Only several years ago, products around the world were tattooed faithfully with this simple phrase: Made in China. Now, China’s burgeoning market is capturing the imagination of Western brands and a new ideology has emerged: Made for China-ism.

China’s growth is old news. Now, as Western luxury brands begin recognizing the endless possibilities in the East, the challenge they’re faced with is to unlearn stereotypes and reevaluate what makes the Chinese click. No longer are purses a female accessory and cars male:

• According to Ferrari, Chinese women make up 30 percent of their Maserati’s Chinese buyers (females only make up 2-5 percent in Europe and the U.S.) 
• Chinese men, on the other hand, are paying a little more attention to what they’re carrying. Coach says that they represent 45 percent of the USD 1.7 billion Chinese market for luxury bags and accessories, compared with 15 percent of men globally

The figures say it all: Not only is China where it’s at, but Chinese consumers are far from being typecasts. Here are some additional well-known brands that have hopped on the bandwagon – or in China’s case, high-speed express train:

And that’s only the tip of the 10-story monstrosity of a shopping center. Brands like Honda (Li Nian), Nissan (Venucia) and GM (Baojun) are similarly introducing ‘cheaper’ brands in China in a direct appeal to consumers of a more ‘normal’ household income than their richer counterparts. The question that remains now is this: what is to become of domestic Chinese brands?

If everything is made in China, and it’s not a far cry from the truth, then why aren’t more Chinese household items like Japan’s Toyota or Korea’s Samsung? Granted, there are the big names like Haier and Lenovo, but they don’t garner the same recognition as overseas companies – and if they do, it’s typically not good press. What Chinese companies need to focus on is increasing their presence overseas and heavily advertising their name as synonymous with adjectives like “luxurious,” “rich” and, frankly, “the best.”

For now though, Chinese consumers seem content with the attention being lavished on them by Western brands and who knows what else they have up their well-tailored sleeves. Perhaps Versace will take a hint from Taobao and start creating a top-of-the-line male size-enhancing swim wear.

Photos courtesy of: Apple T-Shirt www.go2shirts.com, M3 Tiger www.bmwblog.com, Shang Xia www.planetlexus.com, Dior Phone red-luxury.com, Denizen holybnj.files.wordpress.com, Marcie Handbag leatherhandbagsblog.com