From Mao Jackets to Wrinkled Silk Suits

Chinese entrepreneurs have long sought to tap local demand for European luxury goods by distributing them for other companies—or developing private-label brands made in China and then marketed as European or American. A third option is just buying them, as the Hong Kong-based billionaire brothers Victor and William Fung did with European fashion houses Cerruti 1881 in 2010 and Delvaux in 2011.

Then there’s China Garments, a state-owned apparel maker whose products range from Mao suits to military uniforms to riot gear. The company recently unveiled plans for the launch of China’s first luxury men’s apparel brand aimed at domestic consumers yet designed and produced in Italy, the stomping grounds of globally recognized brands such as Gucci, Ermenegildo Zegna, and Salvatore Ferragamo. The brand’s name will marry two words, Sorgere in Italian, meaning “to rise,” and Sheji in Chinese characters, meaning “nation.” The label’s clothes will be produced by the same Italy-based company that manufactures suits and slacks for Christian Dior and Lanvin. “We want to turn round the old thinking that we can only do processing,” says China Garments Chief Executive Officer Zhan Yingjie. “China has the ability to create its own” luxury brand.