For many years designer Guo Pei drew inspiration for her luxury clothes collections from travelling abroad, but recently she decided to focus solely on China’s culture.

The collection draws inspiration from China’s imagery and folklore – red and gold dresses covered with scales to mark the Year of the Dragon

The bubbly 44-year-old’s move brought her company into a small but growing and increasingly influential club of luxury Chinese brands that are becoming successful by focusing on their country’s centuries-old heritage.

Guo’s 2012 collection draws inspiration from China’s imagery and folklore – red and gold dresses covered with scales to mark the Year of the Dragon and other clothes with hand-embroidered hems and sleeves.

“After 2008 I realised how proud I was to be Chinese. In my last collection that is what I wanted to express. I wanted to speak about my country: its culture, its people,” said Guo, perfectly groomed in an organza white dress.

China has in recent decades become known as the workshop of the world, with tens of thousands of factories pumping out cheap products for shops globally sporting a ‘Made in China’ label that often evokes poor quality.

But Chinese firms such as Guo’s are now using the label as a marketing tool to create a new generation of home-grown luxury brands and convince the country’s legions of rich to ditch their Chanel clothes and Bordeaux wines.

“For thousands of years, ‘Made in China’ was synonymous with an unparalleled level of quality and craftsmanship,” says Pascal Armoudom, a partner with consultants ATKearney who recently wrote a report on the subject.

“This changed in the 20th century as China headed down a different path. Quantity and cost savings reigned, and materials and craftsmanship, in turn, suffered,” he added.

“With China’s economy booming once again, Chinese business leaders are reviving and marketing their centuries of know-how in an effort to create a new generation of luxury brands.”