App keeps consumers in the know

Bomoda, a Chinese-focused social media app and newsletter, provides users with a way of collecting and curating luxury lifestyle photographs and trends. Photo provided to China Daily

Best foot forward

Heart and sole of fashion

The social media app joins an already thriving newsletter, in which Bomoda presents tailored luxury and lifestyle trends to Chinese consumers shopping overseas in cities including New York, London and Paris.

China now comprises 30 percent of global market share in the luxury industry, with Chinese shoppers skewing younger on average than their Western peers. For many of them, luxury brands are still a relatively new arena, says Brian Buchwald, a former NBC executive who launched Bomoda in 2012 with co-founder Suki Sun, former executive editor-in-chief at TimeOut Shanghai Magazine.

"In China, fashion and design as a personal statement of who you are is still very new. For a long time many affluent shoppers simply bought luxury brands because of the status they suggested," Buchwald says. "What has happened in the last few years is that more and more young consumers are saying that fashion is a matter of personal taste, but their confidence level lags behind their spending power. It's one thing to know where to buy a handbag; it's another to know where you should wear that handbag."

A Bomoda newsletter might suggest cafes or hotels for the ideal travel experience, choosing potential experiences with an eye to what Chinese consumers might enjoy. A brand or product is presented not only in appearance but also in the context of its history, craftsmanship and previous associations with celebrity.

Chinese consumers increasingly live in more than one place, spending time in various cities, he says. A Bomoda newsletter might suggest cafes or hotels for the ideal travel experience, choosing options with an eye to what Chinese consumers might enjoy.