Revival Of Tang Costume: Clothing Narrative Of The Rise Of Great Powers

"It is said that the fashion industry is 10 years and one cycle. After the APEC meeting in 2001, the Tang costume was very hot. In the middle of 10 years, there were bitterness and sweetness, and we all settled down." Standing in the 2012 year, Qin Art Clothes & Accessories Li Jianqin, chairman of the limited company, is looking forward to a new wave of impact.

Lee was the manufacturer of Tang costume at the APEC summit in 2001. His business gradually turned off after the following years. In 2007, he closed the two Tang suit stores in Shanghai commercial district, and returned to the 321 of the red pine road. She continued to operate on her own property. "One day, I will go back there."

During its heyday, Qin has 18 stores or counters in Shanghai, Beijing and Hongkong. Now it has contracted to Shanghai, Hongkong, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

"As a subdivision market And it can not be mass produced. It is necessary to simplify the Tang costume. Chen Shaofeng, vice president of Cultural Industry Research Institute of Peking University, said.

Xu Dannuo, who has been doing the clothing business in Guangdong, agrees: "after the return of Hongkong in 1997, the market of Tang costume was in short supply, and many people in Hongkong loved Tang dresses." At that time, 80% of her company's business was in Tang costume, and now she wears a suit in Hongkong's dno clothing company, which only accounts for about 5% of the Tang costume.

Why do we keep this small part? Xu said, Tang costume will not be out of date, but this market is very small and does not need so many manufacturers. However, for many years, the market "low temperature" has gradually eliminated some "short term" enterprises that have entered the hot season.

The international political and economic situation in the past two years, Li Jianqin and others feel that there is hope for the rise of Chinese traditional culture. But how can she keep her feet in this new wave?

Every development of Tang costume is an opportunity given by the great environment.

Li recalled that in 1998, we just entered the garment market processing industry, "what we want to do for our guests," and the business opportunities brought by Hongkong's reunification suddenly appeared. "In those two years, especially those who came back from abroad to visit relatives, or were going abroad, they all liked to make Tang dresses."

So she began to try to make a Chinese shirt with rolled edge and blue printed collar. In the process of other people's repeated orders and orders, she experienced the potential of Tang costume market and began to make women's shirts and jackets with brocade.

Six months later, in 1999, she opened her first store in Meilong, Shanghai.

At the beginning of 2001, the "Qin Yi" Chinese clothing was sold in the Bund friendship store. When a foreign leader entered, he finally found a Tang costume that he could not help. Accompanied by a Shanghai leader, he told the APEC preparatory team: Please Qin Yi company participate in the election of Tang costume. When the APEC conference was held in that year, Qin Yi won the competition from dozens of competitors and became one of the designers of "Chinese costume". After the meeting, many customers came to fame.

By the end of 2001, Qin Yi had a total of 18 counters and more than 100 employees. "At the end of the year, someone was holding cash door to join." Li Jianqin told reporters. The current Qin art is still one hundred employees, tens of millions of years of output value.

APEC aura not only brings her hope.

After the red fire of 2002, the fashion market in Tang Dynasty followed blindly, imitated the tide, and SARS in 2003 seriously affected Qin art. "Because of fashion, restaurant waiters like to wear Tang costume, and some consumers may misunderstand".

"At that time, the Tang costume industry was basically saturated." Xu Dannuo pointed out that the Tang costume market in the mainland and Hongkong began to shrink gradually from that year, when the Tang costume industry was in transition.

There are fifteen or six points in the whole country, which are mainly customized, and the market price is generally around two thousand, and the price is more than ten thousand. "Positioning groups are mainly people with a certain spending power, most of whom are thirty or forty years old." Kunming recalled Jiangnan Qipao Clothing Co., Ltd., CEO Xu Jian said.

In his impression, after 35 years of 2000, the "Tang costume craze" went on to the market in 2004 and 2005. {page_break}

Transformation strategy

After the east wind has passed, the market is becoming quiet and the parties are seeking to deal with it.

As the chief fashion designer of the global Chinese Federation of Chinese businessmen, Xu Dun has stepped out of the first step of the main suit, but still keeps her Tang costume business, tailored for some diplomats, "the average price is four thousand or five thousand."

Qin Yi's choice is also appropriate to shrink the high-end line, but because of the love of Tang costume, Li Jianqin did not develop other clothing branches.

At that time, Qin Yi's clothing price was about four hundred or five hundred yuan, the most expensive 1000 yuan, "once wanted to use the most high-end materials to make Tang suit, after the change prices have risen a lot." Today, the average price of Qin Yi's clothing is about two thousand or three thousand.

After complex technology, output also declined, and sales volume was affected.

According to Li Jianqin, the price of fabrics used in the past four hundred or five hundred yuan is about 20-50 yuan / meter, and the production line can produce at least five or six items a day. Now, the fabric of two thousand or three thousand yuan may be priced at 100-1000 yuan / meter, and only one piece can be produced a day, even some clothes can be completed in two days.

In order to be more competitive, Li Jianqin brought his team to Shanghai mall. In order to pay the high rent, "I mortgaged the house, and even paid the wages to the bank through the loan."

