TIME

WHY AMERICA’S FIRST DAUGHTER IS A HIT IN CHINA

Ivanka Trump shoes are typically purchased by Chinese consumers on the shopping site Taobao. This model goes for about $175

BEIJING’S PARKVIEW GREEN SHOPPING mall is a towering wedge of steel and glass where China’s young and ravishing gather to browse and be seen. Scores of international brands like Moschino, Stella McCartney and even Brompton foldable bikes—the hipster’s favorite—fan out from an airy central atrium. Mellow hip-hop beats envelop lounging fashionistas who nurse Starbucks iced coffees while catching up with the latest live-streaming shows on iPads covered in stickers.

One brand is conspicuously missing from this carnival of chic. “I really hope Ivanka Trump opens a shop in this mall,” says Chen Shanshan, 32, wearing a black romper and gold-rimmed sunglasses as her young daughter swings on her arm demanding ice cream. “I think Ivanka is a nice woman and very successful in her career. I’d check it out.”

Trump used to have an eponymous fine-jewelry store in Unit 23 on Parkview’s LG1 floor, but that 78 sq m of prime retail space was taken

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