(Yicai) Oct. 16 -- The Chinese luxury market is still in the early development stage and has significant room for growth, according to the founder and chairman of OTB Group, an Italian fashion and luxury group.

“The Chinese luxury market is still young, and needs to improve and gain experience,” Renzo Rosso told Yicai today after a ribbon-cutting ceremony for OTB’s new Asia-Pacific office in Shanghai’s Jing’an district. “It already has the government push, but it needs to do experiments outside of the country and learn how to make corrections.”

Tiziana D’Angelo, the Italian consul general in Shanghai, and representatives from the local government, including Zhai Lei, deputy Party Secretary and chief of Jing’an district, attended the opening ceremony.

“I really believe so much in this country,” Rosso pointed out. “I still consider China priority number one for the future.”

In 2022, OTB pledged to allocate one-third of its global investment to China within three years. When asked about updates, Rosso said that even though the Chinese market has shrunk to about 25 percent from 40 percent of global luxury consumption, it still has opportunities thanks to the creativity of the new generation of Chinese customers.

“Chinese consumers are younger,” Rosso said, noting that it means a lot for him to deal with the next generation because it is possible to build the future with young people. “I have established an unbelievable relationship with them.”

OTB is a highly creative and unique brand, and Chinese consumers really appreciate it, Rosso explained.

The fashion group owns Diesel, Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, Marni, Viktor & Rolf, Staff International, Brave Kid, and Amiri. “They are very special and unique, they are very different from each other,” according to Rosso.

OTB chose Shanghai for its new APAC office as it is the most important city for the company’s business in the region, Rosso told Yicai. “Every city has something special to learn from, but Shanghai is very unique.”

Shanghai is a very modern and technologically-advanced city, where a lot of brands and people move, he noted. “I think we can really have a nice, long program and a good investment for the future here.”

China is an important country for OTB when it comes to production, Rosso said. “I love China because the way Chinese people approach production is so special.”

Chinese manufacturers are “maybe the best in the world,” as their attitude toward correction and improvement is incredible, and their impeccable timing is crucial for the industry, he added. “I really love and appreciate very much to work with the Chinese industry.”

Editor: Martin Kadiev