More Chinese Luxury Shoppers Prefer to Buy Overseas

Not all luxury brands have fared equally under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on graft and conspicuous flaunting of cadre wealth. While fancy watch sales dipped 11 percent in the year since a Rolex-wearing Chinese official nicknamed “Brother Watch” was ousted from his job in September 2012, sales of luxury apparel and cosmetics both jumped 10 percent in 2013, according to consulting firm Bain & Co.

Among fashion labels prominent in China, Burberry was most popular last year with mainland consumers, according to a new survey, “Luxury Purchase Power,” by Chinese news site IFeng. The next most popular brands, in order, were Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Dior. (In November, Burberry appealed a Chinese regulators’ decision to limit its trademark on the company’s iconic plaid pattern in China.)