SHANGHAI, June 30 (Reuters) - Collector Xiao Neng says he has spent at least $1 million on Ralph Lauren ( RL ) clothing over the past four to five years, building a wardrobe so large that he now sells pieces of it in two vintage stores that he opened in downtown Shanghai.

The 23-year-old is part of a growing group of Chinese superfans helping fuel a resurgence for the American brand, which reported a 50% sales jump in the country last quarter, even as the broader luxury market remains subdued by weak consumer confidence, a prolonged property downturn and concerns about jobs and income growth. China's luxury sector is "slowly recovering" in 2026 after several years of contraction and flat sales, according to Bain.

"Ralph Lauren ( RL ), through clothing, provides people with a way to achieve this American Dream," Neng said. "What he makes is clothing with an American Dream feel to it." He added that the American Dream is not unique to people from the U.S.; it is an aspirational lifestyle that can be shared by consumers in China.

The company's recent strength in China, where it has around 250 stores, is the bounty of a multi-year overhaul rather than a short-term rebound, executives and analysts say. Chief Executive Patrice Louvet said in a post-earnings call last month the gains were "not a one-off" but stemmed from years of work to strengthen brand positioning and local relevance.

"We're in China not just to win this year, but we're in China trying to win for the next 10 and 20 years and really make sure we're building the right foundations for the long term," he added. Ralph Lauren ( RL ) declined to comment further for this story.

'THEY OFFER GREAT VALUE'

Ralph Lauren's ( RL ) brand elevation strategy has coincided with a shift in Chinese consumer behaviour away from ultra-high-end luxury toward labels viewed as offering stronger value.

Ralph Lauren's ( RL ) pricing positions it below European luxury houses, many of which have pushed steep price increases in recent years. According to figures from Bernstein, luxury brands as a whole raised prices 36% between 2020 and 2023, led by top-tier players like Chanel and LVMH Group's Dior and Louis Vuitton.

Dresses at Ralph Lauren ( RL ) boutiques in China typically cost a few thousand yuan, with shirts often under 2,000 yuan ($294.24), compared with more than 20,000 yuan for dresses and over 6,000 yuan for shirts at brands like Dior.

"Another advantage is that they offer great value," Neng said. "The brand's positioning and style are very high-end, meaning you're getting a high-class item for a smaller price."

According to Jacques Roizen, co-founder of Shanghai-based Foresight Performance Partners, a large group of Chinese luxury shoppers has pulled back from top-tier brands as confidence weakened.

"She looks at Hermès and the like, and she says this is above my needs," he said. "The value proposition doesn't match my current confidence in the economy. And you've seen brands like Coach and Ralph Lauren ( RL ) do very, very well as a result."

Roizen said the brand's recent performance reflects both this shift and years of strategic changes.

"You don't overperform the market by 50% because you got lucky," he said. "They've done a lot of things right."

Among those changes was a move away from heavy discounting.

"They've walked away from being, first and foremost, a brand that generated revenue on discounts during shopping festivals and all that stuff," Roizen added.

The company has also invested heavily in upgrading stores and marketing, while adopting a city-by-city strategy that focuses resources on key urban markets like Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu to deepen customer engagement rather than expanding uniformly nationwide, said Yann Bozec, a former APAC president at Coach-owner Tapestry and founder of consultancy YB Stratis.

"When it comes to media spend, stores, events, targeted digital marketing, they will do it in those cities," he said. "It is a sound strategy to be very focused on some cities where they can achieve the reach and the frequency that they need in order to create impressions."

($1 = 6.7971 yuan)