APEC puts factory on a silk road to success
Print Edition
THERE are days when silk trader Wu Jinhua hardly has time to stop for a drink of water.
His company, Wujiang Dingsheng Silk Co Ltd, has become part of a fashion phenomenon since the 2014 APEC conference in Beijing at which world leaders wore a modern take on Chinese garb made out of his company’s Songjin silk.
Since then, the company has become one of the busiest in his hometown of Shengze.
Wu’s two mobile phones have rarely stop ringing, and he says he’s been overwhelmed with orders for the high-collared Chinese tunics known as “APEC leader suits.”
His company is one of the few mass producers of traditional Songjin silk.
With a history dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the material, also known as Song brocade, was used by royal family members to make clothes or for framing calligraphy. The practice, however, almost died out three years ago in competition with more modern chemically produced textiles.
A further problem for the industry was the difficulty its aging workers had in recruiting apprentices to take part in the silk making procedure that is a UNESCO listed heritage. Young people could make more money working for chemical fiber companies.
Shengze, about an hour’s drive from Shanghai, is home to around 2,500 factories. Of the 10 that make silk, Wu’s is the only one able to manufacture Songjin.
Wu has been passionate about silk production since he was young and he says that seeing old Songjin looms in local museums fills him with sadness.
He began reviving the ancient textile in 2012 after his factory produced a small hand-made Songjin hand bag which turned out to be a popular exhibit at a local textile showcase. Seeing its popularity, he was encouraged to organize a research team to work out a way that would lead to mass production of the textile.
The team succeeded in making technical improvements to four pieces of heavy machinery imported from Europe, enabling Wu’s factory to mechanize the process.
Soon, they were producing 100 meters of Songjin a day, compared to the 8 centimeters a craftsman could accomplish, Wu said.
With access to virtually unlimited amounts of the fabric, his factory could experiment with bold designs without worrying about wasting the precious material.
His design team, which includes two Italian artists, is branded Saint-Joy, and it also makes scarves and handbags.
While going down the machine route, Wu, 48, has also used his resources to support high-end Songjin products made by craftsmen, among them 63-year-old Hu Deyin.
Every week day, Hu sits at the end of a wooden loom roughly the size of a large piano, weaving silk as if he were composing a classical masterpiece. The loom is almost identical to those used almost a thousand years ago.
Wu has opened several boutique shops in Beijing and Suzhou. His clients are mostly domestic, but his ambitions know no borders.
Recently, with the help of a Chinese friend, Wu opened his first overseas office in London. The office will be a base to sell Songjin products to European customers.
“I plan to open a boutique shop in Paris to help Europeans recognize modern Chinese silk products,” Wu said.
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