Chen Caixia: Small Tailor Pformed Into High Fashion, Xia Zi Chen.

Chen Caixia, a small tailor born in the shop, worked hard for 40 years to build the first Chinese high fashion house, Xia Zi Chen, from brick to tile.

This month, she debuted in Paris fashion week for the fifth consecutive season.

In preparing for the final sprint stage of the 2011 spring summer series, she took time to take an exclusive interview with reporters to talk about the trend of brand development and the future of China's fashion industry.

The black building of Xia Zi Chen's China headquarters stands on the desolate Chunshen Road. It looks a bit abrupt. This building occupies 6600 square meters and is built by German architect Johannes Hartfuss. The headquarters building of Shanghai's old brick and copper plate is like a The Inn Boutique with oriental aesthetics.

In fact, there are offices, clothing exhibition rooms, design and development departments and factories, which can accommodate thousands of employees.

Wang Chen Caixia (hereinafter referred to as Wang Tai) said that in 2007, she spent a lot of money to build a brand headquarters, in order to set up an image, "otherwise, why do I not take this area for speculation?"

In the interview,

In 1971, it started business with 100 thousand NT dollars, founded the brand in 1978, began to enter the foreign market in 1984, set up the Paris studio in 1990, opened stores in Paris in 2001, and worked hard for 40 years in the small shop tailor.

The original dream came true, but the new dream emerged.

"Someone asked me," do you think Shanghai or Beijing will become the world's most fashionable city? "I replied," can't get a brand name and how to talk about a big town? "She said," if you don't see Xia Chen in the international market, internationalization is just empty talk.

But if you have no market in China, how can there be any market in the world?

Wang Tai, who takes the lead in China's luxury market, is not worried about the status quo of China's fashion industry. "If the government and entrepreneurs do not cultivate their local brands' mind and vision, department stores and developers will not be willing to lay a good shop for local brands. What brand can China have in the future?"

"In my lifetime, five thousand years of Chinese culture can never be completed".

Q: Xia Ti Chen is going to participate in Paris fashion week for the fifth time. The 4 season before is the theme of a traditional Chinese culture. So, will the 2011 spring and summer series continue this way?

Chen Caixia (C): before Xia's clothes are conservative, such as cheongsam will wrap the most beautiful neck of women.

This time, we hope to preserve the spirit of China and integrate into European style sexuality. This is also a contradiction I have been facing for a long time.

Our 2011 spring and summer series will be younger, more concise and sexy, and for the first time added some elements of childishness.

Another important change is that the price of this series will fall by 20% compared with the past.

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Q: what is the starting point of designing a new series? How long does it take from start to finish?

C: usually we started preparations for the next season 18 months ago. For example, the fabric we purchased this month is already preparing for next autumn and winter.

The first step is to conceive a theme, and I will turn to many Chinese culture books to find out the feeling.

After having a concept, consider the color, cloth and style, then adjust the tailoring, and finally the combination, including accessories.

Q: Nowadays, many brands have launched the series or holiday series. Do you have any plans in this regard?

C: good question.

We will add an early autumn series between the 2011 spring and summer releases and the 2011 fall and winter release next year.

Our pre-season series and regular series are the same story, but the same story has a slight turning point.

Q: so, have you considered adding a young sub line?

C: it is very difficult for a brand to do well, so I do not want to spend so much manpower and money to push another sub line, rather concentrate on the best line.

If I want to add new product lines, I prefer to be a new industry, such as our tea culture brand "picking tea".

In fact, I often close my eyes and fantasize that if you really want to make a Chinese young brand, it is best to have the spirit of Chinese culture, the American chic, the elegance and leisure of Europeans, otherwise it is impossible to compete with Zara, H&M and UNIQLO.

Q: if these cheap fashion tycoons want to cooperate with you, will you agree?

C: I haven't had the time yet.

And it depends on what brand it is and how much room it can play. Of course, we may as well sit down and talk about it.

In short, cooperation must be done well.

"I observe young people all the time."

Q: has the recession affected your brand?

C: I feel no influence.

In recent years, the number of Chinese tycoons has increased rapidly, and our performance has also risen.

Different from the past, today's rich Chinese are making friends with foreign friends, and often attend many parties. On these occasions, Xia is most distinctive and has the national spirit and pride in it.

Our clothes are light, not crease, and suitable for travel. Young people feel comfortable when they wear them.

Most of our old customers are my contemporaries, but now their children are also grown up. From generation to generation, our customers are stable and growing.

