Perfumes & Cosmetics: Luxury Brands' New Engine - Part Ⅲ
Local Revelation: How Chinese Brands Leap from "Manufacturers" to "Cultural Luxury Participants"?
Although KPMG's report focuses on traditional luxury goods groups led by Europe and America, its growth logic and structural adjustments also points out important reference value for Chinese beauty and personal care brands. Amid cross-category trends like "sensorial luxury", "experience as value", "ESG-embedded design", and "AI-driven efficiency", Chinese brands are gradually transitioning from supplier to cultural participants.
As noted, perfume and cosmetics are the most controllable and flexible expansion mode of luxury brands, which also applies to emerging Chinese players. In recent years, many upcoming brands have leveraged perfumery to bridge sensory memory with Chinese cultural context, redefining "premiumness" through Eastern motifs, natural philosophy, and elevated packaging, effectively pioneering "cultural luxury".
Meanwhile, efficacy-driven skincare and personal care brands are crossing the bridge from "functional" to "sensorial". Skincare is no longer just a combination of ingredients, but a holistic experience centered around "daily rituals", "self-identity", and "emotional scenarios". This trend poses new challenges for upstream partners (OEMs, ingredient/packaging suppliers, designers) to not only ensure efficacy but also enable "multi-sensory experiences" and "tactile storytelling".
The application of AI technology in inventory, recommendation, logistics, and formula design emphasized in the report is also entering the practical stage in the Chinese market. For example, multiple local brands have utilized data platforms to boost new product targeting precision, explored AI reaction simulation in the fermentation raw material side, and attempted to generate visual materials and advertising scripts for product lines using algorithms.
Simultaneously, in terms of sustainability, despite evolving regulations, the spontaneous enhancement of ESG capabilities by brands has become mainstream, such as attempting to promote plant-based packaging, dedicated recycling lines, and supply chain transparency initiatives mark the localization of "new luxury values."
True sustainable luxury is not about "green labels" but about thinking design for "reduced complexity, enhanced efficiency, and eco-compatibility" from the beginning. This puts forward a clear direction for the Chinese supply chain: to build "responsible manufacturing systems" meeting premium client expectations at viable costs.
Perhaps the most crucial revelation is that luxury competition is a contest of cultural aspirations. As global consumers gradually lose interest in conspicuous consumption, a new luxury ethos of "emotionally resonant, experience-centric, and inner-wellness-oriented" is emerging.
Thus, future competition for brands and manufacturers will shift from "who creates more premium products" to "who proposes a new life vision for our era". From material selection to spatial design, skincare experience to retail interaction, true competitiveness comes from how we transform daily life into "memorable moments".
