每日英语：The New Cachet of 'Made In China'

JUST ACROSS THE street from its store on Rue de Sevres in Paris, Hermes is gutting a second space, to open in September. That new store will be filled with finely wrought homewares and elegant clothes, including sculptural dresses made from hand-felted cashmere in a centuries-old process typical of the French house's attention to detail. There is one major difference: Nearly all the stock will be produced in China. This isn't another branch of Hermes: It's the first international site for the luxury company's subsidiary Shang Xia.

wrought：锻造的，加工的，精细的　　　　homewares：家居用品　　　　sculptural：雕刻的，雕塑的　　　　cashmere：羊绒

subsidiary：子公司，附属的　　　　

For a long time, Chinese production has been synonymous with corner-cutting and cheap goods. Few Western luxury brands were willing to admit how much of their stock was manufactured there. However, that perception is slowly changing as many homegrown brands—high-end women's label Uma Wang, Mary Ching shoes and Septwolves menswear, to name a few—focus on quality craftsmanship, often with a traditional bent and sophisticated designs.

craftsmanship：技术，技艺　　　　

These brands are starting to make inroads with the most fashion-forward of the country's sizable luxury-hungry population. 'Younger Chinese women are very discerning and want things that others don't have,' said Lionel Derimais, photographer and blogger who has charted the rise of such brands on his three-year-old site Nicely Made in China. 'Everybody's got a Louis Vuitton bag or a Gucci. These girls want something different, and very often it's a Chinese brand.'

discerning：眼光敏锐的，有辨识能力的　　　　

This movement has coincided with the country's luxury boom. The Middle Kingdom now has some of the deepest pockets in the world. Consulting firm McKinsey & Co. reported last December that China had overtaken Japan as the largest consumer of luxury goods. There's even a slangy nickname for the nation's free-spending nouveaux riches: bao fa hu, which translates roughly as 'explosively rich.'

coincided：同时发生　　　　

'In the first 30 years of economic development, we didn't have the opportunity to pursue this desire. It was basic needs—no more hunger and cold,' explained Shang Xia artistic director Jiang Qiong Er. 'We've started to go back to our cultural roots. In the last five years, people have realized the importance of creativity and quality in China.'

Ms. Jiang, who was trained in design at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and formerly worked as a window dresser for Hermes, oversees Shiang Xia's collections. All of the goods reflect the understated luxury of the parent company. But her mission is also to make every piece emphatically Chinese—without lapsing into stereotypical chinoiserie. More than 80% of the line's stock is manufactured on the mainland. Ms. Jiang seeks out craftsmen in different regions who specialize in traditional skills.

emphatically：着重地，强调地　　　　stereotypical：老一套的，陈规的　　　　 chinoiserie：中国风，中国艺术的

Driven by many of the same instincts as Ms. Jiang, Alison Yeung founded her luxury shoe line, Mary Ching, in Shanghai four years ago. The globe-trotting daughter of a former Cantonese diplomat is feisty and impassioned, like a stiletto-shod mashup of vintage Spice Girl and Manolo Blahnik. 'My mission is to change the perceptions associated with 'made in China,' ' she explained. 'We source local materials, like water snake. My concept is 100% made in China.' She added, 'It's the same as with Japan 50 years ago. Things made there were considered cheap and bad quality. Now they produce the best in the world.'

globe-trotting：环球旅行　　　　feisty：活跃的，易怒的，烦躁不安的　　　　mashup：混搭，混合　　　　vintage：古老的

Priced around $500 per pair, Ms. Yeung's shoes have a glamorous, vampy look akin to that of Jimmy Choo. Ms. Yeung has already made her mark on the West: Her spiky heels are in the permanent costume collection of London's Victoria and Albert Museum as representations of contemporary Chinese design.

glamorous：迷人的，富有魅力的　　　　akin to：同类，近似　　　　contemporary：同时代的，当代的

This nascent made-in-China pride reflects the cultural revolution currently under way in the world's most populous nation. A great many of its white-collar workers under 35 are only children—the result of the country's strict one-child policy enacted in 1979—with their disposable income boosted by gifts from doting families. 'They've never known hardship, they're fiercely nationalistic and very proud of the modern, emerging China taking its place on the global stage,' noted Nick Debnam, Asia Pacific chairman of financial advisory firm KPMG China, who has studied this phenomenon. 'They now have money to spend, and they would like to associate with brands like Shang Xia.'

nascent：初期的，幼稚的　　　　enacted：制定，颁布　　　　

China's stylish new first lady, Peng Liyuan, wears mostly domestic labels, and has boosted their profile and profits much as first lady Michelle Obama's cheerleading did for J.Crew and Jason Wu. One of Ms. Peng's favorites is Exception de Mixmind, whose designer, Ma Ke, was invited in 2008 to present a collection at the haute couture shows in Paris. The brand now has 50 stores in China. Ms. Ma's work is reminiscent of fashion-forward Western designers like Rick Owens and Dries Van Noten, but she uses traditional Chinese dyeing and weaving techniques.

stylish：时髦的，流行，潇洒的　　　　haute couture：高级时装　　　　reminiscent：回忆者，怀旧

The natural next step for these brands is to export their bao fa hu-powered Chinese aesthetic overseas. Many have already begun to do so. Shang Xia's Paris flagship is scheduled to open this year. Uma Wang's drapey knits are easily accessible in the U.S. online and she has a solid reach in Europe, particularly in Italy. Mary Ching's network of niche boutiques reaches from Moscow to London to Palm Beach and Boston.

aesthetic：美学的，审美的　　　　boutiques：精品店

It's an easier prospect for labels that have a Western partner, like Shang Xia or the jewelry brand Qeelin, which was acquired late last year by Kering (formerly PPR). Similarly, '20s-era Chinese sneaker brand Feiyue was relaunched by a Frenchman and is now widely available outside of China.

The multimillion-dollar question, of course, is how to make product that appeals to both domestic and international sensibilities. Ms. Yeung, who was educated at English schools and attended London's prestigious design school Central Saint Martins, makes it a point to emphasize the cross-cultural appeal of her designs. She said her shoes fuse 'Chinese opulence with British eccentricity.' She devotes 10% of each collection to styles for Asian consumers. The rest of her wares are available world-wide.

prestigious：有名望的　　　　loyalists：拥护者，效忠派

Thirty-eight-year-old menswear brand Bosideng, which has more than 11,000 Chinese stores, is also making a big play for Western customers. The company recently opened a flagship, at a cost of over $50 million, on London's South Molton Street. However, the product inside the London store is different from the label's domestic range, and the logo is changed. That clothing, manufactured largely in Europe, is a pricier riff on Bosideng's classic aesthetic, combining British tailoring with a few Chinese touches.

Soon, though, loyalists in China won't need to book a ticket to Europe to browse the London store's collection. Within two seasons, Bosideng will make the European designs available on its home shores—a unique instance of East-meets-West-meets-East-again.