Subtle statements right on trend

Photo by Wei Xiaohao / China Daily

In the fast-developing Chinese market, will concept stores ever pose a challenge to luxury flagships?

No, since concept stores are characteristically small, independent and limited to mega cities like Beijing and Shanghai, says Jonathan Siboni, president of Luxurynsight, a Paris-based luxury consultancy active in the Chinese market.

These stores also capitalize on their products' relative exclusivity, so the goal is not to go big. "If (concept store) designers become famous or become brand names, some of their customers will move on to find new up-and-coming designers," Siboni says.

Isabelle Pascal is one entrepreneur who has become familiar with such Chinese consumers. In 2010, she opened a concept store in Beijing after sensing which way the fashion winds would blow.

She offered products by homegrown talents and foreign designers, such as Christopher Raeburn (UK), Didier Ludot (France) and Aguri Sagimori (Japan). She filled the store, housed in the courtyard residence of former Chinese nobility, with not just clothes and fashion accessories, but furniture, kitchenware and home decor. She sought out artistic collaborations and thought up custom-made merchandise.