THE WHAT? LVMH has closed all physical retail locations across China for its local luxury skjn care brand, Cha Ling and shut down its official WeChat account, according to a report published by Jing Daily.

THE DETAILS The move is said to be part of a wider strategy to sell the brand exclusively via LVMH stablemate, Sephora.

THE WHY? Although the official line is, as above, that the brand will now be sold via Sephora, Jing Daily attributes the closures to falling traffic as a result of the pandemic, not to mention a sense that local brands conceived and owned by western companies – dubbed ‘fake guochao’ – aren’t authentic C-beauty brands.