Jiangsu clothing industry "looks to the future" to accelerate brand building

Bosideng, Hongdou, Hailan Home Co., Ltd.... When it comes to Jiangsu local clothing, many people can think of many brands at once. Faced with the problems of low overall profit margins, not many leading companies, and weak influence, how will Jiangsu's garment industry, which has a long history, deal with it? On June 2, the Jiangsu Provincial Brand Apparel Industry Strong Chain Work Promotion Conference was held in Changshu. Nearly a hundred companies exchanged views on the topic of "Jiangsu Brand".

According to statistics, in 2020, the province’s garment manufacturing industry has 1,639 enterprises above designated size, accounting for 12.3% of the country’s total; producing 2.308 billion pieces of clothing, accounting for 10.3% of the country’s total; 26 enterprises are shortlisted as “Top 100 Enterprises in China’s Clothing Industry”, and Zhejiang Province tied for first place. The annual sales of professional markets such as Changshu Clothing City and Wujiang Oriental Silk Market exceed 100 billion yuan. In addition, there are 58 related industrial clusters and parks in the province, which have played an important role in promoting the development of Jiangsu's clothing industry.

　　 Urgent improvement, industrial development is facing weakness

At present, clothing enterprises in our province mainly rely on OEM processing, and the driving force for brand building is insufficient; clothing creative design and personalized customization are lacking; the degree of product homogeneity is relatively high, and the profit margin of the clothing industry in 2020 is only 3.5% ; Lack of a brand display platform with high domestic and international influence......

　　 Although it is a major clothing province, Jiangsu is also facing a series of weaknesses, which has also increased the demand for transformation and upgrading of enterprises and brands.

　　 Black Peony (600510.SH) is a garment fabric manufacturer with denim as its main product. More than 70% of its products are for export. Talking about the biggest problem currently facing, the company's technical director Deng Jianjun blurted out: "One is the tariff exchange rate, and the other is the circulation."

"Compared with a few years ago, the export tariffs are now relatively high. Moreover, the export to Europe and the United States are basically'annual bills'. The current international situation is more complicated. The continuous appreciation of the RMB against the US dollar means that corporate profits will continue to decline. "On the issue of product circulation, Deng Jianjun bluntly said that because enterprises spend a lot in the circulation links such as storefronts, distribution, and promotion, this undoubtedly increases the cost of sales. "Many European and American brands have transferred raw materials and bases to Southeast Asia, and have strengthened direct sales in stores and supermarkets in their home countries, with relatively high profits. However, our brand has just started, and the excessive proportion of the cost of circulation has restricted development. "

　　 Bright prospects, insist on technological innovation and going global

　　 It is worth mentioning that although the problem still exists, the coping strategy has been gradually explored-that is, insist on the combination of brand technology innovation and industry going global.

Suzhou’s Songjin brand Shangjiukai took advantage of the surrounding universities and established industry-university-research cooperation with Soochow University, Donghua University, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University and other universities, and carried out the "Songjin and Hualuo Fabric Production Key Technology and Product Research and Development". Projects such as "Song Jin Fabric Research and Development to Prevent NFC Data Reading" have innovatively applied traditional silk characteristic fabrics to various products, and promoted the deep integration of silk and technology. "At the G20 Hangzhou Summit, the Xiamen BRIC Summit, the Astana World Expo, the Jiangsu Development Conference and other major domestic and international events, we have more than 100 products that have been gifted to foreign leaders and wives as national gifts." Wu Jianhua, the chairman of the company, said with a smile.

　　 "Because ASEAN exports are zero-tariff, we have already focused on deploying to ASEAN countries." The person in charge of another company said that in terms of production structure adjustment, we will have more access to the ASEAN market in the future. In terms of "going out", companies are considering transferring part of their production capacity to Southeast Asia. "This is also the route of brands such as GAP and Levi's. When Chinese companies have a certain degree of strength, it is an inevitable trend to go out and compete with foreign brands."

Bosideng’s international brand route, Hongdou’s industrial Internet platform, Rongmei’s online retail... Provincial Statistics Bureau data show that the total revenue of Jiangsu’s apparel industry in the first quarter reached 35.912 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.67%, with a total profit of 1.029 billion yuan. An increase of 70.16%. In addition, according to customs data, Jiangsu's garment exports in the first quarter reached 4.81 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 33.4%, showing an overall growth trend.

　　 Strong industrial chain, "special class" provides service guarantee

　　 At the end of last year, the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government issued the "Three-year Action Plan for Strengthening the Industrial Chain" and established the "Special Class for Strong Chain of Brand Apparel Industry in Jiangsu Province" to achieve the two-way integration of "innovation chain" and "industrial chain". By 2023, we will strive to create a number of national advanced manufacturing clusters with benchmarking significance, and create a number of "chain master" enterprises and "hidden champion" enterprises with strong international competitiveness.

　　 The promotion meeting held on June 2 is one of the important tasks carried out by the "Jiangsu Province Brand Apparel Industry Strong Chain Special Class". At the meeting, Wang Yanwen, head of the special class, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People’s Congress, and deputy secretary of the party group, proposed that four combinations must be achieved to promote the high-quality development of the brand clothing industry chain: integrating with the upgrading of consumer demand in the domestic market, and upgrading the industry chain Combine technological innovation capabilities, combine with cultural inheritance and cultural creativity, and combine with the expansion of multi-level publicity and promotion channels. She said that from the perspective of the opportunities faced by the development of the brand apparel industry chain, the development level of apparel companies in brand building, smart manufacturing, new material development, creative design, etc. will continue to improve, and consumer demand in the international and domestic markets will continue to upgrade, all for the realization of the industry chain. High-quality development provides a good opportunity to further satisfy the people's yearning for a better life.

Shen Lei, the chief expert of the special class and the Ph.D supervisor of Jiangnan University, shared two cases with the heads of the companies present: Jiaonei, sales from 0 yuan to 1.5 billion yuan in 4 years, they only focus on making underwear products; Xiaobai T, nothing LOGO or pattern, but now it has achieved the first single product sales of T-shirts on platforms such as Douyin and JD.com. "This shows that there is still a market for being a dedicated brand, pursuing quality, and emphasizing experience."