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https://scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/article/3076083/disneys-mulan-postponed-prada-joins-tmall-and-lipstick-king
Style/ Luxury

Disney’s Mulan postponed, Prada joins Tmall and ‘lipstick king’ Li Jiaqi faces controversy – but will China’s luxury sector ever recover from the coronavirus?

The global pandemic has hurt sales in China and luxury brands are suffering, but now that China is slowing starting to recover, will these companies rebound as well?

Li Jiaqi, China’s ‘Lipstick King’ has been successful despite the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Youku

As the coronavirus global pandemic, the virus known as SARS-coV-2, starts to slowly subside in China, people are starting to resume business as usual. The luxury sector, however, is still hurting from the tremendous drop in sales. STYLE examines which companies are on the rise and which are trending for the wrong reasons.

Prada joins Tmall

Italian fashion brand Prada is the latest international luxury label to join Tmall. The brand, which previously launched e-commerce in collaboration with JD.com and Secoo, announced the news on its Weibo account. Two limited-edition bags were offered in celebration of the Tmall store opening on March 13. Tmall is dubbed a gateway to Chinese e-commerce for luxury brands and featured the likes of Burberry, Givenchy, Valentino and more. As bricks-and-mortar stores face unprecedented challenges amid the coronavirus crisis, many brands are exploring alternative retail channels.

Private jet opportunities

Private jet Deer Jet has sold seats quickly during the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Handout
Private jet Deer Jet has sold seats quickly during the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Handout

While most airline companies are hit hard by the pandemic, private jet operators offering chartered flights from Europe to China are selling seats quickly. A seat on Deer Jet’s privately charted flight from London to Shanghai on March 18 was priced more than 180,000 yuan (about US$26,000), yet 40 seats of the Deer Jet’s Boeing 787 filled up fast. However, the negative impact on the Chinese private jet sector is likely here to stay until after the global pandemic ends.

Li Jiaqi

Li Jiaqi, with Alibaba’s Jack Ma, managed to generate more than 1 billion yuan (US$145 million) of sales. Photo: Youku
Li Jiaqi, with Alibaba’s Jack Ma, managed to generate more than 1 billion yuan (US$145 million) of sales. Photo: Youku

Li Jiaqi, better known as China’s “Lipstick King” found himself in hot water, not because of the lipsticks he promotes but because of the images of his luxury condo that went viral on Chinese social media. The self-made blogger, who is famous for the snarky comments he makes while reviewing beauty products, is rumoured to have splurged a whopping HK$150 million on a three-story flat in Shanghai, and counts celebrities actor Hu Ge and Tang Yan as his neighbours. Naysayers questioned the legitimacy of the 28-year-old blogger’s claims, others found his success inspiring. Although Li did not confirm nor deny the authenticity of the images, he took his frustration to his Weibo account saying that “it’s difficult to be a public figure”.

Disney’s Mulan global release postponed

The much-anticipated film Mulan headlined by Chinese actress Liu Yifei already premiered in Hollywood, however, the global release will be postponed from the original date of March 27. The live-action adaptation of Disney’s 1998 animation Mulan was anticipated to hit the jackpot at the Chinese box office with its content and cast. The film is also considered a major Hollywood breakthrough for the Asian and Asian-American cast, which features Chinese actresses Liu, Gong Li and Donnie Yen from Hong Kong. While Liu’s film project might be on hold, the actress, previously a Dior skincare ambassador in China has landed new brand endorsements. Her video campaign for Emporio Armani spring/summer 2020 was recently released.







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️ #Repost • @nikicaro Dear Mulan Fans, Making this film has been one of the most satisfying and exhilarating experiences of my entire career, and I’ve been so fortunate to be on this journey with some of the best cast and crew in the business – people who truly embody the attributes of Loyal, Brave, and True. We are so excited to share this film with the world, but given the current ever-shifting circumstances we are all experiencing, unfortunately, we have to postpone the worldwide release of MULAN for now. Our hearts are with everyone the world over who is affected by this virus, and we hope that Mulan’s fighting spirit will continue to inspire those who are working so hard to keep us all safe. Thank you for all of your enthusiasm and support, and I can’t wait for the day where we will all get to experience this tale of a girl warrior who became a legend together #mulan #yifei_cc #loyalbravetrue With love, Niki Caro

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