Liu Min, A New Fashion Designer, Started From Taobao.

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< p > MS MIN studio is located in an obscure apartment building on Hubin North Road in Xiamen.

On the day of the reporter's visit, Liu Min deliberately went to flower market to pick flowers in the vase.

The teacups, antique furnishings, clean white couches, neatly stacked magazines and books on the tea table, you can see from these little details that she pays attention to the fine life.

This is also reflected in her dress: Black Retro frame glasses, simple and elegant yellow dress, with a short haircut, fashionable but not affectation.

Since the establishment of the brand, she has moved 4 studios, from a small room in the first home to about 60 square meters of space, and from more than 100 square meters studio to more than 200 square meters now.

One house after another has witnessed the growth of MS MIN brand.

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< p > we sat down on the white sofa. She poured water for me carefully. He picked up a bottle of 1.2L mineral water, and sat down on one leg.

In the face of problems, she always thinks first, and throws out her views slowly and slowly, just like her brand management and design creation.

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< p > < strong > the combination of Chinese and Western designs < /strong > < /p >

< p > 2007, Liu Min graduated from London Fashion < a href= "http://www.91se91.com/pioneer/" > Design College < /a >.

Because of a chance, she went to Holland to practice at the headquarters of Viktor & Rolf, a famous fashion house.

In Liu Yanzhong, London for 5 years is very cool, traditional and rebellious, and Holland is the most affinity city.

"The most common means of pportation there are bicycles and trams," she said.

That city is also very romantic.

Xiamen is the city that eventually left Liu Min. She described it as "living and working".

In 2008, Liu Min returned to Xiamen from abroad and worked in the PORTS dress design department.

A year later, she left and founded her own brand, MS MIN.

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< p > Liu Min's first complete design series is the "2010 new spring series".

She combined the traditional Chinese fabric with modern profile, so that many people in front of them, these works on Taobao, and sales volume also appeared a small climax.

Whether it is the introverted and tough Avant Gothic, or the elegance of the left bank of Paris, or the classical Chinese complex that can not be abandoned, Liu always holds the design concept of "simplicity, richness, romance and Fortitude".

The best combination of Chinese and western is the best definition of her design.

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< p > Liu Min likes collecting ancient things but does not know how to define "restoring ancient ways".

In her view, the elements of each era are interlinked, and her design is to integrate elements of Chinese and Western cultures in their own ways.

"Ancient times sometimes give me inspiration.

But I don't like the word "retro", and it's not appropriate to use it to describe my design.

Liu said.

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< p > < strong > Taobao not only sells bargains > /strong > /p >

< p > Liu Min's Taobao career began in 2009.

Because of her love for collecting antiques, she began to sell small accessories and antique garments from her antique market abroad to Taobao.

At that time, this was not her first job, but her hobby.

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< p > 2010, Liu Min began to concentrate on his own design and sold his works in the shop.

Her design pays attention to < a href= "http://www.91se91.com/pioneer/ > > practical /a >, and the" Basics "series developed and continuously developed and improved early is still selling well on Taobao.

Basics is a series of high cost performance, mainly some basic sweaters, short skirts and windbreaker, which are simple and classic and well controlled.

This series provides an introductory experience for customers of MS MIN, which is cheap and fine.

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For more than a year, Liu Min has been running his own brand in the form of small workshops. Taobao is the center of operation. P

Today, there are 13 people in the MS MIN working group, and there are 5 Taobao sales.

"We have to admit that Taobao has let us go out of Xiamen and go further."

Liu said, "because there is no entity store, Xiamen customers, like many other foreign customers, are also buying our products through Taobao."

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< p > "bargain hunting" is what most people know about Taobao.

Many fashion designers who are popular on Taobao have different styles, but one thing in common is that they will not be priced too high.

Designers are also worried: the price is too high, people will not buy, but price cuts mean reducing costs, and many advanced fabrics are therefore "three strikes".

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Liu Min P seems to have no such worries.

She told reporters that although the price of their products is high or low, they can always find the corresponding a href= "http://www.91se91.com/pioneer/" > customer group < /a >.

"Taobao completely overturned my original impression of it."

She said, "with the development of these years, people's consumption concept has gradually changed.

