Redefining 'Made in China'
By Huang Hung |
April 13, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ZHANG Huishan and Masha Ma both want to redefine what "Made in China" means. The two Chinese designers have nothing in common stylistically, but both want to give "Made in China" a makeover.
I met Zhang in the showroom of Rue du Mail during Paris Fashion Week. His fall-winter collection is full of lace, with eyelet embroidery in wool. All this intricate fabric comes from Zhang's hometown of Qingdao in Shandong Province.
"I am very lucky that these manufacturers are willing to produce small trail quantity of fabric for me," the designer said. "Usually, they only take big bulk orders for export. What I want to show is that 'Made in China,' if combined with 'Designed in China,' can be high quality and good. Not the cheap stuff, or the fakes."
In another neighborhood of Paris, at the Hanger showroom, Ma was getting ready for her show.
"I am now on the schedule for Paris Fashion Week," Ma said. "I can do this because we have our own manufacturing facility now in China, they can do small quantity and they can make my runway pieces in a hurry."
Her facility is a shared manufacturing workshop with two other Chinese designers, all based in Shanghai.
Unlike Zhang, who uses locally manufactured fabrics, Ma said she imports hers. But having her own workshop allows her to produce small quantities suitable for young startup designer lines.
The bulk-minded manufacturing mentality in China has been a major problem for young designers. Often, it's difficult to find facilities that will handle small orders in a timely and quality-sensitive fashion.
But as fashion retail is blooming in the country, investors are funneling much-needed cash to young designers to finance their ateliers, much like Ma's shared workshop.
"It's a new business model," Ma said of her co-op style business collaboration with Qiao Qiao and Qiu Hao. "We all sell in One by One, a boutique owned by Qiao Qiao, and we share the manufacturing."
The model is obviously working. One by One has 15 outlets in China already and Masha Ma, the label, can generate cash flow of 100,000 yuan (US$12,000), per day.
Why Paris? Why bother coming to Paris if the business is doing so well in China?
"Branding," she said, without any hesitation. "Selling well in China is not a brand; I have to build a brand image and Paris is the right place for me."
Although only a small percentage of her business, Ma is obviously proud of her international orders. Her fall-winter collection will be sold in Spiga 2 in Milan, Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong and Istanbul, and possibly Barneys New York.
Zhang has a completely different strategy.
"I am not in a hurry to expand quickly," said the designer who, to this date, has no presence in China. "It's a huge market, China. And it can swallow me and my creativity if I am not ready."
Zhang worked for Dior in 2010 and has a haute couture line as well as ready-to-wear.
"I want to develop my style and reputation in the West and then move to China. Ultimately, China is where I want to make it big," he added.
Zhang is based in London and selling in Browns in the UK and Joyce Boutique in Hong Kong.
Their styles cannot be further apart. Zhang is visibly Chinese with brocade and dragons, while Ma is vexed by repeated questioning about the missing China element in her design.
So they both go about redefining the "Made in China" label their own way.
I met Zhang in the showroom of Rue du Mail during Paris Fashion Week. His fall-winter collection is full of lace, with eyelet embroidery in wool. All this intricate fabric comes from Zhang's hometown of Qingdao in Shandong Province.
"I am very lucky that these manufacturers are willing to produce small trail quantity of fabric for me," the designer said. "Usually, they only take big bulk orders for export. What I want to show is that 'Made in China,' if combined with 'Designed in China,' can be high quality and good. Not the cheap stuff, or the fakes."
In another neighborhood of Paris, at the Hanger showroom, Ma was getting ready for her show.
"I am now on the schedule for Paris Fashion Week," Ma said. "I can do this because we have our own manufacturing facility now in China, they can do small quantity and they can make my runway pieces in a hurry."
Her facility is a shared manufacturing workshop with two other Chinese designers, all based in Shanghai.
Unlike Zhang, who uses locally manufactured fabrics, Ma said she imports hers. But having her own workshop allows her to produce small quantities suitable for young startup designer lines.
The bulk-minded manufacturing mentality in China has been a major problem for young designers. Often, it's difficult to find facilities that will handle small orders in a timely and quality-sensitive fashion.
But as fashion retail is blooming in the country, investors are funneling much-needed cash to young designers to finance their ateliers, much like Ma's shared workshop.
"It's a new business model," Ma said of her co-op style business collaboration with Qiao Qiao and Qiu Hao. "We all sell in One by One, a boutique owned by Qiao Qiao, and we share the manufacturing."
The model is obviously working. One by One has 15 outlets in China already and Masha Ma, the label, can generate cash flow of 100,000 yuan (US$12,000), per day.
Why Paris? Why bother coming to Paris if the business is doing so well in China?
"Branding," she said, without any hesitation. "Selling well in China is not a brand; I have to build a brand image and Paris is the right place for me."
Although only a small percentage of her business, Ma is obviously proud of her international orders. Her fall-winter collection will be sold in Spiga 2 in Milan, Harvey Nichols in Hong Kong and Istanbul, and possibly Barneys New York.
Zhang has a completely different strategy.
"I am not in a hurry to expand quickly," said the designer who, to this date, has no presence in China. "It's a huge market, China. And it can swallow me and my creativity if I am not ready."
Zhang worked for Dior in 2010 and has a haute couture line as well as ready-to-wear.
"I want to develop my style and reputation in the West and then move to China. Ultimately, China is where I want to make it big," he added.
Zhang is based in London and selling in Browns in the UK and Joyce Boutique in Hong Kong.
Their styles cannot be further apart. Zhang is visibly Chinese with brocade and dragons, while Ma is vexed by repeated questioning about the missing China element in her design.
So they both go about redefining the "Made in China" label their own way.
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