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Nowadays， Chinese women can not help applauding the closer distance betweenglobal top class brands， and rush into their flag shops with enough money andcourage; meanwhile， a succession of fashion news stirred the exciting mood，but， shocked domestic garment enterprises and fashion brands badly: the biggestGUCCI flag shop in China launched in Beijing in July， 2007; Hermes celebratedits tenth anniversary in Chinese markets; world famous fast fashion brands， suchas ZARA will start its third shop in the city of Hangzhou...

In Nov. 2006， the well-known consultation organization Mckinsey Global Institute(MGI) presented views of the potential Chinese consumption market in its newlypublished market research report--From 'Made in China' to 'Sold in China': The Riseof the Chinese Urban Consumer.

\"As China transitions to a more consumption-led economy， Chinese incomes will grow anda massive middle class is expected to emerge\"， as it declared， the urban consumer markets， inparticular， will develop rapidly in the coming years， moving from 43% of the population today， to69% by 2015， and 76% by 2025， which means nearly 700 million Chinese will be listed into thismiddle class Group during the 2020s.

According to statistics released by the China National Commercial Information Center，in May， 2007， the sales of apparel， shoes and hat in Chinese large-scaled department storesincreased by 22.46%， 22.70% and 39.37% respectively compared with the same period timeof 2006.

It is estimated that， as the incomes of the new middle classrise dramatically， China would become the third-largest consumermarket， just behind USA and Japan， in the world by 2025;furthermore， nearly one fifth of the total sales of those worldluxury industry would be realized in Chinese market. Maybe，recently， more and more activities of those fashion brands inChina began to show their ambitions and strengths to occupylarger markets absolutely and obviously.

Luxury Brands: Who's next?

As various fashion newspapers， magazines and TV showsappear in our daily life， those world top-grade luxury brandsbecome one part of our lives gradually. Although， maybe， mostChinese people can not afford their amazing prices， it cannot prevent them from knowing， reading and discussing theirwonderful design， beautiful color， shinning appearance， whateverthat those magic luxury products would bring. All in all， it is adream， for most of us， at least， for me， to own one of them.

China， India， Thailand， and Russia are the newly-emergedmarkets for luxury brands in recent years. As one of the Frenchresearch organizations forecasted that， in 2014， China will be theNo. 1 market and consume the largest proportion of luxury brandsaround the world.

On April 19th this year， one of big fashion events in Beijingwas the opening of the SHIN KONG PLACE. This new Taiwanshopping mall not only bring us a roomy shopping environment，but also， what also is the most important， gather an amount ofnearly 938 fashion brands together here， of which the internationalbrands take a proportion of 61% markedly. Besides， it also attracts42 most fastidious luxury brands， such as CHANEL， GUCCI，BVLGARI， FENDI and PRADA， to launch their flag shops in itstop brands special areas， and 24 brands choose this mall as theirfirst stop to expand in China， just like the Juicy Couture， ROOTS，LUANA， GUESS JEANS and so on.

As we all know that， currently， several fashion brandsexpressed their decision of expansion in Chinese markets: LVhas planed to open 15 franchise stores in China， Dior wouldhave eight in six cities， two new CHANEL shops are in itsschedule， etc. It is the sign to show the great potential of themarket here， however， for domestic fashion industry， it wouldbe more headachy to search for the right way to survive andstruggle among those luxury brands in the high-end garmentmarkets， while to occupy more market share competing withother domestic brands.

Fast Fashion: Follow the time.

In early days， most Chinese consumers were unfamiliarwith the word 'fast fashion'， whereas， recently， they began toenjoy its 'fast' and 'fashion'.

When you just appreciate the new fashion trend in themagazine， maybe next day you could find those elements inthe show window of ZARA. That is the power of fast fashion，is the magic of time.

After ZARA entered Shanghai and gained its crazy profit，the other three world top four fast fashion brands GAP， HMand CA quickened their steps entering this charming field，and Shanghai is their first choice.

To react correctly and quickly to the market demand isthe essential of those fast fashion brands， which provide ashortcut for domestic consumers to taste the global trend morerealistically and economically. On the other hand， facing thosehot brands， several local middle class brands with the sametarget consumer group， such as ESPRIT， ONLY， and Jack Johns， confront more conflicts from the aspect of garmentdesign， currency circulation as well as market share.

