The tastes of China’s wealthy are shifting away from designer goods with flashy logos to more understated luxury brands, the chief executive of French fashion house Chloe said Friday.

That shift has helped Chloe become one of the Swiss luxury goods company Richemont Group‘s fastest-growing labels in China, its CEO said.

“China has been very fast at picking up the most well-known brands,” Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye said in a group interview.

Shangri-La has debuted a new luxury five star brand with the opening of a new hotel in Shanghai February 18.

Kerry Hotels is a new five-star contemporary brand from Shangri-La which provides “a seamless link between business, entertainment and recreation.”

The new Shanghai Pudong property offers 574 guestrooms decked out with the latest technology such as DVD players, Nespresso machines, iPod docking stations and 40-inch televisions.

China has followed Japan‘s lead in the capsule hotel market, amid an explosion of leisure travel in the world’s most populous country.

The first capsule hotel in Shanghai opened at the weekend, less than a month before the Spring Festival holiday, when hundreds of millions of people crisscross the country to celebrate Lunar New Year with their families.

The hotel has 68 cabinet-sized rooms imported from Japan, each equipped with a power point, clock, light, television and wireless Internet.

The cream of China’s hotel industry has been selected by a Chinese publication, with the top gongs going to properties in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Hangzhou.

The China Best Design Hotel Awards were awarded last month in Shanghai, with three exclusive properties coming top of the list — The Mira Hong Kong, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel Shanghai and the Four Seasons Hangzhou West Lake.

Presented by The Bund, a Chinese lifestyle magazine, the China Best Design Hotel Awards are chosen by public vote and a panel of international design experts.

InterContinental has confirmed that it is to launch boutique Hotel Indigo brand in Asia-Pacific, opening the first property in Shanghai by the end of the year.

The new Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund will sit alongside luxury properties such as Fairmont’s Peace Hotel and the Peninsula Shanghai, although it’s set to offer travelers an altogether different style of service — and likely a different price range.

The 184-room property eschews the grandness favoured by its competitors for the more distinctive, design-led approach common to Hotel Indigo, which prides itself on reflecting the culture, character and history of its neighbourhoods.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) in Shanghai will hold an exhibition during winter 2011 on Chanel, the iconic haute couture label.

Titled Culture Chanel, it will trace the many inspirations behind the designs of the French house. It’s the latest move by a luxury label to expand its presence in the cosmopolitan Chinese city.

Running from January 15, 2011 – March 14, 2011, the exhibit will showcase over 400 items “including clothing, artworks, manuscripts and films.”