Written by Casey Hall
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Manolo Blahnik, the luxury shoe brand with a celebrity following and often worn on TV hit “Sex and the City,” is locked in a 22-year battle over its legal rights. After that, they opened their first store in mainland China. To use that name.
In addition to the new boutique in Shanghai’s upscale Plaza 66 mall, the company plans to open one store a year in China for the next five years, with Beijing and Chengdu being the next possible locations.
The shoemaker, named after its Spanish founder, has been restricted in its ability to trade under its name in China since 1999, when a local businessman applied for a trademark related to “Manolo Blahnik.” It had been.
Although China has a “first-to-file” jurisdiction where companies do not need to prove previous use to claim a trademark, China’s Supreme People’s Court ruled in its favor two years ago. .
CEO Christina Blahnik, niece of the founder, said: “We were very grateful to have the trademark back. Until then, we were just focused on getting the trademark back. ) We started to look to Asia.” said in an interview.
The brand also opened two new stores in Hong Kong in October.
The long-awaited debut in mainland China comes at a time when luxury brands such as LVMH have seen sales decline in the world’s second-largest luxury goods market due to weak economic growth and weak consumer confidence. But Blahnik said he wasn’t worried because the company is just starting out in China.
China’s luxury footwear market was valued at about $5 billion this year and is expected to grow 7.6% annually through 2029, according to research firm Statista. Manolo Blahnik will compete with foreign brands such as Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin, which have the advantage of having been in China for more than a decade.
(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
