In China, conspicuous consumption is out, and ‘local heroes’ are in
Last Updated: Jan. 31, 2026 at 6:07 p.m. ET
First Published: Jan. 27, 2026 at 6:00 a.m. ET
For a decade, the global luxury industry operated on a simple axiom: As China goes, so goes the bottom line. But, as we’ve moved into 2026, that engine of aspirational spending hasn’t just slowed; it has fundamentally recalibrated.
In the high-end shopping districts of Shanghai’s Jing’an and Xintiandi, the queues that once snaked around Louis Vuitton and Chanel have thinned.
