A new luxe take on 'Made in China' (Published 2007) (2024)

HONG KONG — Say "Made in China" these days and the growing list of manufacturing scandals immediately comes to mind. But the recalls of lead paint-covered toys, news of poisonous dog food and shocking sweatshop stories obscure another reality: a very small but flourishing high-end factory sector that produces top-class goods.

Cheap and nasty fashion gets made a lot in mainland China but increasingly, well, chic happens. "Luxury manufacturing in China is a new trend so there will not be many factories. I would think this number must be less than 100 or even much lower," said Hana Ben-Shabat, a partner and international consumer goods specialist at the London offices of the management consultancy A.T. Kearney.

"In the beginning I was skeptical," said Rafe Totengco, designer of Rafe New York, a label popular among the Hollywood crowd. "I thought: 'Ugh, cheap labor . . . !' and I had all the perceptions of people who are uneducated about manufacturing in China."

A few years ago, hearing what some other high-end brands were doing on the mainland, Totengco began to visit workshops in Guangdong and Shenzhen in southern China. The recipient of several U.S. accessories design awards, he said, "I was blown away."

Totengco said he found tidy, Chinese-owned factories with neat, uniformed local workers and some Italian employees. The equipment tended to be cutting edge and the products, he said, were excellent quality with attention to detail. While he still uses Italian skins, he has had two collections entirely made in China, including the reptile-skin clutches that the "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria ordered earlier this year for members of her wedding party.

Price, however, is not a big advantage in these factories. "It is not cheap. Small runs, under 300 pieces per style, per color, tend to cost the same as anywhere else in the world," said Fiona Kotur-Marin, a Hong Kong-based designer who also is a production consultant and a silent partner in the Tory Burch brand.