Our Chemical Fiber Products Are Labeled As "Fast Fashion"

A few days ago, my colleague bought online clothes When the package arrived, several female colleagues gathered around and commented on the new clothes. I picked up the clothes, looked at the fiber composition of the tag, 98% polyester fiber, 2% spandex, and casually asked: "Why are the clothes now made of chemical fiber?" My colleague continued: "Yes, most of the clothes now are made of chemical fiber, beautiful and fashionable, and pure cotton clothes feel too childish".

I don't know since when, whether it's shopping malls, online stores, winter clothes, summer clothes, tops or skirts, cotton clothes have become less and less, and various chemical fiber fabrics have replaced them. We have to admit that the clothes made of chemical fiber fabrics are thin, soft, elegant, bright in color clothing The styles are novel and diverse. Whether it is a sweet chiffon skirt with small flowers or a small polyester jacket with a body shape, it can become a highlight to enhance the temperament of girls. Especially with spin The development of technology and the emergence of technologies such as super imitation silk, super imitation cotton and imitation hemp have made chemical fiber raw materials have the same performance as natural fibers, even more superior in some aspects.

But does this mean that cotton clothes are out of fashion? I don't think so.

For a long time, pure cotton products have been loved by people because of their superior comfort, sweat absorption and air permeability. They have always been the first choice for people to choose textiles. However, nowadays, pure cotton textiles are less and less in the market, which is inseparable from the upstream production of textile enterprises. In recent years, most cotton spinning enterprises have fallen into the dilemma of high cost of cotton raw materials, and their production is in a state of meager profits or losses. In the face of this situation, many cotton spinning enterprises have begun to reduce cotton consumption and look for non cotton alternatives in chemical fibers. Official statistics show that the use of cotton in China has been declining, while the use of chemical fiber has been rising. Duan Xiaoping, president of the China Chemical Fiber Association, said when analyzing the economic operation of the chemical fiber industry in 2012, an important reason for the rapid growth of chemical fiber output was that the huge gap between domestic and foreign cotton prices forced some cotton textile enterprises to give up cotton and choose chemical fiber.

Although the use of cotton is decreasing, the author found that the "quality" of pure cotton products is upgrading. Search on Taobao, an ordinary chiffon dress costs about 80 or 90 yuan, while an ordinary cotton dress costs more than 120 yuan. Similarly, in the men's wear counter of a certain brand in the mall, a men's pure cotton shirt costs about four or five hundred yuan, while the price of a shirt of the same style with little cotton content is more than 200 yuan, more than half the price difference compared with pure cotton.

Tracing back to the source of textile production, it can be seen from the survival status of cotton textile enterprises in the past two years that China's cotton textile enterprises, which make high-grade pure cotton yarn, are much better off than those who make conventional pure cotton yarn products. At present, there is a huge price difference between domestic and foreign cotton. A large number of imported yarns have impacted the domestic cotton textile market. Most small and medium-sized enterprises are overwhelmed with the burden of limiting production, stopping production, or even going out of business. However, cotton textile enterprises that produce high-end products do not change their face. The reason is that China's high count yarn textile technology is not available abroad.

The price of cotton raw materials is high, and the corresponding price of downstream pure cotton textiles is naturally expensive. For high-end consumers, the price may not be the main factor when they choose textiles. As long as the goods are good and expensive, it doesn't matter. Therefore, pure cotton products naturally move closer to the high-end market. For mass consumers, the price is an important factor when shopping. Especially for young people nowadays, as long as the style is fashionable and trendy, they don't pay much attention to the material, so chemical fiber products are labeled as "fast fashion".

It is also the inevitable result of the transformation and upgrading of China's cotton textile industry that pure cotton products move towards high-end from spinning to finished products.