“Made in China” once suggested low-cost, mass-produced goods of dubious quality.
But the series of geopolitical shocks reshaping global retail has upended that narrative. China is now charting a new course that is diverging from Western models and redefining the meaning of those three little words.
“China used to copy, but now it’s designing products that people want,” Sean Coxall, a Hong Kong-based sourcing and brand expert with over four decades of global fashion experience, said in a Sourcing Exchange podcast last month. He added the nation that helped define the modern fashion supply chain is showing brands new strategies and ways to compete even as it faces its own challenges.
Over a wide-ranging conversation, Coxall highlighted that the global companies pulling ahead today offer leadership, culture and execution that are tightly aligned. Meanwhile, the rise of Chinese brands, the evolution of the country’s retail environments, and its move toward demand-driven production all point to a potential path forward that few have noticed yet.
“I don’t think the average person has any idea of what’s going on in China,” said Coxall, chairman of 707 International and a former longtime executive at Hong Kong-based sourcing company Li & Fung. “I mean, they closed their borders during COVID, and we weren’t all allowed to go in, and they worked on all this stuff. Now they’re showing it to the world.”
A Recovery and an Evolution
Western brands traditionally saw China as both a manufacturing hub and a growth market, Coxall said. Design and branding originated in the U.S. and Europe, then production ramped up there. So when the pandemic and supply disruptions laid waste to that model, global production shifted to countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh, a trend only accelerated by tariffs.
Predictably, Chinese factories faced reduced orders and excess capacity. Yet instead of collapsing, many upgraded and invested in design, flexibility and smaller-batch production.
The result is a rapidly maturing domestic ecosystem that is transforming retail environments and consumer behavior. Today’s Chinese market no longer follows the West, but competes with it, Coxall said. And, it is increasingly racking up wins.
Among the wave of new Chinese brands disrupting the status quo is Urban Revivo, “the Chinese Zara,” which recently launched flagship stores in London and New York. Shanghai-based Bosideng is attracting top European design talent, hiring former Dior designer Kim Jones late last year to elevate its image. Beijing’s Li-Ning leapt onto the international stage in January, debuting its men’s collection at the 2026 Milan Fashion Week.
Brands like Beijing-based Songmont are coming on strong in the luxury arena, producing leather goods that rival European brands such as Miu Miu and Loewe at a fraction of the price. This value proposition resonates with consumers who are increasingly less loyal to traditional heritage labels, Coxall said.
“Women are waking up,” he said. “In fact, LVMH have just made an investment in the company, actually. They’re probably quite worried.”
Economic reality catching up with consumers plays in China’s favor, Coxall said. While Western brands typically operate with markups of 10 to 20 times factory costs, Chinese markups hew closer to four or five times over cost. That makes the value equation hard to ignore, he said.
Store as Spectacle – and the End of the Influencer Era?
If product innovation and price points are two fronts in China’s resurgence, retail experience is another. Luxury shoppers, who once flocked to the West, are now making key pit stops in new shopping meccas like Shenzhen and Shanghai. That’s been made easier by China lifting or relaxing travel visas for 70 countries since 2023 to kickstart the economy.
Those shoppers are stampeding to venues like Shenzen’s Upper Hills, a shopping center blending indoor and outdoor spaces, incorporating cafes, tech showcases and immersive brand experiences.
“It’s like going to another planet,” Coxall said.
That experiential trend is going supersonic across Asia, he said, citing the example of Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster, whose stores double as art installations, showcasing kinetic displays and museum-like layouts. The idea is to push boundaries and curate retail experiences that are difficult to replicate online.
So far, it’s working.
Coxall said China is countering conventional wisdom that e-commerce would eventually overshadow physical stores in the nation with one of the most mature online shopping markets worldwide. Five years ago, online penetration in China surpassed 50%, compared with roughly 10–15% in Western markets at the time.
But instead of replacing brick-and-mortar stores, Chinese e-commerce made way for a sophisticated hybrid of digital-driven discovery and immersive experiences. Meanwhile, Coxall added, the once-mighty influencer-driven “key opinion leader model” is weakening as consumers return to stores to interact with products live and in person.
“It’s dying there now,” he said. “And I think it’s because their retail has become so good that people actually want to go back and actually shop again… rather than have somebody tell them that they should buy this or whatever.”
