Vivienne Westwood unveiled an exhibition of her shoe designs on October 18 at Grand Gateway 66, a Shanghai mall, to mark the opening of her first flagship store there. A few days later on October 29, Alexander McQueen celebrated the opening of its Beijing store, its entry into the Chinese retail market, with a fashion show. Global luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Gucci are racing to grab a chunk of the Chinese market — and with good reason, considering the country is home to the third-largest population of millionaires and has become the second-largest consumer of luxury goods in the world.

Meanwhile, however, as China Fashion Week comes to a close after 10 days and countless runway presentations, hardly any of the luxury Chinese labels that showed have as strong a global brand recognition as their European counterparts. But that may change. With China on its way to beat out Japan to become the largest consumer of luxury goods in the world, does that mean it will only be a matter of time before Chinese high-end labels reach the same heights of worldwide success as Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Prada?

Angelica Cheung, editor-in-chief of China Vogue thinks it will happen, but not any time soon. “I feel that when everything else is ready — when people and the market are more mature, and people have more of an understanding of brands’ identity and individual style, and also the production side of the whole industry — basically, it takes maturity of the whole chain before that happens,” Cheung told ARTINFO.

Only a decade ago, the term “Made in China” carried a negative connotation, often associated with cheap, poorly made goods. With more luxury goods being produced in the country, the meaning of that phrase is changing.

“A few years ago, people would hesitate before they used that expression,” said Cheung. “In Vogue China, we’ve had a column called 'Made in China' for the past five or six years. But it really means creativity out of China — what people were doing, what people created that was unique and interesting. These past few years, you just see a tremendous growth of young, homegrown talents. Every year the picture looks more promising and different.”

Many European high-end brands like Prada are replacing the “Made in Italy” label with “Made in China,” signaling a higher standard of quality (at a cheaper price) coming out of Chinese factories. “They understand more how these brands work, and they appreciate quality better than before,” said Chung.

That also means Chinese craftsmen should be able to keep up with the European luxury goods makers. “Historically, Chinese craftsmen have been able to produce extremely sophisticated products, so in theory there shouldn't be a problem to compete with the more traditional luxury houses,” Arne Eggers, fashion editor of Tatler Hong Kong told ARTINFO.

But that doesn’t mean the Chinese luxury industry doesn’t face obstacles. “Where Chinese companies are lacking is quality control and product and image design,” said Eggers. “So far, China has not been able to produce a brand with a broad international appeal.”

Cheung cites many factors that affect the potential global success of a Chinese luxury label. “All these European brands, they succeeded for a big mixture of many reasons, so it’s not just about having a talented designer. It’s not just about having very skilled craftsmen,” said Cheung. “It’s many factors — generations of culture, skills, understanding of brands, understanding of quality, understanding of who you are, communication skills, business concepts, everything — understanding of markets. They’re all part and parcel of what makes a brand successful.”

Even though China’s luxury brands have yet to gain the global prestige that Prada, Gucci, Dior, and countless other designer labels have earned, perhaps it’s only a matter of few decades before they will be just as coveted.

China Vogue’s Angelica Cheung and Hong Kong Tatler’s Arne Eggers gave ARTINFO a list of Chinese luxury labels who are destined for global success. Click on the slide show above to see which ones they picked.