愛馬仕爲何未受中國反腐影響

Luxury goods were the currency of Chinese corruption for decades, until Beijing stepped in two years ago to block the flow of fine baubles into the hands of government officials – and stem the flood of profits into the coffers of luxury goods companies.

奢侈品數十年來一直在中國充當行賄者輸送利益的工具，直到兩年前中國政府出手切斷了源源流向政府官員手中的精美禮品流——也堵住了滾滾流向奢侈品企業的財源。

Hermès, the luxury dynasty best known for its sought-after Birkin and Kelly handbags, is one of the few luxury brands that has prospered despite Beijing’s abstemiousness campaign.

在中國政府倡導節儉運動之際，愛馬仕(Hermès)是爲數不多的繼續在中國市場保持繁榮的奢侈品牌之一，它最著名的是備受追捧的鉑金包(Birkin)和凱莉包(Kelly)。

“So far we haven’t seen any impact on our figures,” says Axel Dumas, chief executive of Hermès and scion of the founding family.

愛馬仕首席執行官、家族企業繼承人埃克塞爾•杜邁(Axel Dumas)說：“迄今爲止，沒有跡象顯示我們的業績受到了任何影響。”

The French company does not break out mainland sales, but sales in Asia (excluding Japan) rose 17 per cent in the first half of 2014, while first-half sales for its rival LVMH in Asia (excluding Japan) were up only 3 per cent.

這家法國公司沒有披露它在中國內地的銷售數據，但該公司2014年上半年在亞洲的銷售額（不算日本）增長了17%，其競爭對手路威酩軒集團(LVMH)同期同地區銷售額僅增長3%。

And despite the generally gloomy atmosphere around luxury in China these days, in September Hermès opened its first mainland maison , in Shanghai, to complement those in Paris, New York, Tokyo and Seoul.

此外，儘管眼下中國奢侈品市場整體不景氣，但愛馬仕在中國內地的首家“愛馬仕之家”9月在上海揭幕，這是全球繼巴黎、紐約、東京和首爾之後的第5家。

It might seem like the worst time to do such a thing, but Mr Dumas is not in the least bit worried. That could just be the self-confidence that comes with representing the sixth generation of the company’s founding family. But it is more likely that his optimism reflects a more important underlying fact about why the French luxury group continues to do well in the middle kingdom, despite the most challenging luxury market conditions in a decade.

這個時機看上去或許糟糕透了，但杜邁絲毫也不擔心，也許這不過是作爲家族企業第六代傳人的自信在起作用。不過他的樂觀更有可能反映了一個更爲重要的基本事實，這個事實揭示出，面對10年來最嚴峻的奢侈品市場環境，這家法國奢侈品集團爲何能繼續在“中央王國”創出良好業績。

Hermès represents what China aspires to be: not just another nouveau riche nation with more money than taste, but a country of sophisticated affluence and understated extravagance.

愛馬仕代表着中國希望擁有的風格：不只是成爲一個有錢沒品位的新富國家，更要成爲一個富裕得有內涵、奢華得低調的國家。

Mr Dumas thinks time is on the company’s side, as Chinese consumers outgrow their tendency to show off with luxury brands and develop an appetite for savouring them.

杜邁認爲，形勢對愛馬仕將越來越有利，因爲中國消費者超越了用奢侈品牌來炫耀的階段，開始喜歡品味奢侈品牌的內涵。

Most retail analysts agree: Chinese consumers are growing keener on niche top-level brands such as Hermès and less fond of logo-laden, mass luxury rivals such as LVMH and Gucci.

大多數零售業分析師認同上述看法：中國消費者越來越青睞小衆頂級品牌，比如愛馬仕，對印有醒目logo的大衆奢侈品牌熱度下降，比如愛馬仕的競爭對手路威酩軒集團和古馳(Gucci)。

Torsten Stocker, retail partner at consultancy AT Kearney in Hong Kong, says: “Hermès’ more classic style fits well with the high-end Chinese consumer’s shift to less ostentatious items.” Cao Weiming, Hermès head in China, agrees: “Two to three years ago, we started to see some changes, even before the anti-corruption campaign began, as the market moved naturally toward greater sophistication, where consumers are more brand-knowledgeable than show-off.”

諮詢公司科爾尼(AT Kearney)駐香港的零售部合夥人唐仕德(Torsten Stocker)表示：“中國高端消費者的喜好在發生變化，他們開始青睞不那麼招搖的東西，愛馬仕經典的風格恰好迎合了這種趨勢。”愛馬仕中國區總裁曹偉明也表示：“兩三年前，我們就注意到了一些變化，那時反腐運動還未開始，市場開始自然地轉向青睞更雅緻的風格，消費者更懂得品牌的內涵，而不是爲了炫耀而消費。”

That transformation will take time; but that is one thing the French house prides itself on having.

完成這種轉變需要花些時間；不過愛馬仕引以爲豪的就是，它有的是時間。

It takes many years to train its craftsmen. It takes forever to get through the waiting list to buy a Birkin bag. It even took seven years to build the Shanghai maison.

它花許多年時間來訓練自己的工匠。購買鉑金包的輪候時間簡直就是遙遙無期。它甚至花了7年時間來建上海的愛馬仕之家。

Mr Dumas points out that his family’s connection with China stretches a long way back: his grandmother, who was born in the early 20th century, when many French writers and artists indulged a passion for the “far east”, was a fan of mah-jong.

杜邁指出，他的家族與中國的淵源能追溯到很久以前：20世紀初，許多法國作家和藝術家對“遠東”懷有嚮往，他奶奶就出生在那個年代，生前喜歡打麻將。

Gestures toward that Chinese heritage pepper the Beijing store, including horse-themed dinnerware for the current lunar year of the horse.

在北京的專賣店裏，中國傳統元素隨處可見，包括馬年主題餐具。

Indeed, Hermès is so keen on winning over this market that four years ago it launched its own Chinese luxury brand, Shang Xia – one of the few mainland brands that celebrates its Chineseness, rather than apologising for it.

事實上，愛馬仕如此渴望贏得這個市場，以至於它在4年前推出了自己的中國奢侈品牌——“上下”。這個品牌非但不爲自己的中國風感到遺憾，反而極力突顯這一點，這在內地品牌中是少有的。

Everything in the Shang Xia collection of clothing, jewellery, furniture and objets d’art has a story: a cashmere felt coat is inspired by the wool felt saddle blankets used by Mongolian horsemen; a jade “ladder to heaven” necklace echoes the bamboo undergarments worn in imperial China to keep heavy ceremonial fabrics away from sweaty skin.

“上下”設計的每一件衣服、珠寶、傢俱和工藝品，都有一個故事：羊絨氈服，靈感來自蒙古遊牧民族使用羊毛製作的氈子；“天梯”項鍊，由和田玉等4種材質製成，靈感來自古時中國人夏天貼身穿着的吸汗竹衣。

It is the first Chinese lifestyle brand built from the ground by a leading European luxury house. Making it a success will take time, even decades.

它是第一個由歐洲領先奢侈品集團從零開始打造的中國時尚品牌。將它打造爲一個成功品牌需要花些時間，甚至數十年。