China’s fashion journey from manufacturer to emerging designer

Chinese apparel manufacturers are turning into fashion labels, feverishly working on their original designs. At the same time, a slowdown in growth in the world's second largest retail market makes international expansion increasingly likely to pay off. So what would a Chinese brand with global appeal look like?To get more chinese fashion, you can visit shine news official website.

“Let’s speak about Chinese fashion this time.” The video trailer of the newly-established contest by Chinese sportswear behemoth Li-Ning ponders a question that many inside and outside of China have been asking for a while. “Will it look like this or that?” The video then flicks through a variety of pictures from a historical Chinese period drama as well as group pictures of women in traditional red qipao dresses.

Just ahead of the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, the first edition of the sportswear competition backed by the country’s textile industry associations featured the theme “The awakening of the Chinese style”. Designers have until the end of the year to submit their take on “Guo Chao” - roughly translated as a style or trend representing China.
The launch of the Li-Ning Cup took place at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai- also home to the fashion fair Chic. The fair, established in 1993 and one of the most long-standing and largest Chinese apparel shows, recorded an increasing number of exhibitors from 25 to 27 September as the country’s garment manufacturers seek buyers amid a backdrop of slowing growth in the country’s fashion retail market.
The biggest challenge in a hundred years

Between January and July, the growth of fashion retail sales slowed to 2.6 percent, down from 6 percent in the same period a year ago, according to Chen Dapeng, president of China’s National Garment Association.

The slowdown of the fashion market is a result of the slowing economic growth in China that continues to weigh on consumer spending. Consumer behavior in China is also changing – a shift that textile producers have to face as they shift from manufacturing apparel for foreign companies to building their own brands. “It’s a challenge that we haven’t encountered in a hundred years,” Chen said at a press briefing on 26 September in Shanghai. “Nobody is prepared in the face of an era of such a tremendous shift, the question is how to use the new technologies, concepts, and methods to adapt to the change.”

The automation of production and use of artificial intelligence to target consumers will help producers to adapt, while the country’s mainly small and medium-sized garment producers also need to enhance design, branding and demonstrate that they‘re acting in a socially responsible way. The focus on quality will be key for the future. Many large Chinese companies have been at the forefront of innovation but the fashion industry consists primarily of many small and medium-sized enterprises,” said Chen. “It doesn’t suffice when only a few trees have grown tall; we need trees, bushes, and grass for a healthy business ecosystem.”
Chinese designer on the rise

The family-run business of Mona Wan has been making apparel for almost two decades and recently moved from Hangzhou to Shanghai to push its new brand “Zhiqian” (which in English means “Before”). The brand fuses oriental style with nostalgic European references. A flagship store at Shanghai’s fashion hub Xintiandi will follow later this year to establish the brand as a designer label for a younger consumer group of 25 to 40-year-old women, Wan said at Chic in Shanghai.

Her company, Hangzhou ChuZao Fashion Group Ltd – which also makes apparel for other companies – launched Zhiqian after sales at the heritage brand with an older customer base started to decline. In conversation, Wan also showed curiosity towards her new brand’s potential in Europe as she mentioned a similarity in style to Uma Wang. Wang established her eponymous high fashion label in 2009 and is currently showing at Paris Fashion Week, having gained international recognition as one of the first Chinese designers.