China’s ancient emperors knew how to live. Shang Xia, the Chinese luxury brand launched recently by Hermès, is trying to resurrect that image of a much older civilisation in which only the best would do.
Jiang Qiong’er, Shang Xia’s founder, is determined to help China cast off the inferiority complex that comes of decades of producing cheap trinkets.
For Shang Xia – the brainchild of Ms Jiang and Patrick Thomas, chief executive of Hermès – is that unusual thing in China: a brand that celebrates its “Chineseness” rather than hiding it. If it succeeds, it could herald the emergence of China as a power to reckon with in the global luxury business and provide a blueprint for other local brands to become globally competitive.