China’s $83.49B Import Expo Wasn’t Just a Trade Show. It Was a Flex.
And Fashion’s Biggest Players Showed Up to Prove They Still Need China More Than Their Press Releases Admit
Everyone keeps asking the same question.
“Is China still the luxury engine it used to be?”
Meanwhile, the China International Import Expo quietly dropped 83.49 billion dollars worth of deals on the table and said, “Next question.”
This year’s CIIE wasn’t about runway fantasies or glass-box booths. It was about power plays, ecosystem building, tech dominance, and who actually understands the future of fashion and beauty in China.
Let’s break down what really happened behind the headlines.
1. Luxury Didn’t Just Show Up. Luxury Showed Up Hungry.
If China were “slowing,” someone forgot to tell LVMH, Kering, and Richemont because they came in like it was Fashion Week for CEOs.
LVMH:
Louis Vuitton, Dior, Bulgari. The holy trinity. They went full “fashion meets nature,” turning their booth into an upscale jungle meets glossy ad set.
Kering:
Their seventh appearance at CIIE. They brought Gucci archival silk scarves, Saint Laurent, the works. François-Henri Pinault even flew in personally. His first China trip for the expo. That alone says everything.
He dropped this message loudly:
China isn’t just a market. It is reshaping luxury itself.
Kering also signed a strategic deal with Shanghai Fashion Week and launched a Craft Residency Program. Translation. They aren’t just selling in China. They want to build with China.
Richemont:
Six years straight. Cartier. Van Cleef & Arpels. Jaeger-LeCoultre. Dunhill. Montblanc. Basically the entire jewelry box.
The luxury industry’s real stance is simple.
“We still believe. We just need to evolve.”
2. China Isn’t Just a Consumer Market Now. It Is an Innovation Lab.
Ask L’Oréal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus, who basically treated CIIE like a homecoming.
He reminded everyone that:
China is L’Oréal’s second biggest market.
China is its innovation engine.
And the China R&D center turns 20 this year.
L’Oréal didn’t come to show off.
They came to build ecosystems.
The hottest one.
Silver Beauty.
A full system focused on the silver-haired demographic. Products. Services. Industry-wide alliances. A complete shift from “anti-aging” to “age gracefully.”
This wasn’t a skincare launch.
This was demographic strategy at national scale.
They also presented Beauty Hub, created with doctors, scientists, and industrial partners. The future of beauty isn’t retail shelves. It is science x tech x culture.
CIIE made that painfully clear.
3. AI Stole the Show and Fashion Didn’t Even Pretend to Compete
If CIIE were a tech contest, AI walked in, grabbed the trophy, and left before anyone realized the game had started.
Poizon
Dropped an AI authentication system that:
Scans luxury bags and watches in five seconds
Achieves 99.9999 percent accuracy
Uses data from billions of physical products
It is basically Shazam for handbags.
Estée Lauder
Rolled out an AI skin scanner that assesses hydration, elasticity, and pigmentation faster than you can say “serum.”
Shiseido
Globally debuted its AI aging simulator built on massive datasets of Chinese skin profiles. It predicts your future wrinkles before you even make them.
AI is no longer a “maybe we should try this” for beauty brands.
It is the next supply chain. The next loyalty program. The next competitive moat.
4. CIIE Has Evolved into Something Bigger Than a Trade Expo
Behind the billions in deals is a simple truth.
China is not just a place to sell products. It is where global brands test new ecosystems, new technologies, new demographics, and new cultural narratives.
Luxury brands are stitching sustainability directly into strategy.
Beauty brands are designing ecosystems around aging and wellness.
Tech platforms are rewriting the rules of authenticity and trust.
This isn’t commerce anymore.
It is civilization-building at industry scale.
