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We update you on the most essential news from Asia in tech, media, and business—the things you need to know that you probably haven’t heard in Western media.
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Louis Vuitton’s Physical Fashion Show 👚
Luxury brand Louis Vuitton partnered with media publication GQ China to create the Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2021 Menswear show in Shanghai. Several Chinese celebrities like singer/actor/model Kris Wu played important roles during the show and in the promotion leading up to the event. Virgil Abloh, the global artistic director of Louis Vuitton Menswear, was unable to attend in person so he broadcasted a virtual message to the audience. GQ China was responsible for the show’s promotion on Chinese social media channels like Weibo and Douyin.
As I’ve been writing over the past weeks, China has already been recovering and hosting several physical events like last week’s gaming & entertainment conference China Joy. This Louis Vuitton show is the first luxury fashion show to physically take place in China post-Covid. Compared to their Western counterparts, GQ China is taking a more active role to diversify into other ventures like GQ Lab to take on digital projects. This collaboration between a fashion brand and a media brand is pretty unique. Look to see more of that.
Chinese EV Giant XPeng Motors Plans an IPO 🚙
XPeng Motors is one of Tesla’s biggest competitors in electronic vehicles (EV). The Chinese company targets mid- to high-end EVs and has raised a combined total of $900 Million in investment this year from a group of investors that includes Alibaba and the Qatar Investment Authority. Last week, the company made a filing with the US SEC to prepare for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. XPeng currently has two electric vehicles on the market, one of which competes directly against Tesla’s Model 3. They plan to launch a third electric vehicle in 2021.
XPeng was founded in 2015 in Guangzhou, China. The electronic vehicle market is huge and competitive, as XPeng competes against other EV makers like Tesla, Li Auto, Nio, Fisker, Lucid Motors. Tesla has been increasing their Chinese presence with a new Shanghai factory and Li Auto is another Chinese OEM that listed on the Nasdaq last month, raising $1.1 Billion. XPeng currently does not export vehicles to the US, but anytime a major Chinese company plans US listings, you have to expect that US regulations and tariffs will need to be a serious consideration in doing business.
Pinduoduo’s Deepening Relationship With Manufacturers 🏭
Chinese social commerce giant Pinduoduo has been making a lot of moves recently. After a $200 Million strategic investment in Chinese electronics retailer GOME, they have now started major livestreams of electronics products under the fast growing category of flash sales. Pinduoduo has opened up a new wholesaling program for its merchants and also partnered with a Singaporean food agency to develop better ways of testing fresh produce for pesticides.
As the third-largest e-commerce company in China, Pinduoduo is definitely poised to take advantage of the coronavirus’s effects on Chinese consumption. Their consumer to manufacturer (C2M) model paired with social commerce makes them in my opinion one of the most interesting Chinese companies. By investing in retailers, working with governmental agencies, and going even deeper into a manufacturer relationship, their level of vertical integration is pretty intense vs. more lightweight e-commerce companies and I’m pretty bullish on their future.
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