"Superior articles" takes the place of "luxury goods"

The sales of the traditional luxury brands decrease year by year in Europe, but boom in a new mainland China. Many people might not appreciate it, but luxury retailers sure do. Just five years ago mainland buyers accounted for 1% of global sales of luxury handbags, shoes, jewelry, perfume, and the like. Today the Chinese are the third-biggest high-end buyers on earth, with more than 12% of world sales, Goldman, Sachs & Co. (GS ) reckons. Within a decade, China will likely leapfrog Japan and the U.S. to become the top luxury market, predicts Goldman analyst Jacques-Franck Dossin. "China is experiencing huge wealth creation, and there is lots of conspicuous consumption related to that," Dossin says. "People want to show they are successful."

The French comité Colbert, which represents the world top luxury brands like Chanel, Christian Dior, said the luxury consumption growth in China is the fastest in the world. Consider that the word “luxury” contains negative meanings (misspent) in China, they use “superior article” in their Chinese translation of the organization instead of “luxury goods”. They intend to shorten the distance between luxury goods and the large populations of China.

"Dizzy" over shoes, the “forbidden fruit,” and spiritual satisfaction
Zhao Hui, a chain-smoking 38-year-old restaurateur, real estate developer, and Ferrari owner from Shanghai, says he speaks no English, but he manages to pronounce "shopping" and "Tiffany" (TIF ) as he shows off his $50,000 Franck Muller watch. Richard Hung, a 43-year-old manager of a pharmaceutical company, has a closet filled with dozens of Armani, Gucci (GUCG ), and Canali suits and more than 100 pairs of Italian shoes. "I get dizzy when I look at shoes," he says. Where to wear those duds? Try Beijing's exclusive Chang An Club, where few blink at the $18,000 initiation fee. "Our members can afford it," says General Manager Antonius van Gevelt, adding that Chang An aims to keep its fees higher than rival gathering spots. The rich "want to join the most expensive club in China," he says.

The desire of luxury is an instinct. Sarah Easley, copartner of a New York luxury retailer, took luxury as an apple, "if you take even small bite of an apple, it is not easy to quit"

The French comité Colbert organized a group of Chinese journalists of the fashion magazines to interview those CEOs of French luxury retailers. The organizer meant to import and transplant the luxury culture to mainland China, to open up more and more Chinese people to the idea that the spiritual satisfaction of buying luxuries surpasses their practical use.