Taobao now sells not only bargains.

People are willing to try to believe that there will be good things coming out on this platform.

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The loyal customers of < p > MS MIN come from all over the country, and they will buy to show their support every season when they are new.

There are even customers who rush to the studio to spend money on a tailor made dress.

"At that time, I put a picture of a custom tailored dress I designed on Taobao. At first, I just wanted to show the design, and I didn't think anyone would buy it, so it turned out that someone was coming."

Liu Min recalls.

The customer from Beijing went straight to the MS MIN studio from the airport and then paid a few days in Xiamen, waiting for the tailor's dress to be completed. After that, two people became good friends.

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< p > at present, besides MS shop sales, MS MIN is also working with designer brand integrated shops of Shanghai's pillars, mint, glutinous rice and scallion, to sell ready-made clothes in the store.

You can also find Liu's works on ELLESHOP.

Next, she may launch more accessories for the brand, and will even come out of Xiamen to hold a press conference in the future, but these have not yet been put on the agenda.

She said: "I hope everything goes with the flow and develops organically."

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< p > strong > reporter: who do you most want to put on your design? < /strong > /p >

< p > < strong > Liu Min: < /strong > women who love life and have independent thinking ability.

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< p > < strong > reporter: who is your favorite designer? < /strong > /p >

< p > < strong > Liu Min: < /strong > Simon (Raf Simons), Martin Margiela (Martin Margiela), Giambattista Valli (Giambattista Valli), Azzedine Araya (Azzedine Alaia) and so on.

Many artists have great influence on me, such as Bruce Lee, Pina Bausch (Pina Bausch) and Steve Jobs.

Their achievements are not limited to their own fields, but rather across the field, and become a communication of spiritual power.

As Bruce Lee said, "becoming a martial artist is my choice. Being an actor is my profession.

However, I have always wanted to realize myself and become a life a href= "http://www.91se91.com/pioneer/" > artist < /a >, a person who is physically, mentally and spiritually complete.

This kind of narrow pursuit of art and life is the most admirable.

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< p > < strong > reporter: how do you usually spend your working day? < /strong > /p >

< p > strong > Liu Min: < /strong > I am used to getting up early, walking to the studio after breakfast, and starting a busy day with my team.

We pursue efficiency and work rhythm is very compact, but in Xiamen lake, let us have "fast and slow" luxury.

If you don't work overtime at night, you usually finish work at around seven.

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< p > < strong > reporter: what do you like to do after work? < /strong > < /p >

< p > < strong > Liu Min: < /strong > reading, watching movies, traveling...

I enjoy my time with friends and family.

I usually cook at home when I am free.

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P, I learned and fell in love with cooking in those years.

I like Vietnamese food, Thai food, Italian food, and of course, my hometown's Fuzhou cuisine.

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< p > these dishes actually have a lot in common.

Like fashion, every era and every region has its own characteristics, but there are also many places that have been familiar with each other.

This feeling is very subtle.

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< p > < strong > reporter: what is your "uniform"? < /strong > < /p >

< p > < strong > Liu Min: < /strong > I can not choose to dress up only in a style.

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< p > < strong > reporter: where did the recent inspiration come from? < /strong > /p >

< p > < strong > Liu Min: < /strong > at the beginning of this year, I went to New York and Losangeles.

This is my first time to go to Losangeles. This city has been deeply influenced by the 50s and 60s of last century in many fields of art, including film, art and interior design. It has a unique "a href=" http://www.91se91.com/pioneer/ "temperament" /a, which has given me a lot of inspiration.

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< p > < strong > reporter: if you can travel through space and time, what age do you most want to return to? < /strong > < /p >

< p > < strong > Liu Min: < /strong > China's Qing Dynasty was a grotesque, Chinese and Western era.

I liked clothes and literature at that time, Pu Songling's strange stories from a studio, and Cao Xueqin's dream of Red Mansions.

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Western culture in the 50s of last century attracted me, such as Hitchcock's movie, Elvis Presley and Dior New Look.

It was the age of Teddy Boy (s, a fashionable and confused young woman in the 50s of last century), and also an era of elegance and rebellion.

I like the collision and integration of multiculturalism, which is often reflected in my design.

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