Do Designers Dare Or Dare Not Get Rid Of "Blood And Sweat"?

Recently, I talked with some Chinese designers and brand owners about their business, and they complained incessantly about the lack of excellent fabrics, or the lack of basic ethics of employers, or the lack of loyalty of consumers, or the lack of market culture at the social level.

In fact, the author dares to make a bet with them all - "Do you really believe in your creative power and can you get rid of the limitations of the so-called social bottleneck

As a big country of clothing, China has experienced and is still experiencing the "youth years" of "sweating" factories. Due to long-term deficiencies in marketing, research and development, and business model innovation, "Made in China" has unintentionally positioned itself at the bottom of the international clothing industry supply chain for a long time.

But why is the so-called "make in China" so cheap? Don't blame the British, Americans and Italians. In terms of brand operation, increasing profits, reducing costs and putting pressure on "sweaty" factories are not the exploitation of China's manufacturing power by international fashion powers. Even in the United States, such a business model has become a common practice.

Take American Apparel, the popular brand of "make in USA", for example. In the United States, 96% clothing Countries that rely on imports do the opposite: make in Downtown LA Vertically Integrated Manufacturing. For the operation of affordable casual wear brands, it is simply a "suicide" behavior in the business rules of traditional businessmen. For Dov Charney, a Canadian artist who has been sitting in the youth and fashion empire of American Apparel at the age of 37, he will say: "GAP!"

If we say that American brands are made in the United States, it is a "big enemy" practice. Then, it is inevitable that the retail price of each piece of clothing will be twice as high.

It is reported that on March 13, 2009, when American Apparel was about to file for bankruptcy, the chain store had to renegotiate its debt terms or raised 16 million dollars. Fortunately, American Apparel got a loan of 80 million dollars at midnight, avoided bankruptcy, and immediately repaid 51 million yuan of debt, avoiding fines. Thanks to the loan of 60.6 million dollars from Bank of America, they have a breathing space. It is worth mentioning that this loan is associated with other debts.

In fact, if American Apparel really went bankrupt at that time, perhaps the brand would not be worth mentioning. Its influence is not enough to tell the case of AA (short for American Apparel) to Chinese fashion designers. However, it is the luck of this paranoid Jewish artist that makes more designers have to focus on the fact that AA has succeeded in "make in USA". That is, such a person who dares to go against the beaten track in business model wrote an era of R&B that made "Trick Design" feel ashamed.

It is understood that American Apparel is located in the United States Vertical integration Production: AA Factory, located in downtown Los Angeles, has 3500 workers. It is the largest single garment factory in the United States today. It produces more than 210000 T-shirts every day and handles 3800 SKUs.

In American Apparel's non sweatshop, the wages of workers reach $13-15 per hour, twice the minimum wage in the United States; It also provides free medical examination and insurance, and English teaching courses for non English department employees.

On this basis, American Apparel has been engaged in financial struggle in the months from 2009 to 2010 despite its efforts to expand and its sales are very good. From December 2009, Dov Charney, the founder and CEO of the company, had to borrow $6.5 million from his personal account for commodity circulation to ensure the opening of the new store. This is just different from the style of Chinese designer brand managers. What should be reminded is that no Chinese designer dares to sell his "dog and horse" and "fertile land" to do such a "crazy thing"?

At present, there are more than 260 American Apparel stores in the world, covering the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania. The rapid expansion of the stores, but not the intensive store sales, has made this brand not have the same market competitiveness as the U.S. GAP and South Korea Baijia in the past seven years, but become the pride of the new trendsetters in fashion.

The idea of promoting "make in USA" globally has been encouraging the morale of this brand.

Today's American Apparel has an annual sales volume of 250 million dollars. This is similar to the long transportation of brand goods, which seems too little "oil and water" under the high cost. This brand operation idea is something that no Chinese brand can bear to do. However, to interpret the business profit ideas of Chinese service enterprises from another perspective, it may still have advantages in heavy manufacturing chains, but it is difficult to launch a brand full of fun.

The strength of the brand can sometimes be compared to the diamond in three dimensions, which makes all sectors of society look up to American Apparel and support it to become one of the representatives of the American spirit.

In other words, American Apparel competes differently in marketing, research and development, and business model, making its brand different and attracting attention wherever it goes. In Beijing Guomao Store, Sanlitun Store and Shanghai Laoyangfang Store, consumers of all colors will come here in an endless stream.

It is undeniable that American Apparel is the fastest growing company in the history of the United States and the largest vertical integration company in North America in the production, distribution and retail of clothing and accessories. There are more than 7000 employees in the world, and the company's most iconic job advertisement will eventually contain the words "salary is much higher than other employees in the industry".

American Apparel has opened in China in succession. When recruiting shop assistants Douban.com There is a recruitment notice on it, which says: "We are coming to China! In the coming months, American Apparel will take the lead in opening stores in Beijing and Shanghai. Different from other fashion brands, we will bring all the clothes and costumes produced in the United States. Our employees in China will be paid more than the minimum salary in the United States."

These strange and unique moves have made American Apparel popular and perplexed. Many people are curious about why the "Bankruptcy Gate" lawsuit finally took risks: "Who saved American Apparel at the last moment?" The answer is the British - Lion Capital, a private asset company in London. At present, investors of American Apparel include Orangina Schweppes, British grain manufacturer Weetabix and American potato chip manufacturer Kettle Foods.

In terms of investment, in addition to the brand spirit factors in terms of their admiration for American Apparel style, the biggest reason is that the brand has always advocated "make in USA" and the enterprise spirit in terms of preferential employee treatment.

Here, the statement that successful people belong to paranoia seems to be demonstrated again.

However, have Chinese designers and brand owners considered their lack of social responsibility and innovation awareness of social welfare? You should know that no matter how eye-catching the color pattern is, it can only attract eyeballs, and the spiritual tension of selflessly changing the social status quo may attract investment and sponsorship from comrades.

The key is that you "GAP PAS GAP?"

As for those outstanding Chinese designers who are still complaining, they are more responsible than anyone for changing the future. I hope there are brave "gamblers" among them, and they don't just regard the T platform as a vanity fair.