Growing up in a more open and richer China, post-90s youth are the driving force of luxury sales growth. As their approach to buying luxury is less about financial status and more so to express themselves and flaunt knowledge, brands are adapting to appeal to this new spending power.

With store closures, reduced custom, and an abundance of excess stock, the luxury industry is feeling the impact of the pandemic. Alibaba hopes that Luxury Soho, a platform to sell excess stock at discounted prices, will lure Chinese Gen Zers into post-COVID-19 spending.

People want authenticity from brands, but what if inauthenticity is part of what makes an industry interesting? Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele’s latest exhibition in Shanghai explores the irony in authenticity, surveying "copy-catting" as a dominant cultural paradigm in fashion.

As the world copes with the impact of COVID-19, shifts in Chinese buying habits offer an idea of how global spend will be affected. From the short-term impact to longer, more structural changes in shopping preferences, how can brands best position themselves within this changing landscape?