Foreign luxury brands are well acquainted with Hong Kong’s consumer market, but now cheaper foreign labels are moving in too.
In September, Swedish brand Monki, a low-priced womenswear line, opened its first store outside of Europe in Hong Kong’s Langham Place shopping mall. Next year, Hong Kong will welcome US ready-to-wear labels Gap, Forever 21 and American Eagle. These brands, known for affordable, trendy and disposable clothing, will join foreign-owned H&M, Zara, Mango and Uniqlo outlets already in the city.
Mass apparel labels are not new to Hong Kong. Publicly listed Giordano and Bossini have been around since the 1980s, selling basics in dozens of outlets around the city and expanding into Taiwan, Southeast Asia and China. But the influx of foreign "fast fashion" brands is putting pressure on Hong Kong institutions to re-evaluate their marketing, pricing and expansion strategies.
(Source: The Wall Street Journal Online)