Mongolians develop a taste for luxury
In the 13th century, Mongol emperor Kublai Khan and his harem sported silk gowns, fur cloaks and jewel-encrusted head ornaments at their home – the legendary pleasure palace in Xanadu. Today, latter-day khans are again stepping out in some of the world’s finest luxury fashions as Mongolia’s minerals-fuelled economy boosts disposable income for the country’s nouveaux riches. Louis Vuitton, Emporio Armani, Burberry and Hugo Boss have led the charge of high-end shops opening in Mongolia’s sprawling capital Ulan Bator, the flashy stores jarring with the city’s Soviet-era apartment blocks and shantytowns. “The domestic fashion industry is growing with the Mongolian economy and people have more money to spend,” Hugo Boss shop manager Siizhuugiin Nasantulga told AFP.
“They would rather spend it here than go on overseas shopping trips.” Landlocked Mongolia, one of Asia’s poorest countries, has seen its per capita GDP rise to $3,300 as foreign mining giants have come calling to tap into its vast deposits of everything from gold to coal. The economy is expected to grow at a healthy eight percent this year and the country’s currency advanced 10 percent against the dollar in 2010, making imports cheaper. With an influx of new money and the number of millionaires growing, members of the upper-income set have sought to outdo each other with name-brand fashion and fancy cars. “Mongolians have great fashion sense and they are always looking for the highest quality products,” says Nasantulga, a strapping 28-year-old with fluent English he learned while studying business overseas.
“People love to show off their cars and they take pride in dressing as well as they possibly can.” Luxury lifestyles have been a foreign concept for most of Mongolia’s modern history. It was a communist country for nearly seven decades until a 1990 democratic revolution led to multiparty politics and a market economy. Most of the luxury shops in Ulan Bator are located in the Central Tower, a new office building adjacent to Sukhbaatar Square, where the modern Mongolian state was established in 1921. In the VIP room of the Louis Vuitton store, big spenders can lounge on white leather couches as they check out $1,100 shoes or $800 sunglasses. Outside, luxury cars ply potholed streets. Flashy SUVs – Toyota Land Cruisers, Hummers and Land Rovers – stand snarled in traffic jams with models from Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and BMW.