As a result of reduced tariffs, luxury brands selling in China have trimmed their prices. Tariffs on clothing, shoes and headwear have been slashed from 15.9 per cent to 7.1 per cent. Tariffs on leather bags, previously as high as 20 per cent, have dropped to under ten per cent. The move is designed to stimulate global imports as trade-war tensions simmer between the US and the world’s second largest economy.

Louis Vuitton took made the first-mover, spurring fellow luxury houses Hermès and Gucci to revise down their own prices on select items as well. With increasing spending power, millennials have been particularly influential in reinvigorating China’s luxury consumption.

Luxury brands are repositioning themselves to better reach this influential demographic group, particularly through digital media that plays an influential role in shaping younger consumers’ opinions about luxury and fashion. China’s domestic luxury market expanded by 20 per cent in 2017, with mainland growth outpacing the rate of purchases made overseas.

However, brand prices in China remain well above what they are in the global fashion capitals of New York, Paris, London and Milan. Comparatively high value-added and consumption tax rates—often in the double digits—in China further drive end prices up, a factor that fuels Chinese shopping tourism to western countries.