French luxury house Hermes and Italian company Exor announced an agreement on Dec 9 to take Chinese lifestyle brand Shang Xia to the next stage of development.

Exor will invest around 80 million Euros in Shang Xia via a reserved capital increase that will result in it becoming the company's majority shareholder. Hermes, which co-founded Shang Xia in 2010, will remain as an important shareholder alongside Exor and founder Jiang Qiong'er.

Founded by Chinese designer Jiang, Shang Xia includes ready-to-wear, leather goods, jewelry and lifestyle products such as furniture and tea sets. "Shang Xia" in Chinese means "ups and downs". Its collections are inspired by Chinese culture and aesthetics.

During the last decade, Shang Xia has established its reputation both in China and internationally for combining traditional Chinese craftsmanship with its distinctive interpretation of luxury. 2021 will see new stores open in Singapore and Taipei.

"Within just a decade, Shang Xia has managed to position itself as one of the first Chinese brands on the international luxury stage. This has been achieved thanks to the consistent commitment of Hermes. I hope Exor will enable Shang Xia to pursue our dreams and ambition with more power than ever," Jiang said when commenting on the agreement.

John Elkann, Exor's Chairman and CEO, said: "Shang Xia represents a unique opportunity to build the first global luxury lifestyle brand of genuine Chinese heritage. We are delighted to be able to share with Shang Xia our experience of developing global luxury brands, and support the brand to a growing client base worldwide."

Axel Dumas, Executive Chairman of Hermes, said:," We are proud of how far Shang Xia has come in the last 10 years, demonstrating our confidence in the brand's unique model and original proposal. With Exor, we share a long family and entrepreneurial culture on which we will be able to build Shang Xia's new success."