Fashion designers need to learn to talk to the market

The rapid development of the domestic apparel industry has made custom clothing appear in front of consumers. However, factors such as limited production capacity and narrow consumers have led to a low market share in custom clothing. As the first batch of custom brands in China, TANYA seems to be the brand founder Wang Yanlan, the domestic custom brand is still in the stage of market primaryization. Several excellent designers can't support the rapid development of the industry. Fashion designers can't be obsessed with self-deduction in design. What should be needed in the market?

Domestic custom clothing is still in the early stages of development

Beijing Business Daily: As a domestic early custom clothing brand, with the development of the market in recent years, what stage do you think domestic custom clothing is in?

Wang Yanran: Compared with the mature custom apparel market in foreign countries, domestic custom apparel is still relatively primitive. Whether it is branding, design and production capacity, and consumer acceptance, there is still a long way to go from mature markets. go. Although there are several well-known designers in domestic custom clothing, the popularity and work of several designers cannot support the entire industry. The clothing industry, especially the high-end clothing industry, is still in its infancy. Simply put, production and sales are not connected, sales are not connected with capital, and the brand is not connected with capital. Whether it is brand or designer, it is still developing itself.

Beijing Business Daily: Which aspects do you think show that the domestic high-grade clothing is less commercialized?

Wang Yanran: No industry chain is the most direct performance, Gao Ding originated from the French high-level custom union. There are many workshops behind Chanel. Some of these workshops are wholly-owned by the company, and some are shareholdings. They are all passed down from generation to generation. These factories completed the entire industrial chain of Chanel. Buttons, laces, webbing, fabrics, handmade lace, hats and accessories are all required for the industrial chain. In China, there are only processing factories and no industrial chain. These processing factories are all very low-end, and they cannot use high-end clothing and apparel. Therefore, this industrial chain has not yet formed.

Middle-class is the core consumer group of custom clothing

Beijing Business Daily: Many luxury brands are also doing extensions of customized services. Do you think the market has been squeezed?

Wang Yanran: The domestic middle class market has a very strong purchasing power. This market is big enough to support many brands. As long as the products of these brands are outstanding and have their own characteristics, it should be said that the market is still very strong. But from the perspective of brand competitiveness, I think design concepts and styles are decisive factors.

Beijing Business Daily: Compared with mature luxury brands, what do you think are the advantages of domestic custom brands?

Wang Yanlan: The international luxury goods market is very serious. The brand produces something similar this season or season. Pop style, lace, silhouette, all brands seem to be the same design concept, and less differentiation between brands. Homogenization competition is related to the large-scale production of luxury brands. But custom clothing can surpass this, because no matter what the trend is, the designer only makes products that suit their own style.

Product homogenization gives designers opportunities

Beijing Business Daily: Nowadays, the luxury brand is highly homogenized. Do you agree that product homogeneity is serious, and to a certain extent, give custom designer brand market space?

Wang Yanlan: Certainly this is the case. When I entered the business, it was seven years ago. Gao Dingcai just rose. Consumers still don’t know what Gaoding is. They open a roll of pants at the door and the tailor shop is called Gaoding. In the past five years, consumers have begun to have a very clear concept of Gao Ding. Gao Ding has standards, there is a threshold, and it needs to be certified. Slowly, consumers also have this awareness. After all, Gaoding industry is a small-scale production, it is difficult to make money. As I said earlier, Gaoding apparel brand can't enter the capital market, so the development of Gaoding apparel brand will not be as good as the industry originally expected. Then there is the problem of the industrial chain. Gao Ding is in a cultural region, the country is good, the regional is good, or the times are good. It will not jump away from others to survive, it will not jump off. The economy will not jump off the industry. It must be based on the entire economic momentum and the development of the entire product to survive, produce and develop.

Beijing Business Daily: From your personal perspective, is Gaoding's future path flat?

Wang Yanlan: Domestic Gaoding designers have grown rapidly in recent years, but they are still in the same place, and the growth rate of the customer group is too low, which is the bottleneck of the development of Gaoding clothing brand. In the future, Gaoding designers may have several different development trends, such as deep cooperation with enterprises, especially with large domestic apparel companies to create high-profile brands; or become senior managers, employed by clothing brands; The public brand route has obtained capital assistance from the private sector. In either form, domestic high-end clothing brands and designers will encounter better opportunities as the domestic economy and apparel industry mature.