Clothing Branding: Exploring from Chinese Designers

It is no exaggeration to say that the garment industry is one of the pillar industries in China. Since the reform and opening up, the production, processing and export of the garment industry have developed rapidly, and a large number of large, medium and small garment enterprises have been cultivated. According to WTO statistics, from 2011 to 2013, China's annual apparel exports were US$153.7 billion, US$159.6 billion, and US$177.4 billion, accounting for 36.8%, 37.8%, and 38.5% of global apparel exports. From a quantitative point of view, China's clothing industry has become a global leader, and the trend is still upward. However, in the impression of ordinary people, "brand goods" are still a few European and American brands. Our popular styles every year are also in line with the styles worn on European and American star models. The voice of Chinese clothing brands is still very weak.

This kind of embarrassment is undoubtedly a headache for practitioners: OEM companies can only earn meager processing profits under the constant pressure of labor and other costs; and companies and designers who are interested in making their own brands are often rejected. The fashion trends defined by big brands lead by the nose, and it is always difficult to have their own unique style and cannot compare with international brands.

Faced with the rapid catch-up of the textile and garment industry in low-cost countries such as Southeast Asia, China's garment industry cannot stick to the low-end old model forever, and must be transformed and upgraded. To be an independent brand with its own characteristics has become a feasible way to break through in the eyes of many analysts.

A good design is a national design

“The current international brands are all products of the internationalist style under the Bauhaus design concept, with excessive functions, excessive geometry, and excessive coldness.” Liu Shanshan, a well-known cutting-edge clothing designer, pointed out, "China's current design style is also Bauhaus style. There are historical reasons for this. After all, the clothing industry has only developed for decades since the reform and opening up, and it has been greatly influenced by foreigners. However, Chinese brands and Design has to have a place in the world. It is impossible to compete with the international style. They have already studied this thing thoroughly. What they cannot study are the national things. These areas are where Chinese brands and designs can break through. The place." What Liu Shanshan said about the nation can also be called "Chinese elements". This is the unique style pursued by some sensible designers in the current Chinese fashion design industry. "(Fashion with Chinese elements) is very well accepted internationally. They think this is Chinese culture and oriental elements." Xie Haiping, a well-known designer, said when talking about his successful runway show in London and other international fashion weeks, " I have Europeanized Chinese things, but I have received good international response. China's five thousand-year-old culture is brilliant, and there are many places of beauty that can be discovered. But now we often discard these beautiful things and blindly pursue the so-called so-called beauty. "Fashion"."

Both Xie Haiping and Liu Shanshan believe that successful brands have unique and well-recognized brand characters. Western brands have already defined and mastered the creation laws and language of the internationalist style. If Chinese brands want to make breakthroughs, they must not follow suit, but must tap their own unique and popular elements that represent Chinese culture. "The national is more the world", they all think so.

Role change: not just designers

The soul of clothing lies in design, so many brands are born from the hands of designers. More and more powerful designers have begun to create their own designer brands, and reversely integrate resources such as production and marketing. Xie Haiping and Liu Shanshan are also not satisfied with designing and OEM for the brand, but founded their own brand, and their identities have also changed from simple designers to enterprise managers and operators.

"I am an independent designer, but an independent designer can only produce dozens of styles in a season, which is too few for a brand. Commercial brands need to have the ability to grasp the entire product, including the concept. Planning, copywriting, photography, style control, etc., must not only have characteristics, but also meet the needs of the market. Simple independent designers may not think so much. So I hope to develop in the direction of commercial brands." The original intention of the brand, Liu Shanshan said.

She currently runs her own company and runs the brand herself. In her opinion, to launch a good designer brand, it needs to work closely with good investors and operators. "Designers' expertise is still in design, and professional teams are more skilled in operation. They can integrate and optimize resources, promote the brand quickly, and make the brand grow rapidly. It is difficult to grow up with the power of independent designers alone. Therefore, we are also discussing cooperation with investors now.”

Xie Haiping also transformed from simply designing for brands to building his own brand a few years ago. According to him, a casual fashion brand he runs has achieved good results through online e-commerce. "Online brands are more popular and have higher requirements for the frequency of style updates. Another brand of mine is positioned in high-end customization, trying to integrate Chinese culture into fashion."

Exploration of business model innovation

A good platform is needed to operate a brand. For this reason, Xie Haiping, together with seven other designers, created a design called "Unity Creative" at the end of 2014 Teachers integrate brands and explore new models of clothing brand promotion. "Our purpose is to integrate designers, let Chinese designers go out, and bring in international designers. Through online and offline models, we can bring their works to the market."

According to Xie Haiping, this platform has opened an offline designer integration store with thousands of square meters. As an incubation base for designers, ordering meetings are held regularly every month to invite merchants to purchase. In the next step, they will also open direct-to-consumer boutiques to push the designer's work directly to the end market.

"From the time of its establishment and operation, the effect is very good. Although there are some integrated stores now, but even if they have the money and the ability to operate, they still lack the most core thing - design. A lot of goods They can’t perfect it, and they can’t come back if they want to buy goods outside. Design is our biggest advantage, and we can develop dozens of designer goods at the same time.” Xie Haiping said, “Next, we will cooperate with design schools. Cooperation, attract talented young designers, and create a 'ten thousand designers team'."

The "ten thousand designers team" that Xie Haiping said is the designer platform established by them. Provide exports for these fledgling students and designer assistants, and bring their works to the market. "Many students can't make a package of goods, but they can do a few single models." As an independent designer to a brand The pathfinders of the operation, Xie Haiping and Liu Shanshan are both determined to innovate, and their entrepreneurial place is selected in Shenzhen, the capital of the clothing industry.

As an industry leader and an industrial cluster, from design to sales, from manufacturing to brand building, the coverage of Shenzhen's garment industry is unmatched. "Shenzhen is the best place for entrepreneurship and innovation in the apparel industry.

When I first came to Shenzhen, I found that all kinds of accessories can be found here, and any problem can be solved." Xie Haiping talked about why Said when starting a business in Shenzhen.

At the first Shenzhen Fashion Week show that just ended in March, Xie Haiping and Liu Shanshan's works that integrated Chinese culture and modern design were enthusiastically sought after, and Chinese elements became the mainstay of the fashion week. tone. It seems that creating a unique brand style based on Chinese culture has become the consensus of more and more designers and brands.