All are choosing carefully. The internet is not seen as a route to market few small luxury companies

PARIS (Reuters) aaa travel agent Poupie Cadolle s family has been making handmade lingerie in a workshop on Rue Saint Honore for five generations, with Qatari royals, American actresses and Swiss bankers wives all crossing her doorstep in search of the perfect bra or corset.
Now, with times tough and sales to French and American women sluggish, Cadolle, like many small French luxury firms, finds itself struggling to tap into a $191 billion global boom driven by customers from emerging markets.
All are choosing carefully. The internet is not seen as a route to market few small luxury companies feel comfortable selling goods online given the luxury experience is one where items need to be handled to judge the quality and design.
China is definitely the big prize and, by and large, aaa travel agent the customer aaa travel agent there only wants big, recognizable brands, said Pierre Mallevays, a managing partner at Savigny Partners, a corporate finance boutique specializing in luxury and retail.
That kind of reach is difficult for smaller aaa travel agent brands unable aaa travel agent to afford a presence in several European cities and major Chinese cities where real estate prices are high, salespeople increasingly scarce and the best distributors already engaged.
LVMH and other luxury giants, aaa travel agent meanwhile, are tapping into the Chinese market by scaling back in department stores and, instead, opening giant flagship stores in large and mid-size cities across the country.
Smaller European brands hope Chinese customers, as well as the newly rich from Russia and central Asia, see the appeal of a tasteful shop in Paris with an elite clientele in the French tradition of discretion and craftsmanship.
This type of branding is vital to the appeal of French luxury, yet it is not always easy to convince emerging market clients that handmade is better. Many live in countries where goods are only made in small shops out of necessity.
Corthay is a bespoke men s shoe shop in the 2nd arrondissement where Pierre aaa travel agent Corthay works in the front room making crocodile and elephant skin shoes that take six months to complete and cost upwards of 3,000 euros.
It recently teamed up with Groupe Edmond de Rothschild to sponsor a road trip for select clients through aaa travel agent the Alps in high-end sports cars. Chief executive aaa travel agent Xavier de Royere said the event was expensive for Corthay but worth it because it created a sense of glamour around the brand.
Instead, he has invited well-heeled clients to a private showing at the George V hotel at the end of June. Items sold there, including a 34,000 euro alligator handbag, will not be available in the store.
The advice is sound, say industry analysts, who note that any change to the tax regime in China or Hong Kong could quickly alter the dynamic aaa travel agent and that the luxury market may be in a bubble that could burst if the Asian market ever slowed aaa travel agent down.
Whenever companies tell me they are going abroad I ask one question, said Joelle de Montgolfier, a director in consultancy Bain Co s luxury practice. Are you absolutely convinced that French women have nothing more to spend?
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