Worldview | Rethinking China’s Far-Flung Cities

🇨🇳 Luxury brands rethink their approach to China’s far-flung cities. Cities once seen as promising growth markets are losing stores from brands such as Tiffany & Co and Loewe. In the extreme north and south of the country sit Harbin, a metropolis of around 9 million people and the capital of Heilongjiang province, and Kunming, a buzzing city of more than 8 million people and the capital of Yunnan province. Both cities have seen global brands reduce or consolidate their presence over recent months and years. Across China, Kering brands are expected to continue to shrink their retail footprint this year, while other luxury groups are also optimising store networks following a prolonged slowdown in demand that is only now showing tentative signs of recovery.

China’s second- and third-tier cities — from Lanzhou in Gansu province to Taiyuan in Shanxi and Guiyang in Guizhou — have also seen luxury brands scale back operations as some brands concentrate investment in China’s top-tier cities. However, other lower-tier cities are benefiting from migration out of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as people seek a better work-life balance and lower living costs, helping to expand local middle-class consumer bases. Crucially, the country’s ‘new tier-one cities’, such as Nanjing, Wuhan, Hangzhou and Changsha, are still on the up thanks to outperforming luxury malls like Deji Plaza, Wushang, In77 and IFS. [Jing Daily, Reuters, BoF]

🇰🇼 Kuwaiti beauty and fashion e-tailer Boutiqaat explores IPO. The e-commerce firm is seeking a valuation of more than $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter speaking to Bloomberg. The company has reportedly engaged Goldman Sachs to advise on a potential listing as early as the first quarter of next year. Founded in 2015 by Abdulwahab Alessa and valued at about $500 million in a 2019 funding round, the company is known for its range of global fragrances, cosmetics and luxury goods brands. If it proceeds with an IPO, it would be the first e-commerce platform to list on Kuwait’s stock exchange and one of the largest private-sector listings in the country’s history. In December, Boutiqaat chief executive Abdullah Al-Julaibi told local media that the e-tailer, which currently operates in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, is set to open its warehouses in the United Arab Emirates as part of a Gulf-wide expansion plan expected to see it double down on markets such as Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. [Bloomberg, Kuwait Times]

🇹🇲 Turkmenistan’s forced labour cotton risk grows in global supply chains. The government of the Central Asian nation continues to compel tens of thousands of public-sector workers to either harvest cotton or pay for others to take their place, according to a new report by Turkmen.News and the Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, both members of the Cotton Campaign. No exemptions were made for the state-enforced forced labour scheme in 2025, unlike the previous year. Once the world’s 10th-largest cotton producer, Turkmenistan now ranks 14^th globally. While countries like the United States and individual companies such as Sweden’s H&M have banned Turkmen cotton products, the coalition says cotton linked to forced labour in Turkmenistan is exported mainly to textile producers in Turkey and Pakistan, while also reaching European apparel manufacturers through Portugal and Italy. [Sourcing Journal, GlobalData, Fibre2Fashion]

🇧🇭 Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat targets luxury investments. Manama-based Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat) has partnered with French investment firm Trail in a deal that will see the sovereign wealth fund invest in SLAM, Trail’s private equity fund focused on the sport, luxury, arts and music sectors. Trail is already an investor in Swiss luxury watchmaker Breitling. With assets of around $18 billion, Mumtalakat is one of the smallest Gulf sovereign wealth funds. The collaboration with Trail, founded in 2014 by Xavier Marin and with over €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in assets under management, “introduces the SLAM sectors as a new asset class to Bahrain and the wider GCC, reflecting our commitment to diversifying our portfolio and unlocking new avenues for value creation,” said Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, chief executive officer of Mumtalakat. [Semafor, Zawya]

