Time changes, the original intention remains unchanged. At the beginning of its establishment, Shanshan was the representative of the "new quality productivity" at that time. In the 1990s, Shanshan followed the drumbeat of the times and became in line with international standards, selling domestic suits. In 2024, Shanshan will again enter the public view, focus on the strategy of individual suits, and hold the release of the fashion trend of Shanshan Chinese suits based on China International Fashion Week. Recently, the reporter from Textile and Garment Weekly interviewed Luo Yefei, president of Shanshan Brand Operation Co., Ltd., and felt that Shanshan suits are advancing with the times. The word "era" can not only review the roots of time memory, but also express the pioneering trend. At the beginning of the spring, we had a "dialogue of the times" with Luo Yefei, president of Shanshan Brand Operation Co., Ltd. - an era change of the men's clothing industry, an upgrade of Chinese suits, and a decoding of the path of how Shanshan became an industry leader and style maker.
Figure: Luo Yefei, President of Shanshan Brand Operation Co., Ltd
As one of the most inseparable names in the field of men's wear in China in the 1990s, Ningbo Shanshan Co., Ltd., the vice president unit of the China National Garment Association, has witnessed the transition of the times - the prosperity of suits and the shift of consumption scenes in its more than 30 years of development; It is also a pioneer in defining "domestic products" together with many Chinese clothing brands, and has created a classic menswear style representing an era. In the 1990s, the saying "Don't be too smart" made the name of Shanshan suit resound across the country. In 1989, Zheng Yonggang, the founder of Shanshan brand, vowed to "create the first brand of Chinese suits" and took the lead in implementing the brand development strategy in the Chinese clothing industry; It was the first to put forward the concept of intangible assets management, the first to complete the standardized shareholding system transformation, and the first to complete the largest market network system in China at present
In 1998, the fashion conference named "Not Me, It's the Wind" swept across 15 provinces, autonomous regions and cities in China, including Hong Kong, China, and established Shanshan as a "Chinese men's fashion vane".
Although many new pieces will be created every season, the unique brand asset is definitely Shanshan classic suit. No matter what improvements have been made in silhouette, shape and fabric, loyal consumers will always know that its core values are the same. There is no doubt about the classic nature of Shanshan suit and its veteran position in the competitive men's wear market. This is closely related to the efforts made by Shanshan in classic inheritance and brand equity innovation. The creation of each Shanshan suit is closely linked with the theme of "era". In the spring of 2024, Shanshan will return to China International Fashion Week, and together with the China Association of Fashion Designers, it will launch a series of blockbuster activities such as the release show of Chinese suit fashion trends with the theme of "Start Sequence", the China Suit Industry Development Forum and the launching ceremony of the 2025 White Paper on Chinese Suit Fashion Trends. With frequent actions and high morale, Shanshan highlighted its core development strategy of focusing on the big category of suits and striving to build "the first brand of suits".
Based on this, the press conference, starting from different scene themes, presents the image of Shanshan men's clothing from the perspective of the new era - not just looking back, nor nostalgia, but using the elements of the past to imagine the future. So we can see that the model walked out of the backstage calmly and gracefully, and the transformation of body tailoring and details also added a lot of new vitality to the image of the suit. "There is both the way it should be and the way it should be. It should be a tradition, a classic; it should be the future, a trend." Sun Ruizhe, president of the China Textile Industry Federation, was present at the scene, giving the show of the fashion trend of Chinese suits a greater affirmation and expectation. It is not difficult to see that under the environment of obvious uncertainty and volatility in the Chinese market, Shanshan is still determined to increase investment and deepen consumers' understanding of brand classics, which not only reflects the long-term mentality of Shanshan towards the Chinese men's wear market, but also demonstrates its high confidence in the attractiveness of the core asset of suits. Under the layout of Luo Yefei, Shanshan focuses on building "the first brand of Chinese suits", further highlighting the long-term value of Shanshan suits. "It's just the right time to focus on Shanshan's iconic suits again. We should let consumers, fans and the media know more about the unique position of our classic suits and our determination to inherit and develop our suits."
The tentacles of the times Fashion is an unlimited expression, which can be in any form and bear the story of any era - when you express it, the market will always have a voice to respond to your influence.
The popular TV drama "Fanhua" at the beginning of the year aroused the collective memory of the public on the domestic clothes of the 1990s. A well tailored tailored suit is the turning point of the character's fate and the advancement of his identity, but there are too many things hidden under this classic piece that is universal all over the world. "In fact, many scenes reflect the shadow of a group of national brands like Shanshan Suits that started their businesses in Shanghai, which touched us a lot," Luo said. To some extent, the brand development history of Shanshan is a footnote to the development of Chinese suits. From 1990 to 2000, in the stage of "people grabbing goods", suits, as western-style imported goods, were rapidly popular, and consumers followed the trend, showing a state of oversupply; From 2000 to 2010, in the stage of "people looking for goods", the number of suits brands increased sharply, the supply was sufficient, consumers' awareness of suits was improved, competition was intensified, and the channel was the king. In the stage of "looking for people for goods" from 2010 to now, the supply of suits is excessive, consumers know more about suits, buy rationally according to individual needs, force brand upgrading and development, and provide products according to customer needs. Luo Yefei is well aware of the phased development characteristics of China's suit market. He believes that in the future, the high growth of brands is not only the presentation of scale, but also the high growth of benefits and profits in essence. In 2017, under his leadership, Shanshan Brand Operation Co., Ltd. was successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (stock code: 01749. HK), and reached a new level of development centered on technological innovation, management innovation, business model innovation and cultural innovation.
