The Path Of "Big Brand" In China'S Garment Industry

In the impression of many people, "made in China" clothing It's always a bit distance from high end and fashion. But now, as the first lady Peng Liyuan was selected as "the best dress of Vanity Fair", the Chinese local brands came to the public in a "tall" image. After that, "exception", "Da Yang creation", "up and down", "Vivienne Tam"... With the media coverage, these low-key high-end brands in China are beginning to be known.

But compared with those well-known international brands, these domestic brands still appear to be "immature". There is still a gap between brand value and influence.

Then, where are our high-end brands? Where can the "big tall" become a path to the transformation of China's garment industry?

"After 90" high-end

There are three pieces exported in the world. clothing One of them is from China.

As China's first place in the export market, garment production has seen progress in scale over the past decades. Statistics show that in 1990, China's textile and clothing exports amounted to US $1 billion 689 million, and by 2010, it reached US $206 billion 738 million, an increase of more than 120 times in ten years. At the same time, China's clothing market share in the international market is gradually improving. Since 2010, more than 1/3 of the world's textile and apparel exports have come from China. It is not difficult to see from such figures that China is the world's largest producer and exporter of textiles and clothing.

However, although China's clothing exports are large enough from the scale, if the clothing value and profit dimension are taken into consideration, China's clothing will not be strong enough. Facing the huge export scale, China's clothing industry has been saying "no money". Especially since the economic crisis, because of the sluggish demand, the simple extension mode of Chinese clothing industry has been seriously challenged. The stock crisis has continued, and a lot of enterprises have closed shop. The clothing industry called 2013 the "most difficult year in history". And in 2014, such a cold wave continued.

Faced with such a grim situation, the garment industry has been crying out for "transformation" a few years ago, and "building its own brand" has become the goal of many Chinese garment enterprises. Therefore, in the 90s of last century, with the emergence of young designers in China, a number of high-end brands gradually emerged. Unlike international LV and Chanel, which are more than 100 years old "big cards", many of these domestic brands are dominated by young designers, and the development time is not long. Many brands are only "post-90s", but they have achieved good results.

The Guangzhou brand "exception Exception" for Peng Liyuan's custom clothes was created by designer mark and Mao Jihong in 1996. An exceptionally woolen coat is at least 4000 yuan, and a pair of trousers or a scarf will cost 2000 RMB. Only from the price distinction, "exceptions" can not be regarded as "mass consumer goods". Mao Jihong, the founder of the exception, has repeatedly said that the success of the exception is unique.

Moreover, apart from the brand concept, Mao Jihong, who has worked as a designer and done marketing in specific enterprise operation, has chosen a slow growth line of "reverse tradition and mainstream". At the end of 2004, the "exception" began to reduce the number of shops. Meanwhile, the company also contracted the market department, and shifted its focus from the pursuit of quantity and scale effect. At the same time, the price of clothes doubled. As a result, the 100 stores in the year turned into the 60 now, taking the high-end route.

Also known as "China's top luxury brand" - NE TIGER (northeast tiger) is also "after 90". In 1992, the designer Zhang Zhifeng created the brand, which originated from the design and production of fur, and then launched a series of products such as evening dress, Chinese style wedding dress and wedding dress.

Trands, known as "the first luxury brand in China", came from such a "transformation". In 1979, Li Guilian, the founder of the company, started his own business from a small workshop in Dalian economic development zone. At first, like many Chinese clothing enterprises, they made some simple export processing products. After that, Li Guilian's business became better and better, upgrading equipment, expanding production lines, and increasing orders. In 1995, he finally set up his own brand - creation.

However, as the financial crisis swept the world in 2008, the negative growth of net profit of Dayang created 50.53%. At this time, Li Guilian knew that in the time of transformation, Chinese clothing enterprises must have their own brands. From that year on, Da Yang began to take the high-end independent brand line.

Today, a Trands top suit of men's clothing sells for up to 88 thousand yuan, and its technology level is no less than that of the world-class brand. Our country leaders, Bill Gate and Buffett have become their customers. Now, we have established the second line products such as Kay men's business wear and YOUSOKU brand. According to the "Dayang creation" China Daily reported that as of the first half of 2014, the company achieved operating income of 348 million yuan, an increase of 1.21% over the same period.

"The famous custom brand like" exception "is a very good start for the internationalization of Chinese clothing. The designer custom brand will also have a good trend in the next 5 years in China. Fu Yu, deputy director of the luxury Research Institute of the China luxury Research Institute and the center for foreign trade and economic studies, said in an interview with the new leader that China's consumer market is younger and more inclusive, which can be seen from the sales volume of many international luxury brands in China. Therefore, these young brands are given many opportunities.