🇦🇪 Dubai fashion retail giant Apparel Group eyes IPO for its India business. The Emirati firm is said to be considering a listing for its India unit in Mumbai with an offering taking place later this year or in early 2027, according to people familiar with the matter speaking to Bloomberg. Founded by Indian-born retail entrepreneur Sima Ganwani Ved in 1996, the Dubai-based company is a regional partner for global brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Levi’s and operates around 2,500 stores in the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia. In India specifically, the company manages more than 20 brands including Victoria’s Secret, Aldo and Crocs, operating over 300 stores in more than 50 cities in the country. [Bloomberg]

🇰🇷 South Korean brand Gentle Monster’s parent attracts fresh capital. Iicombined has raised additional funds from existing investor Hong Kong-based private equity firm ZWC Partners but did not disclose the terms of the deal. The Seoul-based group’s flagship eyewear brand is Gentle Monster, which operates around 45 stores globally and generates the majority of group sales. It also operates beauty brand Tamburins, headwear brand Atiissu and a portfolio of home, lifestyle and hospitality ventures. ZWC Partners has backed apparel and beauty firms including Amer Sports, Frette and Chillmore, alongside investments in many other sectors. [Deal Street Asia, BoF Inbox]

🇳🇬 Nigeria targets 1.5 million jobs in the cotton, textile and garment sector. The government has launched a plan aimed at helping to rebuild the once-thriving but now greatly diminished textile sector and reviving the cotton sector following a 95 percent decline in cotton production from about 200,000 metric tonnes in 2001 to just 10,000 metric tonnes last year. “The problem is not entirely funding or infrastructure. The real issue is that the value chain was never designed to function as one coordinated system,” saidMinister of State for Industry John Enoh. Details of the plan, however, have not yet been widely shared or reported. [Vanguard Nigeria, Kohan Textile Journal]

🇮🇳 Hindustan Unilever cuts its employee count by more than 8 percent. One of India’s largest consumer goods companies, HUL reduced its permanent workforce by 8.6 percent to 7,499 employees amid sluggish sales growth and flat profit after tax from continuing operations in the financial year ended March 2026. The Mumbai-based beauty, personal care and household goods group’s wide-ranging portfolio includes brands such as Lakmé, Glow & Lovely, Dove and Pond’s. [Economic Times]

🇨🇳 Chinese childrenswear giant Balabala bets on Europe’s middle market. The Semir Group-owned brand recently opened its first European store in Rome. Its Italian partner is planning to open around 30 stores across the country over the next five years. With nearly 5,000 stores in China alone and a growing retail footprint across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia, the company is betting it can find a sweet spot in Europe’s middle market, which it argues is underserved by luxury brands at one end and budget retailers at the other. [Jiemian]

🇮🇳 Indian brand Fraganote Fragrances raises $3 million. The New Delhi-based D2C perfume brand co-founded in 2022 by Garima Kakkar has secured the funding in a Series A round from V3 Ventures and Rukam Capital. Kakkar said that the funding gives the company “the fuel to move faster; more collections, deeper distribution, and eventually, taking India’s fragrance story to the world.” [Economic Times]

🌍 Jihan opens as a Paris pop-up for African and Middle Eastern design. Held for a month from 4 June in the Marais district of the French capital, the store will carry brands such as Super Yaya, designed by Lebanese-born, Côte d’Ivoire–raised Rym Beydoun, and Renaissance Renaissance, founded by Palestinian-Lebanese designer Cynthia Merhej. [BoF Inbox]

🇮🇳 Bollywood producer Ekta Kapoor invests in Ekatra Jewels. The Indian television and film producer has invested an undisclosed amount in the fine jewellery brand co-created by Sussanne Khan. Ekatra Retail Ventures, the company behind the brand, was co-founded by Khan, Pavitra Gandhi, Sunny Sakaria, Vasuki Punj and Chirayu Yardi. [Economic Times, Entrepreneur India]

🇯🇴 Jordan’s apparel exports plunge 21 percent on softer demand from the US. The Middle Eastern sourcing nation recorded a 21.7 percent year-on-year decline in the January-April period to $695.3 million, mainly due to a 25.3 percent fall in shipments to its largest market, the United States. [Fibre2Fashion]