Guests feel that even Xia Ti bought five or six years ago will not be out of date. Because of its cultural and artistic appeal, it will feel very conservative and can still be worn in 10 years.

Q: can you tell us about your performance this year?

C: we generally do not publish these figures.

Our staff and shops are constantly increasing, which means that turnover has been rising.

Q: so the key to your success is to firmly grasp the Chinese market.

C: the clothes in Chinese wardrobe are not much larger than those in developed countries in Europe and America. This demand is huge.

But this is not all.

Times are changing and fashion is changing. If I don't understand young people's ideas, then customers can only stay in my own age, and my brand will even be eliminated by the times.

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Q: so, what way do you learn about young people's ideas?

C: I watch young people all the time. At parties, on the streets of Paris, in the most expensive restaurants, in hot TV shows and movies, I also invite young people to eat and talk with them.

Q: what's the difference between the T release of Xia Ting Chen and the styles sold in the shop? What are your main products and shapes in the 2010 fall and winter?

C: there are more than 100 items on the T platform each season. There are four hundred or five hundred models sold in the store, which are sold in the style shops on T.

Just as Chanel's logo is a twill soft coat, the treasure of Xia Zi's Town store is a small cotton padded jacket. Every season it presents many new changes.

However, I don't like to recommend the main hits. The four hundred or five hundred new models are all my children. Everything is beautiful, and the best one is yours.

"Unlike others, we can stand on the stage of the world".

Q: who is your favorite designer?

C: I am more concerned with brand performance than designers.

Which brands are among the best in the fashion industry today?

In terms of design, quality, public relations, marketing and so on, they must be the best. So many good ones can be superimposed to achieve such success. Therefore, they all deserve my learning.

Q: did you feel the same way when you first went to Paris?

C: at that time, my greatest feeling was that I had to make my own style and be different from others in order to stand on the stage of the world.

Because I have found that every brand is different, has its own style and spirit, and has been a customer for many years.

I can not help but sigh, if there are many people at the front of my shop, there are many people lining up! It's like the first time I went to Japan to see a foreign designer's show in 1984. What impressed me most is that their local designer Mori Yinghui - all the guests on the stage are wearing the clothes she designs, which is the greatest honor for designers.

Q: when you finally get to Paris T, do you feel that your dream has come true?

C: just joined Paris.

Q: from a cloth shop tailor to a member of the fashion industry in Paris, your designer career is rough and legendary. So what advice do you have for young Chinese designers?

C: the times are different. Young people may not have to go the way I was. Young people with good families do not need to start from the bottom.

But whether you have a rich dad or not, patience, endurance and persistence are all necessary. Don't want to go all the way. After all, your competitors are constantly pouring into the mature international brands of China.

"Only a Xia Zi Chen can't become a climate."

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Q: not only are the new designers, but are all Chinese brands facing this bar?

C: even if you make a good product, you may still be strangled by the market.

It's not enough just to make a show on the fashion week, because shops are the best stage. There is no market without sale. There is no market in China. How can there be a market in the United States? Now, whether in mainland China or Taiwan, the department stores want most of the international first-line brands, but they do not attach much importance to local brands.

In order to win a good position, you must be afraid of setbacks and willing to bow.

Q: Xia Zi Chen has opened 9 stores in China, and will soon open tenth.

Did you encounter many setbacks in the process of opening a store?

C: every time you open a shop, it's very hard.

If the head of a foreign department store comes to China to see that Xia Ting is next to Chanel, then we can get the same good position in foreign countries. Instead, what brands do not attach importance to in China? What do foreigners value you? With a Xia Zi, there will be second or third, and 10 years later, they will be able to form a force.

If our government and entrepreneurs do not have the heart and vision to cultivate Chinese brands, what kind of brand will China have in the future?

Q: speaking of cultivation, I heard that Xia Zi Chen has a great training for designers.

C: two times a year, we send the members of the design team to France for training. They have no fixed jobs and courses there. They visit museums and fashion houses.

After returning home, they started with designer assistants again.

The designers of European and American fashion houses are all there, but they are constantly moving and do not have to start from scratch.

But in China, we need to train designers ourselves.

Q: will you send your position to a designer who will train you in the future?

C: at present, the operation of the brand is under the control of my two son.

After retirement, I am willing to hand over the brand to a competent and right person. I just need to hold most of the shares.

As for the selection of the main designer, he must be a very caring person who loves Xia Zi very much.