On November 4, the Comité Colbert, the representative body of the French luxury goods industry, inaugurated an exhibition dedicated to savoir-faire in Shanghai. This public event coincides with both the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and China and the 70th anniversary of the Comité Colbert.
From November 4 to 10, the Comité Colbert presents the“Jeux de mains” exhibition in Shanghai. This event offers a genuine dialogue between the know-how of French Maisons, through demonstrations, and exceptional Chinese craftsmen, chosen by QiongEr, the exhibition’s curator (and founder of Shang Xia, Hermès’ Chinese brand).
This presence in China – the home of French and Western luxury goods, faced with an abrupt change in consumer behavior – enables the Comité Colbert to carry out “a form of ‘cultural diplomacy’”, at the heart of its mission, as envisioned by Jean-Jacques Guerlain in 1954.
Today, the group represents no fewer than 113 French luxury brands, as well as French and European cultural institutions and establishments.
The Louis XIII cognac house (Rémy Cointreau), in the grip of anti-trust investigations by the Chinese government targeting exporters of French wines and spirits, is also part of the trip.
Jeux de Mains
Entitled “Jeux de mains” (“Games of Hands”), theexhibition, designated the “Franco-Chinese Year of Cultural Tourism ” by the French Embassy in China, brings together the expertise of French craftsmen from the Maisons du Comité Colbert and exceptional Chinese artisans.
17 French luxury brands are taking part in this cultural exhibition, at a time when the sector has been struggling for the past year to revive sales in the Middle Kingdom. Only Hermès seems to have found the recipe for authenticity and rarity.
Among the participating companies are three of the “fifteen pioneering post-war luxury companies”, members since 1954: goldsmith Christofle, perfumer Guerlain and saddler Hermès. In addition to the latter, which opened its first boutique in Beijing in 1997 and created the Sinophile brand Shang Xia ex-nihilo in 2010, in which it is still a shareholder, there are other players with a special link to the country, such as Léonard Paris, the first Western House to have paraded in Shanghai, and Longchamp, present since 2006. Chanel, with its founder’s fascination for Coromandel lacquer, its first presence in Beijing in 1999 and the expertise of its 19M design studio, is also present. The Van Cleef & Arpels School of Jewellery Arts, founded in 2012, is another major player in French craftsmanship and the transmission of knowledge.
Some of the latest entrants to the Comité Colbert are also on board, such as perfumer Francis Kurkdjian (2016), music manufacturer Henri Selmer (2019), shoemaker Christian Louboutin (2022) and high-fidelity sound specialist Focal (2023).
Last but not least, the Louis XIII cognac house, founded in 1874 and owned by the Rémy Cointreau group, is one of France’s leading cognac producers. At once a jewel and a work of art, the crystal decanter adorned with a fleur-de-lys requires the meticulous work of a dozen crystal makers. Yet 97% of cognac production is exported, with China alone accounting for a quarter of exports (769 million euros in 2023) and the second largest market after the United States.
It’s easy to understand the sector’s distress at Beijing’s threat of customs duties of between 30% and 39% on cognac and armagnac. China has not digested the EU’s decision in early October to impose a 35% surtax on exports of Chinese electric vehicles.
As for the exhibition, both the choice of craftsmen and the scenography are the work of artist Jiang Qiong Er, renowned for her expertise in the finest Chinese crafts. For the past ten years, she has directed Shang Xia, which she founded alongside Maison Hermès, with the aim of “highlighting traditional Chinese and Asian craftsmanship through contemporary design”.
A special relationship with China since 2003
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Read also > The Colbert Committee celebrates its 70th anniversary with an anniversary booklet
Featured Photo: Comité Colbert
