Til Death Do Us Part: Do Louis Vuitton’s Window Displays Send the Wrong Message to Chinese Customers?

In 1992, Louis Vuitton opened its first store at the Peninsula Hotel in Beijing, and since then, they haven’t looked back. Today they have over 40 stores on the mainland (and counting), and they continue to market the brand through “heritage exhibitions” designed to teach Chinese consumers about the brand’s history.

So what made them decide to use white paper clothes in the windows of its stores around the world? The displays  include row upon row of white paper shirts and blouses, which frame suitcases and bags. In one display, there is even a pair of white paper high heels. The window concept unfortunately makes the (no pun intended) grave error of referencing Chinese funeral offerings. Talk about lost in translation.

In China (as well as other Asian countries), white clothes are for funerals, and during Qing Ming or, “tomb sweeping day,” it is traditional to burn paper clothes as well as paper cellphones, money, and cigarettes at the grave of one’s ancestors so they can have these niceties in the afterlife.

Up until now, LV’s visual merchandising has included eye-catching kitschy props like giant, glossy cherries, surreal Ostrich eggs, and even enormous cupcakes.

Throughout China and Hong Kong, there are shops that exclusively sell funeral and temple supplies including a broad range of neatly wrapped paper items. Cardboard ipads have recently been added to the mix.

The Chinese continue to be the brand’s biggest customer and “most desired luxury brand” according to a 2011 study by Bain & Company. Last year, China accounted for $12.6 billion or 28 percent of all luxury purchases globally, according to survey results released in May by Publicis.

For Louis Vuitton, that fervor may be changing, so they might want to be a bit more careful what they put in their windows.

“The truly wealthy no longer want to buy the same fashion brands everyone else has,” said Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Company, in an article earlier this month in China Daily.  “This is causing challenges for Louis Vuitton and other historically dominant players like Zegna and Omega. (Mega rich Chinese) are moving more toward inconspicuous consumption in handbags and apparel.”

Our friends in Hong Kong say that more than likely, the similarity of the window’s paper clothes to ceremonial offerings is overlooked. “We Chinese love LV,” said one, sarcastically. “Even the dead ones!”

A colleague in the Philippines stopped in at Manila’s Greenbelt Mall, where he said the LV store receives little foot-traffic. “I doubt many people have really noticed since the store is far away from other shops that seem to be more desireable for the everyday Filipino.”

Of course, LV is not the first brand to make mistakes in cultural sensitivity. In 2005, Starbucks opened a store at the Great Wall of China, outraging many Chinese so much that the government shut the store down.

One Response

1. Caroline Fernandez » Blog Archive » Aprons & Hammers + a media summit says:

   November 20, 2012 at 8:08 pm

   […] in China burn paper offerings fashioned after Gucci shoes, paper cellphones and Louis Vuitton bags for the Qingnming Festival […]

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