Luxury shoemaker Manolo Blahnik enters China market after 22-year legal tussle

SHANGHAI — Manolo Blahnik, the high-end shoe brand with many celebrity fans and often worn in the TV hit Sex and the City, has opened its first store in mainland China after a 22-year battle over the legal right to use its name.

In addition to the new boutique in Shanghai's Plaza 66 luxury mall, the company expects to open a store a year in China for the next five years, with Beijing and Chengdu the next likely locations.

The shoemaker, named after its Spanish founder, had been limited in its ability to trade under its name in China after a local businessman filed trademarks related to "Manolo Blahnik" in 1999.

China is a "first to file" jurisdiction which doesn't require companies to prove prior use to claim a trademark, but a ruling two years ago from the Supreme People's Court of China found in favour of the company.

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"We were very, very grateful to reclaim our trademark. Before that point, we were just focused on getting it back. [Since then] we very much turned our head towards Asia," Chief Executive Kristina Blahnik, who is the founder's niece, said in an interview.

The brand also opened two new stores in Hong Kong in October.

Its long-awaited mainland China debut comes as high-end brands such as LVMH have seen sales slide in the world's second-largest luxury market, hurt by tepid economic growth and weak consumer confidence. But Blahnik said she was unconcerned as the company is just getting started in China.

China's luxury footwear market is valued at about US$5 billion (S$6.6 billion) this year and is projected to grow 7.6 per cent a year through 2029, according to research firm Statista. Manolo Blahnik will compete with foreign brands such as Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin, which have the advantage of having been in China for more than a decade.

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