However, she soon realized that there was an objective factor in the market fluctuation of the Tang costume market.

"At that time, I was very struggling. After all, everything was in place, but my career met with a short board. I really couldn't keep up. In general, the product was not mature enough." In 2007, she reluctantly quit Shanghai mall.

Recalling two years in Shanghai mall, Li Jianqin loved and hated, "despite the brand development there, he lost money. Although he ran out of money, he got to know a large number of customers. Many of them are now driving from the center of the city to pick up Tang costume." Now that the location has changed, the price of clothing has dropped, and consumers are willing to "come all the way".

Of course, she is not satisfied with the status quo. "When our business has accumulated enough energy, I will still go back." not only there, we will also be stationed in Paris, France. Chen Shaofeng regrets, "as a market segmentation, the Tang costume industry is not worth the low end, and the high-end general enterprises do not have this strength. Turbulence is inevitable." In the process of turbulence, the consumer groups of Qin art are also changing. "We are targeting the successful people over 35 years old. It's not just diplomats. "

Industry embarrassment

In the competition with other garment industries, there are not many chips in Tang costume.

First, the cost of raw materials and manpower is high. "Within two or three years, the price of real silk has doubled. Due to the high demand for hand-made products, it is hard for the master of Tang style to find a higher salary requirement." Li Jianqin said.

According to her, the cost of a Tang suit fabric and manpower accounts for about 30% of the total cost. "The more complicated the process is, the greater the cost of labor, such as embroidery and hand painting."

"If you make it, about 50% of the cost is manual." Kunming memories of Jiangnan Qipao Clothing Co., Ltd. CEO Xu Jian told reporters.

Memories of Jiangnan began to set up factories in Hangzhou in 1995. In 1999, he went to Yunnan to open a factory. One of the reasons was labor force. "Kunming is at least 10% more than Hangzhou province."

Xu Dannuo agreed with him that the proportion of her own enterprises in Tang costume has been very small. "Low material, low cost, poor design on the market is constantly affecting the Tang costume market."

"This is a matter of national supervision." Li Jianqin pointed out that after the APEC meeting in 2001, people came to her store every day to copy and imitate, which made her angry.

But there is no need to worry about it. "It is not easy to follow suit and counterfeit in the Tang costume industry. Some cheongsam wears like a lady in welcome, and a good Tang costume is the feeling of a great lady. Xu Jian said, "if you follow suit, you will not do it in three years."

Clothing industry to pay 17% of value-added tax, but it is a real "burden". The preferential policies of all aspects of the government are not related to such enterprises. "Before and after 2003, concessions are given to real estate enterprises." An insider said.

Fabrics imported from abroad also need to pay high tariffs. "If the goods are imported from Italy, the cost of transportation is the same as that of fabrics." Li sighed.

Add up these factors, compared with the international brand of a thousand clothes, "four thousand or five thousand pieces of Tang suit is a bit of value." A 25 year old Shanghai woman told reporters.

Tang costume culture card

The ladies told reporters that "these brands are not well known, and I will never buy them unless they are sent to the elderly."

Where is the consumer of Tang costume?

Chen Shaofeng lamented that the "loss" of traditional culture is unavoidable. "People are changing, and the proportion of the west is bigger and bigger. Modern people's thinking, lifestyle and behavior are changing."

"We must develop luxury brands to inherit, but now there are high-end Tang costume brands, but they are not specific to luxury goods." Chen said.

However, practitioners of Tang costume do not fully agree. Xu insists that there is no saturation problem in the Tang costume market. "Most of them are influenced by culture, consumption habits and publicity images."

Li Jianqin began to cater for consumers to promote Tang costume products. Qin Yi is now taking the high-end market while using relatively inexpensive fabrics to make clothes for young people.

Whether Li Qiang goes to the top end or the low end, he can not isolate the Tang costume market. "The promotion of traditional culture, such as economic takeoff and movies, gradually transforms the subconsciousness of cultural identity into demand, and Tang suit can provide an expression carrier for this demand."

Li said that the key is the development of the Tang costume industry, which is closely related to culture and needs greater support from the government. She compared the government funding support of the French fashion industry and Italy craftsmen.

After participating in the seminar on Shanghai's cultural and creative industries at the end of 2011, she felt deeply. "China's economic transformation has taken great importance to Baosteel, real estate and industrial parks, and now it is turning to small businesses and fashion industries."

But she also hopes that the government can implement the real preferential measures, especially the financial support of the independent brands (preferential loan for banks), preferential tax policies and preferential treatment for the shopping malls, etc., "if the government can realize the importance of traditional culture, it will be able to do so."

Intellectual property protection for these industries is also important. "The value of luxury brands lies in its design and technology." Chen Shaofeng thinks.

At the same time, Xu Jian pointed out that the traditional skills must be inherited and must rely on people. "Where are the talents? The training of the masters is very important."

Li Jianqin appealed to the society: "if the whole nation is aware of the importance of protecting the cultural heritage, all the things left behind by our ancestors are regarded as mission, so the prosperity of Tang costume is complementary to the development of society."