ANCHOR

Japan is far from out of the economic woods, yet during the nation’s lost decade luxury goods makers actually prospered and are now expanding, even as the nation struggles with deflation. Dan Sloan takes us on a stroll along Tokyo’s catwalks to see who’s strutting ahead.

CORRESPONDENT

Tokyo, even in tough economic times, still has its catwalks, luxury goods and boutiques for the fashionestas. Amid a 6% rise in the euro against the yen this year and a fall in Japanese retail sales for 26 straight months, brand names such as Louis Vuitton are raising prices while others are expanding their presence. Christian Dior CEO Sidney Toledano says, Japan is still an integral part of its 700 million dollar global profit picture.

SIDNEY TOLEDANO, CHRISTIAN DIOR COUTURE

For the first half at the end of June, we had a growth in Japan of 31%. And we are very happy with this figure, because, as you know, the market in 2003, global market, because of the weakness of the yen verses the euro, because of the war in Iraq, then SARS, the world has known a lot of problems this year.

CORRESPONDENT

Other luxury goods makers on the move include Prada, which opened a flagship store in May in Tokyo’s trendy Aomano District, and U.S. based leather goods maker Coach which opened its own flagship store in April and sees usual per visit customer spending of up to 500 dollars.

IAN BECKLEY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, COACH JAPAN

In Japan probably the most popular price points for our hand bags would range between 40 and 60 thousand yen. And you know our opening price point for hand bags might be between 25 and 30 thousand yen.

CORRESPONDENT

Brand goods in Japan often are priced above the same models in home countries, that despite Tokyo be mired in its fourth year of deflation. Sidney Toledano said Japan and Asia have seen hiccups, such as the economy or the recent deadly outbreak of SARS, but demand is relatively constant.

SIDNEY TOLEDANO

China is doing well. China is doing well. You know, we have a store already in Shanghai, we have a store in Beijing, we have lots of stores. We have total in China six stores. And china is a high potential market.

CORRESPONDENT

Take-home pay is on the decline and Japanese unemployment not far from record highs, but you would not guess that from the viewpoint of the designer world.

Dior has doubled its sales in the last two years, and it intends to do it again in the next three years while expanding the number of stores in Japan. Dan Sloan, Reuters, Tokyo.

日本经济问题重重，但在过去不景气的10年中奢侈品制造业相当繁荣，而且现在正在保持增长——甚至在该国通货紧缩期也不例外。请但·斯洛带我们逛一逛东京的T型台，看一看那里流行的品牌。

记者

即使在经济艰难时期，东京仍然不乏时装展览、奢侈品和颇受时装迷们青睐的精品店。在欧元兑日元汇率增长6%，同时日本零售额连续下滑26个月之久时，一些品牌如Louis Vuitton，在其它同类商品抢夺市场时，仍然坚持提升价格。而Christian Dior的首席执行官西德尼·托勒达诺表示，在他的7亿美元全球利润蓝图中，日本仍是重要的一环。

西德尼·托勒达诺，CD时装

上半年，截至6月底，我们在日本的销售增长了31%，这个数字令我们非常兴奋。因为正如你所了解的，2003年的全球市场并不景气、日元兑欧元汇率疲软、伊拉克战争，然后是SARS，世界正值多事之秋。

记者

积极行动的其他奢侈品制造商包括Prada，5月份在东京引领时尚的Aomano区新开了一家旗舰店；美国皮制品制造商Coach，4月份新开了自己的旗舰店，通常每个去那里的顾客一次消费可达500美元。

伊恩·贝克利, Coach日本公司总裁兼首席执行官

在日本，我们的手袋最普遍的价位可能介于4万到6万日元之间，但你知道，我们的起价是2.5万到3万日元。

记者

尽管东京的经济紧缩期已经进入第四个年头，名牌商品在日本的定价却往往高于国产同类产品。西德尼·托勒达诺说，虽然日本乃至亚洲已进入一个停滞期，如经济状况不佳或致命的SARS爆发，但需求却相对稳定。

西德尼·托勒达诺

中国的表现不错，中国表现很不错，你知道我们在上海有一家店，北京有一家。我们有很多店，在中国共有6家，中国是一个非常有潜力的市场。

记者

目前日本人净收入下降，失业率已接近历史最高纪录。但从时尚界的观点来看，你根本感受不到这一点。

在过去两年里，Dior的销售额翻了一番，而且，在未来的三年中他们打算通过增加日本的分店，让销售额再翻一番。但·斯洛，路透社，东京报道。