Chinese fashion designers well positioned for boom in domestic market as they sell to globetrotters spending their money in China instead of Paris, London or Milan

London-based label Huishan Zhang and its eponymous designer are among those to have benefited from Chinese luxury consumers spending their money within China

‘The domestic market is booming,’ says fellow Chinese fashion designer Masha Ma, who is expanding online and opening bricks-and-mortar stores in 2021

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Huishan Zhang has weathered the pandemic better than most thanks to pivoting his sales to China’s domestic market.

Published: 2:30am, 28 Dec 2020Updated: 1:51pm, 30 Dec 2020

Despite the pandemic, Huishan Zhang is still clocking up significant air miles and is possibly one of the few international designers whose points total has soared during the past year.

All Zhang’s post-March travels have been within China, zipping from city to city to check on stores and paying personal visits to couture clients.

The latter have proved to be a particularly fertile source of business during the nine months Zhang has been based in his home city of Qingdao, instead of the company headquarters in London in Britain.

The eponymous brand is one of many businesses to benefit from Chinese luxury consumers being forced to splash the cash at home, instead of embarking on extravagant shopping and sightseeing expeditions to Paris, Milan, London or New York.

Anya Taylor-Joy, star of Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, in Huishan Zhang at London Fashion Week in 2018. Photo: Getty Images

The label founder, who has dressed celebrities such as The Queen’s Gambit’s Anya Taylor-Joy, Gwyneth Paltrow and Crazy Rich Asians’ Gemma Chan, has one major advantage over luxury brands such as Dior, Prada, Chanel and Gucci.