Brands such as Wenjun, a Chinese spirit-maker, fashion label NE Tiger or cosmetics firm Herborist say they adapt ancient techniques or materials to their products to cater to the tastes of the modern Chinese consumer.
Herborist, for instance, uses traditional Chinese herbs and techniques to make upscale beauty products. It now boasts revenues of $300 million and is present in 900 Chinese department stores.
The firm has even branched out overseas and has an international presence via global cosmetics chain Sephora.
Moutai, a liquor made from fermented sorghum, has also rebranded its image and its vintage bottles are regularly breaking records at auctions, with some fetching up to 1.45 million yuan ($227,000).
And NE Tiger is having success with modernising the traditional Chinese dress.
Founder Zhang Zhifeng travels to remote villages to find fast-disappearing ancient techniques such as the Yun brocade - a combination of gold threads weaved into dresses - to incorporate into cutting-edge designs.
Potential for 'pride and patriotism'
Chloe Reuter, who runs ReuterPR, a luxury communications agency in China, said there was huge potential for brands that tapped into pride and patriotism.
“There is a new class of very sophisticated customers who are looking for something different. They won't go near the bling and show-off-image promoted by certain Western brands,” she said.
However, analysts pointed out that these home-grown luxury brands still only had a market share of around five percent, and that many challenges remained in their quest to gain recognition at home and overseas.
They point out that even if patriotism is a selling point for some, many Chinese still prefer a Western brand associated with quality and seen as a symbol of status.
“For many Chinese, their country is still synonymous with poor quality. And faced with the choice of a local brand or foreign one, many consumers still won't hesitate,” said Armoudom from ATKearney.
“The turning point, as we see it, will be the influence of a new Chinese generation - those born in the 1980s and later who have more exposure to better-quality Chinese products and will prove more confident about purchasing them.”