> What I dont get is what stops Chinese manufacturers from recruiting equally skilled local artisans in Asia to create their own luxury brands,
Luxury brands are selling a story, and that story is generally ‘European, old (100+ years)’. Companies like Rolex and Hermes have perfected this, upstart luxury brands from China would need a good 20+ years or genius marketing to start building the type of brand that can sell a story.
It's certainly not impossible though, we now have luxury Japanese brands.
I think a bigger struggle for any Chinese brand would probably be rampant counterfeiting; for luxury goods to prosper, customers need to have a way to ensure they're getting the real deal. And China currently accounts for 75% of counterfeit goods by value seized at US ports.
Luxury brands are selling a story, and that story is generally ‘European, old (100+ years)’. Companies like Rolex and Hermes have perfected this, upstart luxury brands from China would need a good 20+ years or genius marketing to start building the type of brand that can sell a story.