What China tells us about tomorrow
Nowhere are these shifts more visible than in China. Once the growth engine of the global luxury sector, the Chinese market has entered a more cautious, complex phase. Consumers are still spending, but with sharper expectations and closer scrutiny of where brands stand on issues of origin, value, and meaning.
Bonhomme is witnessing two main challenges from tariffs: first, margin compression is forcing companies to adjust sourcing, and second, and more critically, a psychological impact that is significantly undermining consumer confidence beyond the direct financial costs.
His firm helps global luxury brands navigate the Chinese market through localized digital strategies. What he’s seeing, he warned, is a widening gap between global brand narratives and local consumer sentiment.
“We are in a closed ecosystem,” he noted. “If we look at China and even Asia. It’s a very insular market. WeChat is in China. Kakao is in Korea. LINE is in Japan. It’s quite different from the Western world. Obviously, there is no perfect recipe, but so far, what we do see the most is that brands adapt their content based on the platform they are operating.”
To succeed, brands must go beyond translation and embrace cultural fluency. “A lot of content might still come from global when it comes to luxury fashion, but needs to be more localized when it comes to beauty or other categories,” said Bonhomme. “It’s quite painful sometimes, but yes, you need adaptation. You need localization.”