Challenges ahead

As for Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel Fashion and president of Chanel SAS, the brand not only chooses Hangzhou but also China.

Its last major show in China was in 2009 with Karl Lagerfeld, Pavlovsky says, adding that they had planned something special for China before COVID-19.

"We want to find a specific way to come back, different from what we have done before, opening boutiques," says Pavlovsky who has visited the city four times since the first time the brand opened a boutique in Hangzhou in 2009.

"Hangzhou is a city mixing tradition and modernity with Alibaba and Tmall. Combined with the local traditions of silk and lacquer, it's a place where craftsmanship meets storytelling."