Angelica, editor-in-chief of VogueChina, said, “A lot of women in China are very independent. They have their own businesses, they have enough money. They just feel that what men have, they can have too.”
Xinxin is a Beijing girl who just turned 24 and already has her own media consulting firm.
In 2006, she bought a limited-edition MiniCooperGP, of which there are only three in China. And two years later, with her parents’ sponsorship, she dropped $200,000 (in cash!) on a pink Porsche Cayman. The reason was, “I like the lines and the gear shift.”
In a country where China’s economy is still in transition from low to middle class, it’s amazing that you can buy a top-of-the-line German sports car at such a young age. (Pure cash oh! In Beijing, a city with traffic problems, oh!
But what’s even more amazing to car retailers and advertisers is that Xinxin is not the only one. The truth is that in China, big-ticket young women are busy snapping up designer sports cars. There is also a girl named Guo Meimei who has been under fire recently for this. This woman claims to work for the Red Cross Society of China, but owns several luxury cars including Maseratis and Lamborghinis. After she posted a photo of herself with her cars on Facebook (China’s version of Twitter), it immediately drew a barrage of criticism from Chinese netizens, who questioned whether Guo was either embezzling donations or being adopted by officials.
In the eyes of Fiat Auto, China is already the second largest consumer market for its Maserati brand, after the US. The company also revealed that 30 percent of Maserati buyers in mainland China are women, a figure that is two to five percentage points higher than in Europe and the United States.
And in China, the number of female Ferrari buyers is twice the global average. In 2010 alone, 300 cars were sold in mainland China, with women buyers accounting for 20 percent of the total.
MathealinggardenthehealinggardenwBennett, president of Aston Martin Asia Pacific, noted, “Chinese women are more involved in the buying of cars, and they are the ones who make the decisions about what color they want, how they feel, and whether they buy a car or not. ”
And they’re not even choosing a car for their family.
${FDPageBreak}
They’re buying fancy cars for themselves
Angelica, editor-in-chief of Vogue China, said, “A lot of women in China are very independent. They have their own businesses, they have enough money. They just feel that what men have, they can have too.”
True enough. Xin Xin, who likes to race with people regularly, said, “We Chinese girls have not only a gentle daughter’s heart, but also a wild racing heart. We are just as drunk on racing as the boys.”
This made Paolo Gasparrini, also a sports car fan, feel a little, how shall I say, ashamed of himself.
He said, “In my country, Italy, frankly, it’s not so easy to get a man to give his wife a sports car to drive. But in China, it doesn’t seem to be a difficult thing.” Every now and then, on the streets of Shanghai, he sees young Chinese women whizzing by in expensive sports cars.
He added: “It’s much more common than in Europe. Europeans don’t see cars quite the same way as the Chinese. Our men there are more possessive about cars, but Chinese men are a real eye-opener. They are very generous.”
Role reversal
As president of L’Oréal China, Paul Gay feels that most Chinese luxury consumers are happy to “show off” their wealth, compared to consumers in Europe and the US, who are more low-key.
Guy Paul feels that Chinese men don’t seem to be shy about investing time and effort in cosmetics. The men’s skin care industry in China has grown from a blank slate to an $800 million industry in just 10 years.
Guy Paul explained, “People think that people with a head and a face will be less fooled, so more and more Chinese men are using skin care products.” Today, L’Oréal’s Biotherm and L’Oréal Paris brands dominate the Chinese men’s skincare market, and male buyers contribute 30% of Biotherm’s sales.
Jacky, the energetic Shanghai boy, is one of those consumers. “More and more of my friends are using these things because they feel it’s important to make a good impression on others,” he said, fresh from a bloodbath at Biotherm.
Hurun Report, an organization that specializes in China’s wealthy, also did a recent study that found that rich Chinese people are very conscious of their outward appearance.
The Hurun Report 2011 states, “Most of the Chinese luxury consumers are younger, many under the age of 40. Moreover, most of them are new aristocrats without much history of luxury consumption. Therefore, the social function of luxury goods is very important to them.”
Of course, some luxury goods also have a practical function.
${FDPageBreak}
“Men’s Bag”
First, back to the Shanghai boy Jacky just mentioned, who has another important secret weapon to show off his status
First, back to the Shanghai boy Jacky, who has another important secret weapon to show off his identity — the male bag.
“My friends think it’s a little carry-on bag for girls.” Jacky says of his tiny backpack. Jacky laughs when he says of his tiny backpack, “It leaves my hands free, and it holds my wallet, keys and a few small things, so I love it. Sometimes my American friends make fun of me for using a woman’s bag, but I like it. I don’t care.”
As the Los Angeles Times put it, “Big-name leather goods makers can’t believe their good fortune: handbags are going unisex in China, the country with the largest population.”
Mao Xun, fashion director of Fashion Health, said, “Our research found that about 30 percent of men regularly buy bags and shoes. Chinese men have a different understanding of masculinity than Western men.”
The study’s Beijing sample showed that respondents valued the practical benefits of a small handbag more than the traditional Western view of “manliness.
Jing, who did not want to give his full name, was carrying a Clutch bag to Sanlitun when he was interviewed. The bag was given to him by his mother, and Jing liked it because it was practical enough. Other interviewees said they would rather carry a handbag than an obtrusive wallet in their hand and a phone in their pocket.
Coach’s global retail chairman Victor Luis said, “We’re finding that crossbody bags are selling much better in China than in the U.S.” Coach also makes special editions of its bags for the Chinese market, and in fact, half of the buyers of Coach’s top tote bags and related accessories in mainland China are men.
The good news is not just for Coach. Basically, all foreign luxury brands are in demand in China.
Mao Xun said, “The bags are easy to recognize. It’s easy to tell if a bag is a brand name. A lot of Chinese people buy these things just to show people, to attract attention.”
Of course, these young people do get noticed.
Heart, the owner of the pink Porsche, has his sights set on the next collection.
“Lamborghini,” she says confidently.
This time, she plans to buy it with her own money.