Even affluent Chinese women, without millions in the bank, are willing to spend their savings on designer fashions, seen as the ultimate status symbol in a country that is increasingly becoming preoccupied with the trappings of wealth.

Elegantly dressed Chinese manager Zhang Ning, 30, has never been to France but she likes to wear Hermes which she says is the epitome of style.

"I like its simplicity, it makes me feel elegant," said Zhang, who works as a manager at an electric power company in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

"France for me is elegance: good fashion and wines."

While luxury goods makers such as Louis Vuitton have benefited from booming demand from Chinese keen to show off their newfound wealth by wearing clothes and accessories emblazoned with prestigious logos, Western couture houses such Hermes are now tapping into the more discreet tastes of the super-rich.

"The Chinese mainland market is still very accessories oriented but we believe that will change," said Alex Bolen, chief executive of New York-based couture house Oscar de la Renta, whose sleek cocktail dresses retail for up to $10,000, while its evening gowns approach double that.

"There's definitely a market for the cocktail dress. But what has surprised us, pleasantly, is how rapidly the customer has also adopted our daywear."