Apparel / Textiles & Accessories

Strengthen the development of international trade! The fashion industry is characterized by high creativity, high market control, high added value, and high integration, which can promote the integration and development of cross-border design resources in various fashion fields. It is one of the most promising emerging industries at present. This also makes China's first-tier and new first-tier cities have various visions and arrangements for becoming "the capital of fashion".

Shanghai, which has been leading the national fashion trend for a hundred years, has become the first stop for major fashion brands in the world to enter the Chinese market in recent years, and has listed the fashion consumption industry as one of the six key industries supporting the future development; The market is rich in industrial resources. In 2005, Beijing put forward the concept and plan of developing "Fashion City"; As the largest gathering place of designers and clothing brands in China, it was proposed in 2009 to build Guangzhou into "an important trading place for international and domestic trade and an important dissemination place for fashion consumption information", and to invest 200 billion yuan to supplement the commercial body and build a fashion business ecosystem; The residents' fashion consumption strength is outstanding, second only to Beijing and Shanghai's "third luxury consumption city" Chengdu; In the agency report, Hangzhou ranks first in the country in terms of "fashion innovation talent" and "fashion development"... These cities are constantly competing for the "fashion capital".

However, Cushman&Wakefield's latest report points out that to become a "fashion city", attention should be paid to the "smile curve" of the fashion industry. The front end of the "smile curve" is R&D design and talent reserve, the middle is production and processing, logistics supply chain, and the back end is brand marketing and platform flow. Both the front and back ends occupy high added value and large profit space in the value chain of fashion industry. The division of labor in China's global fashion industry chain focuses on the production and manufacturing links, mainly providing OEM services for internationally renowned brands. According to the survey, more than 60% of international luxury brands have their own production lines in China. However, at both ends of the "smile curve", R&D, design and brand marketing, which can create the highest added value, China is still at a considerable disadvantage. The domestic fashion industry must break through the dilemma of the "smile curve", establish a new domestic fashion industry development pattern, build a more long-term and sustainable development ecology, and then feed back the upgrading of China's manufacturing industry.

Cushman&Wakefield believes that from the perspective of the industrial development performance of domestic representative cities, the "smile curve" manufacturing end of China's fashion industry is mainly in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, and the overall R&D design and brand marketing at both ends are still at a considerable disadvantage. Among the first-tier cities, Shanghai leads the country in fashion consumption, while Beijing has a significant resource advantage. Guangzhou-Shenzhen still has a large gap in brand marketing. Among other cities, Chengdu and Hangzhou, as potential cities of fashion, have outstanding comprehensive strength. The development of China's fashion industry needs to consolidate and give full play to the advantages of the existing manufacturing and supply chain, and based on the characteristics of the city, aim at the "smile curve" high value-added links to achieve breakthroughs. In this regard, the introduction of the fashion industry, the convening of local brands, and the introduction of fashion carriers and activities are the three key points.

In the introduction of fashion industry, we should mainly focus on high value-added links such as R&D design and brand marketing. On the one hand, fashion magazines, media groups, fashion channels and fashion websites should be introduced. The settlement of fashion industry enterprises can drive the agglomeration of enterprises in the industry chain and the upgrading of local industries, promote the construction of a landmark and collaborative characteristic industrial ecosystem, and promote the development of enterprises. At the same time, in order to make a brand famous, we need to rely on the influence of media, and well-known media is a fast and effective channel for brand image and value promotion. The landing of brand marketing media undoubtedly has regional advantages for local fashion industry brands. On the other hand, students and designers from domestic professional colleges should be encouraged to actively participate in international competitions, and local colleges should be encouraged to set up international courses and run schools jointly with international design schools. The cultivation of design innovation talents is an urgent and long-term issue of the times. The government needs to work together with colleges and universities and other parties to promote and build an international fashion creative design talent cultivation ecosystem and strengthen the development of international trade.

In terms of convening local brands, Cushman&Wakefield believes that helping local brands to play their advantages, create influence and enhance brand value should be one of the important strategies for cities to convene and develop brands. There are three main ways: first, to acquire foreign brands. Anta, a sports brand founded in Jinjiang, Fujian Province in 1991, has successively acquired a number of foreign brands from 2009 to 2019, including the Italian brand FILA, the British brand Sprandi Descente, a Japanese ski brand, and Archaeopteryx, a well-known brand in Canada, have successfully achieved the construction of "three major brand groups" and the international fame of the brand through the acquisition of foreign high-end brands; Second, co-branding with international high-end brands and inviting celebrities to speak for them. The purpose of co-branding is to achieve the effect of "1+1>2". Cross-border cooperation can achieve resource sharing between both sides, improve brand awareness and influence, and promote commodity sales. In recent years, achieving mutual benefit and win-win results through co-branding with well-known IP has become an industry trend, such as Disney, Baokemeng, Marvel Altman and other series have been co-branded with many consumer brands; Third, let local brands return to the sea. The key to the brand's return to the sea lies in the cultivation of users' minds. To establish brand recognition, it needs to start from locating accurately, reach users, and finally impress customers with high-quality services, thus forming a closed-loop of brand construction. Many Chinese brands such as Perfect Diary and Xiaomi have embarked on the road of international trade to the sea, reshaping growth with the help of brand international trade, and breaking the circle.

In terms of introducing fashion carriers or activities, for example, Ningbo Sakui Department Store, built by Ningbo in conjunction with Japan Sakui Department Store in 2021, is positioned as an "experiential department store" with the advantages of both department stores and shopping centers, with a total number of tenants of more than 360, including more than 40 international luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Dior, and Vanke Yabao, and MAX&Co Theory, MARCJACOBS, Y-3, MCM and other luxury brands. And there are 150 first stores in Ningbo and even in Zhejiang. The landing of Sakji Department Store in Ningbo has brought Japanese unique retail management and service experience to the Chinese market, further enriched the retail ecology of Chinese department stores, and also made Ningbo a new window to experience Japanese high-end retail.

The introduction of large-scale fashion events is also a fast way to build brands, such as fashion shows, luxury walk shows, international film festivals, charity activities, etc. Today, Fashion Week has become the weather vane and ordering season of the global fashion industry every year. It is a highlight time for the city to gather fashion resources, build brands and inspire inspiration twice a year. It has also become the city card of the major fashion capitals in the world. London Fashion Week can drive the growth of London fashion creative industry by more than 20% every year. From the perspective of major domestic cities, Shanghai Fashion Week has become the city card of Shanghai, with increasing international influence; Shenzhen Fashion Week is also becoming more and more influential. In the future, it will continue to drive brands to break through the existing circles and achieve quality upgrading.