Furthermore， this new consumption trends also strike theprofit of domestic traditional department stores. According tothe statistics， currently， for an ordinary shopping mall， eachfloor could reach an average sales of 400-600 thousand Yuanper month; as for a ZARA shop， within the same area (nearly2，100 square meters)， only in March， the sales in Shanghaiamounted to 800 million Yuan， representing a strong uptrendof market demand for this kind of fast fashion brands.

High-end Retailer: The ideal place to doshopping

In 2006， the New York Saks Incorporated had announcedthe formation of a strategic relationship to develop its potentialSaks Fifth Avenue stores in China in venture with RooseveltChina Investments Corp. (RCIC). RCIC will own and operatethe stores under the license agreement with Saks Fifth Avenue.

Stephen I. Sad0ve， Chief Executive Officer of SaksIncorporated， commented， \"Saks Fifth Avenue is one of themost recognized luxury retail brands in the world， and the onlyAmerican department store retailer with a presence outsideof the United States. In an effort to capitalize on the power ofthe Saks Fifth Avenue brand and to extend further its reach ona global basis， China， with its explosive growth underway， isdestined to become the commercial and tourist hub of Asia andis the logical location for our third international licensed SaksFifth Avenue store. We look forward to working with RCIC tobring a distinctive world-class emporium of luxury brands andexperiences to Shanghai and to meeting the fashion lifestyleneeds of this very discerning， sophisticated， and importantmarketplace. Based on the success of the Saks Fifth Avenuestore in Shanghai， we will consider future expansion into othercities in the region.\"

Yet， the first Saks Fifth Avenue store tentatively isplanned to open in 2008 in the heritage building named 'Yi HeYang Hang' in the historic Bund district of Shanghai， of whichthe area is expected to be approximately 300，000 square feetand cover four floors.

The location will be congruent with the Saks FifthAvenue stores in the United States in both product and service，while being sensitive to local preferences and customs. TheShanghai store will present an enviable collection of finedesigner apparel， shoes， jewelry， accessories， and so on， willoffer an extraordinary program of personalized customerservice， and expects to offer numerous in-store amenities suchas luxury fitting rooms， specialty cafes， and a spa.

Tweed Roosevelt， Chairman of Roosevelt ChinaInvestments Corp.， said， \"We are delighted to be working withSaks Incorporated on this important project which is veryexciting and beneficial for all involved. For Saks it opens themarket for the rapidly expanding high-end customer base inEast Asia currently untapped by premier U.S. retailers. ForChina， it is consistent with its announced objective to increaseconsumer spending. For Shanghai， it encourages tourist trafficfrom all over China and the rest of the Pacific Rim countries，as well as providing a flagship attraction during the 2008Beijing Olympics. For the United States， it creates anotherbusiness in China， which will generate the return of dollars tothe United States. and for Roosevelt China InvestmentsCorp. it helps fulfillits commitment to continue encouraging mutually beneficialrelationships between China and the United States.\"

According to Tin Tse， President of Roosevelt ChinaInvestments Corp.， the extraordinary growth of the economyin China created many new customers for high endmerchandising. The time is ripe for a first class Americanretailer to establish a presence in China to meet this rapidlygrowing demand. Saks is the ideal store to meet this need.

Jiang Yaxin， District Governor of People's Governmentof Huangpu District figured out， \"It is very farsighted forRoosevelt China Investments Corp. to make an investment inthe Bund Origin commercial project. With the sustained andrapid economic development， the demand potential for high-end commodities is further expanding in China. In particular，Shanghai， as an emerging international city， is attractingmore and more famous brands from all over the world. Isincerely hope that Roosevelt Bund Origin commercial projectwill become an epoch-making one in the development ofcommercial industry in Shanghai and a successful model ofSino-US cooperation on the basis of mutual benefit.\"

It is estimated that， any other well-known high-end retailer brands would be encouraged and stimulatedto enter Chinese retail market after Saks in the future，leading to an inevitable restructure and adjustmentof Chinese commercial modeand merchandize industryconsequentially.