Based on the new era, the emotional value of "yesterday reappears" is becoming more and more profound in the consumer market, and the commercial stories of "rejuvenation" of domestic products and rejuvenation of national trends are common. How to renew the brand advantage of Shanshan and establish the leading position of Chinese men's wear? To be sure, Luo Yefei doesn't want Shanshan to stop being famous in the past. He has been deeply engaged in the clothing industry for 30 years. He believes that the suit is a unique natural gene that has been integrated into the blood of Shanshan since its birth; Looking forward to the future, "to be the best suit in China" and return to the kingship of "suit first" will become a strong foundation for Shanshan brand to exert its power in the whole line. "The real national trend is not the piling up of Chinese elements, but the comprehensive output of products, science and technology and culture. While understanding the world's popularity, Chinese brands should also base on the lifestyle of contemporary Chinese consumers, be conservative and innovative." This year is the 11th year for Luo Yefei to join Shanshan Group. He has launched a more focused brand development strategy, taking Shanshan suits as the source point, and extending the tentacles of the new consumption era to the establishment of the new ecological context of Chinese men's clothing. He said that Shanshan is actively laying out the "China Suit R&D Center", smart manufacturing plants, digital operations and other sectors, integrating its product advantages, quality advantages, cultural advantages, and trying to provide more oriented insights for the current men's wear market in areas such as challenges, style imagination, new quality production, and channel innovation. New examination questions of the times Public data shows that Shanshan brand is currently the fifth largest men's business suit brand in China; For 25 consecutive years (1998-2022), Shanshan Suit ranked among the top ten in terms of comprehensive market share of similar products in China. Therefore, Shanshan focuses on the core category of suits and proposes the brand development strategy of "suits first", which has a solid resource accumulation and market foundation. Like every innovator in history, Shanshan chose to include things beyond the rules. Luo Yefei said that there are three key driving points for the future development blueprint of Shanshan brand: First, focus on the suit products. In his opinion, only by concentrating on a certain professional category, can we continue to go deep. Second, optimize and integrate multiple channels. In terms of channel construction, make offline become "refined and high-quality", make online become "fast and accurate", and build a diversified and complementary channel ecosystem with different strengths. Focusing on the "excellence and quality" of offline channels, Shanshan launched the "China Shanshan" brand image experience store plan. Optimize the comprehensive image experience of offline brands through multi-dimensional comprehensive improvement of products, channels, planning, shopping guides, etc. Focusing on online "fast and accurate", Shanshan strongly supports high-quality distributors, conducts targeted coaching and "digital assistance" for retail skills in some franchisee regions, further selects and alliances online high-quality channel partners, and expands digital fashion marketing network. In combination with the precise adaptation and characteristic planning of different product architectures online and offline, the advantages of "people, goods and market" of Shanshan are reconstructed, extended and superimposed to achieve broader and deeper consumer reach. It is reported that during the epidemic, the online sales of Shanshan Garments bucked the trend and became the top "head brand" in terms of sales volume on live broadcast platforms such as Tiaoyin. Since 2023, Shanshan has successfully achieved sustainable growth by laying out online tracks, which has played a positive role in the growth of the company's scale and efficiency. Third, revitalize Chinese suit culture. The cultural soft power of Shanshan suits has been improved, which is consistent with the higher quality consumption demand of Chinese men. Luo Yefei said that Shanshan suits will continue to emphasize the advantages of cost performance and maintain the "people friendly" tone. "When consumers need a suit, 'Shanshan Suit' will become the first choice in mind." Shanshan in the high light of the times once represented the image of a Chinese man. From a suit, you can see his hard work, his calm attitude, and the way he tried new things... More than 30 years ago, we can still connect with these images - there are always some things that can transcend techniques and concepts and become eternal in the name of classics. Who "I" is, where I come from and where I go are the problems that every brand will face. Back to the root, the final point is still the market. Shanshan has faced the challenges between the times and the changes of individuals, and has made the problem a landing point with a set of solutions that keep pace with the times and keep up with the unexpected. Seizing the good opportunity of "national brand renewal and glory reappearance", Shanshan focused on the category of suits, embarked on the road of brand renewal in an all-round way, intended to give a beautiful answer to the development proposition put forward by the times as "the first brand of Chinese suits" and an excellent student.
