In China, the equation that "European high-end brands are the best" is breaking down. Homegrown Chinese brands are quickly filling the void. A $170,000 (about 258 million won) electric sedan made by Chinese corporations is standing shoulder to shoulder with Mercedes-Benz's top Maybach model. A homegrown Chinese perfume sells for 980 yuan (about 219,000 won for 30 ml), more expensive than Chanel No. 5.
On the 25th, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Chinese corporations Huawei and JAC unveiled the latest model S800 of the luxury sedan series Luxeed. The Luxeed S800 is called the Rolls-Royce of China. With a 40-inch screen, 40 speakers inside the vehicle, and a function that opens the door with a fist-clench gesture like a smartphone, it offers a display of extravagance that existing European car brands did not provide.
The base model without the large screen starts at $104,000 (about 158 million won). That is about half the starting price of the Mercedes-Benz Maybach sedan line. Even the fully loaded top model is around $173,000 (about 263 million won). That is about half the price of a base Rolls-Royce sold in the United States. Thomas Luk, a McKinsey alumnus and auto consultant, told the WSJ, "They rolled out a car packed with every feature at a very reasonable price," adding, "It's a clear challenge to the Maybach and the BMW 7 Series."
The Luxeed series surpassed 17,000 cumulative deliveries one year after its launch in May 2025. According to Huawei, as of April, one in three luxury cars sold in China was a Luxeed. The New York Times (NYT), citing attorney Li Maozhai, who bought a Luxeed, said, "This car has changed the outdated belief among Chinese that only BMW, Benz, and Audi are luxury cars." Huawei plans to roll out an ultra-luxury model next month priced close to $300,000 (about 456 million won).
The preference for homegrown Chinese brands in the premium segment is evident beyond cars in everyday life, including cosmetics and apparel. Chinese makeup brand Mao Geping combines Chinese facial features with traditional aesthetics and competes with Dior and Armani Beauty on the first floor of department stores. The brand posted 3.88469 billion yuan (about 870.2 billion won) in sales in 2024, growing 2.5 times in three years. It is the only homegrown brand among the top 15 premium beauty corporations in China tallied by global market research firm Frost & Sullivan. Some products from Chinese perfume brand Documents, which is making a mark in the fragrance sector, are priced at 980 yuan for a small 30 ml bottle, more expensive than Chanel No. 5 on a per-unit price basis in China. The brand commercialized scents of Chinese gardens, tea, and temples instead of the typical French perfumery approach.
In high-end apparel, ICICLE has chosen natural materials and minimalist design over logos. The brand's cashmere coats cost 8,000–20,000 yuan (about 1.79 million–4.48 million won) per piece, placing them in the high-price range in the Korean market as well. Even so, its annual sales in China surpassed 3 billion yuan (about 672 billion won). Since 2023, after the pandemic, it has posted double-digit sales growth every year. In handbags, Songmont ranked No. 1 on the premium channel Tmall during Alibaba's Singles Day, beating U.S. brand Coach. Another homegrown Chinese brand, Trugen, ranked third. Songmont sells minimalist leather bags for around $500 (about 760,000 won). Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy), toured a Songmont store during his visit to Shanghai.
While homegrown Chinese brands have been gaining strength, the performance of foreign high-end brands has shrunk rapidly. According to consulting firm Bain & Company, China's mainland personal luxury market fell by around 18% in 2024. It also declined an additional 3%–5% last year. In particular, mass prestige brands, or masstige, which maintain core luxury elements in quality and design but offer relatively lower prices, have been hit hard. Only areas with irreplaceable scarcity, such as Hermès' top-tier leather goods or Van Cleef & Arpels, have maintained competitiveness.
Kering Group, the parent company of Gucci, saw 2024 revenue fall 12% and recurring operating profit drop 46%. At Gucci alone, revenue fell 23%. Burberry's adjusted operating profit for fiscal 2025 plunged 94% to 26 million pounds from 418 million pounds the previous year. Richemont, the parent company of Cartier, saw sales in China drop 23% last year. The shock in the auto market is even greater. Porsche's operating margin fell to 0.2% from 14.1% in January–September 2025. Porsche plans to withdraw half of its dealerships in China by the end of the year.
The NYT, citing a venture capital figure, said, "For decades, Western high-end brands held narrative power over the luxury consumption market, but today Chinese consumers no longer look up to Western culture." According to a report released in 2024 by Hurun Research Institute, 78% of wealthy Chinese prefer "unique cultural experiences" over global chains when staying at hotels. Trugen founder Cheng Baohua said, "In the past, we were puppets of Western brand marketing," adding, "Well-educated consumers have gone through an ideological awakening." The brand did not stress exclusivity with a message like "let's favor Chinese-made goods," but instead earned empathy by producing a documentary about the lives of women workers at leather factories.
Some analyses say the surge of China's domestic luxury is a structural shift that goes beyond simple patriotic consumption or a recession-era substitution choice. It is seen as an entry into a mature phase in which consumers move away from unconditional imitation of foreign goods, which appeared in other countries during their growth periods, and project pride in their own culture into consumption. In terms of consumer studies, China now is entering the same stage Japan followed after the burst of its asset bubble in the 1990s. Japan in the late 1980s was a market where Louis Vuitton and Hermès bags were a top household priority. But entering the 1990s, it shifted toward high-quality domestic brands. In 1997, Toyota reimported Lexus, first introduced in the United States in 1989, back into Japan, and during the same period, MUJI, which championed minimalism, rapidly expanded its stores. The rise of Chinese brands armed with technology, materials, and their own national narratives is similar.