For Western brands still trying to retrofit their stores and offer similar “experiences,” Coxall was blunt: They are lagging.
The Demand Chain Era
Deeper structural transformations in supply chain operations are fueling the new face of retail. China is leading there as well, according to Coxall.
The traditional supply chain relied on forecasting and placing large orders months in advance, betting that demand would follow. But that model is eroding in favor of a “demand chain” that starts with the customer and works backward via small production runs and pre-orders to validate demand before scaling up.
“Even before it ships, they’ve actually sold half of it,” Coxall said. “I think there are smarter ways to do things today than there were 10 years ago.”
Smart brands are iterating in real time instead of betting big upfront and marking down later. Technology adoption is part of the transition, Coxall said, but so is a more flexible sourcing base, which China’s evolving factory landscape is well-placed to support.
That flexibility is more challenging for legacy retailers because systems, incentives and organizational structures are still oriented around volume and predictability. But the shift toward more agility is unmistakable, and where organizations struggle to move quickly, leadership and vision must fill the gap. As importantly, product must be king.
“I think people get caught up in a lot of bureaucracy and politics, so sometimes, you know, what’s the end goal? I mean, they lose sight of it, you know,” Coxall said, citing Apple as the corporate antithesis of that with its uncanny knack of creating coveted product after product. “Sometimes they’re so margin-focused, or commercial-focused, or whatever, that again, are they really creating something that people want?”
Leadership, Ego and the Next Generation
Successful brands are not only operationally adept, they are aligned in their vision, he said. Their teams understand objectives, leaders are consistent and organizations are allergic to silos.
The turnaround of Tommy Hilfiger under Daniel Grieder is a case study in doing just that, Coxall said. Faced with a declining brand, Grieder refocused on product quality, improved design, and fostered a collaborative culture across teams. Grieder is now following a similar playbook as CEO of Hugo Boss.
A similar story is unfolding at UK-based Marks & Spencer, where Coxall got his start in the fashion business some 40 years ago. CEO Stuart Machin has prioritized attention on product and customer experience, revitalizing a once-struggling institution.
Coxall said the common thread is clarity of vision and messaging, as well as staying connected to customers. In Machin’s case, that means walking the stores, gathering feedback, and even initiating an “Ask Stuart” suggestion box for employee ideas that he visibly acts upon.
“Making things simple is very complicated,” Coxall explained. “But making things complicated is very simple.”
Good leaders and good cultures adapt, not just to markets, but to people, he added. Whereas early-stage professionals get rewarded for being stars of the show, good leadership depends on supporting future stars and taking a step back.
“The moment you start managing people, you have to change all your skills,” Coxall said.
This includes managing ego. Coxall said spirituality – in his case, the Kaballah – can be a component in effective leadership. He argued that self-awareness and empathy are not soft skills but operational advantages, and the best leaders aren’t afraid to change their minds. Leaders may not be the smartest or most credentialed individuals in the room, but they should be the most adaptable.
A More Crowded, Competitive Future
In an industry defined by constant change, adaptability may be the most critical trait of all.
While Western brands aren’t facing anything like an immediate decline, the Chinese example could herald a more complex, competitive landscape ahead. According to Coxall, the industry should expect Chinese and Korean brands to expand globally and digital-native startups to erode niche markets. Good leaders worldwide must understand consumers have more choices and won’t put up with mediocrity.
Some of that is because barriers to entry have diminished. Platforms like Shopify have allowed the rise of numerous small brands, each vying for attention.
“There are not billion-dollar brands emerging, but there are a billion dollars’ worth of smaller ones,” he said, adding that fragmentation makes differentiation the name of the game. “When you can buy a really great t-shirt at Uniqlo, what is it that [another] brand has that makes you want to buy their t-shirt?”
The brands that thrive will be those that align culture with commercial priorities, build systems based on demand rather than forecasts, invest in quality product development and understand where the market is going instead of where it’s been, he said.
More and more, that will involve paying close attention to China as both a supplier and a freshly-minted innovation hub.
“It’s very interesting that a country that didn’t really want people going in is now opening up visa-free to the world,” Coxall said. “People are going to start going and seeing all this stuff and thinking, ‘Wow.’”
