, impeccable craftsmanship, and unique image of distinction, the British brand can build on the significant level of appreciation and desirability it already enjoys among fashion enthusiasts in China who consider it real luxury compared to the often overrated, overpriced “mass luxury” brands that have lost much of their appeal due to their deficit of creativity and perceived lack of exclusivity.

But going back to the traditional basics of luxury is not enough. You now also have to throw the ability to connect emotionally and culturally with local consumers into the mix – wherever you operate. Being an independent private company and much smaller than luxury giants, Manolo Blahnik is supposedly more flexible and agile, which gives it a potential edge to adapt quicker and better to the shifting mindset and behaviors of an increasingly sophisticated Chinese clientele. The same reasoning applies to luxury labels with a similar profile. Due to their size and more limited clientele, they are well-positioned to understand and meet the particular needs of their customers and establish the kind of special relationship they aspire to.

Through highly personalized bonds and real-life experiences that create meaning because they integrate the clients’ own values, make them feel like they belong and turn every interaction into a moment of significance, the brand can go beyond the traditional symbols of wealth by providing new luxury consumers with the ultimate experience and inspiration that they seek in order to validate their social status. But there’s a catch: the charm would be broken and the alignment with the demand collapse, should the company try to grow too big and risk losing touch with its clientele by doing so. In the future luxury market, small will definitely be beautiful.

When you’re a luxury player, this is what it takes today to be big in China. The opportunity is here to seize. Time will tell if Manolo Blahnik and its peers will rise to the challenge – and change the face of the industry in the process.