China's Clothing Industry Embarked On The Road Of Brand

　 The financial crisis has forced the Chinese garment industry to the edge of survival again. If we want to have the right to speak in the world economic circle, "brand" is an indispensable ticket.

In 1979, in a black-and-white photograph, a foreign man wearing a windbreaker and scarf came face to face in the street, making a sharp contrast with the uniform colors of the surrounding people. Not far away, a man in a dark cotton padded jacket looked back curiously. This moment was forever recorded in the history of the development of Chinese clothing. The street in the photo is Chang'an Avenue, Beijing. The foreign man in this picture is French designer Pierre Cardan.

That year, Pierre Cardin led 12 French girls in a fashion show at the National Palace of culture in Beijing. For the first time, the Chinese people felt the magic of international fashion and felt the concept of "brand".

But at that time, due to the influence of the cultural revolution, people once equated clothing with class character. In the hundreds of millions of Chinese wardrobes, green, blue, black, gray and other colors of clothing occupied an absolute "ruling position".

"Brand": the concept that once disappeared

Aunt Li, more than 60, described the situation at that time: "at that time, we basically had to wear blue frock clothes. It was almost impossible to see the cloth. There were several clothes in the house. There was no surprise that we had to choose. Unlike now there are so many brand names, the children now can't imagine the situation at that time." Aunt Li lived in Chaoyang District, Beijing. That age impressed her.

In fact, the impact of the Cultural Revolution on China's clothing industry has not only affected the life of a generation, but also a relatively long process, and the impact on Chinese clothing industry is self-evident. It can be imagined that at that time, people's demand for clothing remained largely in the stage of "adequate food and clothing", and the demand for differentiation of clothing styles and quality was very small. Under the planned economic system, the major textile mills and cotton factories are named after the first plant and the second plant. For the common people, the difference between the first and the second is only in the different aspects of the title. For brand building, it is nothing but a passive water, the market demand is not differentiated, and what brand competition does the business come from?

The construction of a world-class brand in foreign countries takes decades or even hundreds of years, but the construction of China's clothing brand is precisely started in 90s. Before the planned economic system and the influence of the cultural revolution, enterprises did not need to invest too much in brand building. 　

According to the relevant information, until the middle and late 90s, most garment enterprises actually did not have the necessary conditions for modern brands, and brand awareness was only in a simple "selling trademark" stage. Most enterprises do not really convey the true meaning of the brand to consumers. So we can not help asking: what is the true meaning of brand?

At present, 90% of China's garment industry is private enterprises, because the development time is short, and the scale of enterprises is different. Small enterprises have less capital, so it is difficult to have enough funds to protect a brand for a long term and wide range of maintenance. Some short-term behavior, such as OEM profit making, is only a partial feature of the stage. Since it exists, it must represent the interests of certain groups, and it can not represent all garment enterprises. In fact, it should be said that this is a problem that a country's garment industry must face. 　

The question of "time"?

Up to now, China is still unable to create a world-class clothing brand, and the industry will attribute one important reason to "time".

The time factor is actually one of the reasons why our country lacks the international first-line brand. At this stage, China's clothing brand construction is not perfect, but it is an essential process. China has only started the concept of clothing brand since 1990s, at least 80 years later than western countries. Zhao Qian, a consultant in Chinese Affairs at the French High Fashion Association, believes that Chinese clothing has taken a big step in the brand building in just 20 years, but it still takes time. In her view, Chinese enterprises can not completely replicate the success of any French brand. Due to different factors such as environment, culture and geography, Chinese clothing brands must go their own way.

Insiders pointed out that the birth of luxury comes from two factors, one is the specific historical reason, and the other is the mature consumer group. The two is the mature consumer group. Almost no Chinese brand has these two characteristics at present. Sometimes it is sometimes believed that China can hardly afford to own luxury brands. "Chinese businessmen tend to focus on the short term and lack the culture of luxury brands. It takes a lot of money and time to build a brand, which runs counter to their short-term goals. "

With the rapid development of luxury goods market in China, many domestic manufacturers are eager to create luxury brands belonging to Chinese people. For example, the local brand NE TIGER has sold 65-70% products to the European and American markets, including fur, evening gowns, wedding dresses and so on. Most of them are sold to New York, Tokyo, Paris, Moscow and other places. Although these products still appear in other brands on seams, their entry into luxury goods is no obstacle.

In the "2010 China Europe Top Brand Summit Forum", Zhang Zhifeng, founder of northeast tiger fashion limited, pointed out that China's local brands do not lack luxury elements. Whether ancient silk, tea or porcelain is a hot luxury in the international market. Unfortunately, due to historical reasons, the development of luxury goods in China has been faultline since modern times. He said that many Chinese luxury goods are not commercialized or branded. Yan Jun believes that a company dedicated to building luxury brands must first do its own job so that it can precipitate brand culture and condense brand value. "Now there are some domestic brands that think that the only way to get a French or Italian name is to take the international route, which is totally wrong."

Zhang Zhifeng believes that China's luxury goods already have an international perspective. He appeals to local brands to be more rooted in the 5000 year's Chinese civilization and to create and lead the new rules by breaking the fashion discourse right of the industry.

Brand is not necessarily big card.

Bringing up the world's top clothing brands can give people lots of associations. At the beginning of this century, at the same time, a three generation: grandmother, mother and granddaughter at the same time can also be loved. The Chanel from France's romantic capital is well deserved to win the title. The Burberry with strong British color can emit the modern and modern style in addition to the beauty of classical tradition. The fresh and long Oriental style Kenzo brings the breath of Japanese island country.

However, China, as the world's largest producer of clothing, wearing clothes from every three people in the world, is facing the embarrassment of the loss of world-class brands. Most of the garment enterprises regard "building world-class brands" as slogans, but many years later, China has not yet produced the "international front line".

If we want to have a first-rate brand like Chanel, which is still a luxury for us, then we can have GAP and UNIQLO. The fact is, even today, we dare not say such a brand.

What is the problem with China's brand building? For many years, many people in the clothing industry have come to different conclusions: the accumulation of culture, the malpractice of sales and the lack of channels. But if we put our eyes on a more macro perspective to track the history of clothing development, we may use a more cool and quiet attitude to think about the problems of Chinese clothing brand building.

After being hit by the financial crisis, where is the way of survival for the export-oriented clothing enterprises that are accustomed to "exporting rice"? Because they do not have their own brands, they are doomed to linger on the bottom of the industrial structure. The road of difficult industrial upgrading is in front of all enterprises.

At least, before the flood comes, catch a straw. When will a self created brand succeed? I don't know. Let's buy a brand first. It can be said that 2010 is the year of acquisition.