Big shop cold wave

As a casual, low-end garment brand In the face of massive losses, most of the high-end brands maintained a good momentum of growth, which led many Chinese garment enterprises to see room for development. But when they embark on the transition to high-end, they find that the high-end market is not as beautiful as it looks.

According to media reports, some international brands including Cartire, Louis Weedon (LV) and GUCCI are facing unprecedented difficulties. The performance of many brands has plummeted in China, and even there has been a collective closure.

From the two quarter earnings report released by the world's first luxury goods giant LVMH (MOET & CHANDON Hennessy Louis Vuitton group), the group's actual sales growth in the two quarter was only 1.3%. Among them, the sales of leather goods department belonging to LV fell by 75% compared with the same period in the first quarter of 10.7%.

In fact, this is no longer the luxury goods in the first year encountered cold air. After experiencing rapid growth of 30% in 2011, luxury sales in 2012 dropped by 7%. Subsequently, brands such as Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Patek Philippe and Boucheron have shut down some stores in China, and big names including GUCCI have begun to slow down or even suspend the expansion plan.

According to Bain consulting statistics, China's luxury market in 2013 was 116 billion yuan, an increase of only 2% over the same period last year. In 2013, Chinese spending on luxury goods fell by 15%. In the Spring Festival of 2014, this is the peak of luxury consumption. However, the total consumption of luxury goods during the Spring Festival this year is only 350 million US dollars, down 57.8% from 830 million last year, and it has also created the lowest point in ten years.

Besides the big international brands, China's local high-end brands are also caught in the cold spell. The clothing brand "Shanghai", which was born in Hongkong in 1994, has just encountered the baptism of declining performance. The brand, which is mainly composed of Chinese elements, mainly sells high-grade clothing such as cheongsam and Chinese dress. The price of ordinary cheongsam is about 7000 yuan, and the price of a cheongsam with some fur is over 10000 yuan. The price of an ordinary woollen coat is around twenty thousand or thirty thousand. From the price point of view, it does not lose the international reputation.

In 1997, "Shanghai" was taken over by the peak group. The group has repositioned the "Shanghai" brand with the same business models as Cartire, Dunhill, count, MontBlanc and a number of luxury brands. In the next few years, "Shanghai" has spread all over the world, and has opened a facade in New York, Tokyo, Paris, Madrid and London. But in 2012, the "Shanghai" global store closed 7, leaving only 42. In one year, the rate of closing shop was as high as 14%.

In the eyes of the industry, the reasons for "anti-corruption" of these luxury brands can not be ignored. But it is worth noting that too much profit is the root cause of brand. For example, LVMH, Richemont and Dior expanded rapidly in 2011. The number of stores increased by 3 to 4 times compared to 2010, which not only increased the cost, but also violated the concept of "high-end niche customization brand" of high-end brands.

"The main reason for the failure of domestic high-end brands and the decline in their performance is unclear positioning." Fu Yu said that although these domestic high-end brand product quality, the overall VI, shop display and so on have done high-end, but the performance is still general. The main reason is that brand awareness takes time to precipitate. This is not the core position of the wishful thinking of the brand, but the core of consumer's consumer identity. {page_break}

How far is our "big name"?

"Luxury" is the product of integrated marketing which has been precipitated for nearly a hundred years. It has experienced the historical baptism, the classic brand story, the consumption identity and the inheritance value precipitated by the age. Fu Yu said, "luxury" is more representative of a small lifestyle is followed by the masses, the real luxury consumption spirit is a taste of follow, not blind price extravagance. The scarcity and mystery and rigorous attitude of luxury goods give more spiritual value than "high-end" and "expensive", so we can not say that expensive things are luxury goods.

"A famous saying made by Miss Chanel once said:" some people think that the opposite of luxury is poverty, but not luxury. The opposite is vulgar. " When talking about the difference between luxury and expensive, Fu Yu said that it is precisely because luxury goods have more cultural connotations, so many brands that need decades of integrated marketing can not be replicated in two days.

Lu Xiaoze, assistant professor of marketing department, School of management, Fudan University, emphasizes that the birth and creation of luxury brands need strong culture; superb and modern manufacturing processes; and market, world-class design talents and first-class luxury management talents who have strong recognition of brand values.

Therefore, we can see that building a luxury brand has a very high threshold. "We can keep most of the producers and brands outside the door of competition. This is also a luxury brand, even if it is temporarily unable to win.