SHANGHAI, China — When Meimei Ding, founder of Shanghai-based showroom and buying agency DFO, started travelling to international fashion weeks to meet brands and international showrooms seven years ago, the world was a very different place.

Though China was already a booming market for luxury brands, Chinese multi-brand stores were still few and far between, and Ding had a hard time getting doors to open in Europe’s fashion capitals.

“There was a lot of prejudice, especially in the early days we had to overcome this impression that everyone [from China] was out to steal [designs or somehow to] cheat, but over the years, things have really changed,” she explained.

Part of the reason for this change, of course, is the sheer strength of the Chinese market.

The other major change, according to Labelhood Buying Director Jillian Xin (who also started travelling to international fashion weeks as a buyer in 2012 for her own multi-brand store and later worked as a senior buyer for regional powerhouse Lane Crawford) has been the fact that international brands and showrooms are now doing their due diligence to better understand the distinction between various retailers in the fast-changing Chinese market.

“It’s gone from limited to no understanding of the market and a hesitant perception of selling to China to showrooms actively wooing… Chinese buyers,” she said.

From Rejection to Recognition

According to recent data from China’s Fashion Designers Association, the number of multi-brand stores in the country has grown from 70 to over 500 in the last five years — a six-fold increase.

Despite the colossal opportunity that these retailers represent for global brands, some buyers continue to experience the same snobbery and suspicion described by their predecessors.

Just last year, Renee Lu sought out an appointment at a high-profile showroom during Paris Fashion Week but was rejected. Lu buys internationally for The Fashion Door’s seven retail outlets in Guangzhou, Suzhou, Shenzhen and, most recently, Hong Kong’s new K11 Musea retail development.

Hong Kong's K11 Musea development, which houses The Fashion Door's newest outpost | Source: K11 Musea

While there are all kinds of reasons a showroom might not accept an appointment, Lu reckons that they didn’t feel she was credible until the recent addition of a Hong Kong store to her store network.

"I think now, the big showrooms will all welcome the Chinese buyers because they can see our profile and see we are growing," she said, emphasising the fact that her Hong Kong store carries brands such as Rick Owens, A-Cold-Wall* and Ambush. "As our number of stores goes up, it gives us a chance to go to the biggest showrooms."

Prominent showrooms include those operated by fashion business accelerator Tomorrow Ltd, whose clients include A-COLD WALL*, Ader and Ambush. Currently, the firm’s Commercial Director Elena Troulakis estimates that 35 percent of Tomorrow’s revenue is from Asia, with China as a noteworthy growth driver for the company.

“We’ve been seeing a growing trend of new multi-brands in third and fourth tier cities, and an increase in demand in contemporary brands and products,” she said. “In terms of buying behaviour, there are certain things they might look out for: fit, length, colour… those three things need to work for [buyers from China and Asia].”

Diligent showrooms have risen to the occasion. Troulakis noted that those on Tomorrow’s China-dedicated teams already use WeChat as a communication platform to make life easier for their clients. Industry veterans such as Ding and Xin have taken note of the addition of Chinese speaking sales staff on hand at many international showrooms over the past two or three years, as well as Asian fit models, helping buyers find products suitable for their clientele.

The Names to Know

While the wholesale business is in trouble across many mature markets, the fact that wholesale came late to the mainland means there is still room to grow. Of the 120 first to third tier cities in China, almost every one has a local market of engaged fashion consumers gravitating to influential multi-brand stores.

In Shanghai and Beijing, major mall developers SKP and Bailian have expanded from concession to a buying model, the latter through its concept store The Balancing. The introduction of Galeries Lafayette into Shanghai and Beijing to join long-time Hong Kong-based heavyweights Lane Crawford, Joyce and I.T has created a hugely influential upper echelon of Chinese fashion buyers clamouring for fashion week appointments.

In recent years, thoughtful, highly sophisticated players such as Le Monde de SHC, founded by fashion PR maven Eric Young, have joined the scene. The Shanghai retailer, located in the Former French Concession, stocks menswear, womenswear, accessories, childrenswear, beauty and books in its three-story space, the selection of which is thanks to Young and buyer Liang Lihui.

They spend the time and effort to bring in things that not all stores would bring in, and educate their consumers.

“For me, their store is how a proper concept store should be, it’s tasteful,” said Julio Ng, director at creative consultancy Seiya Nakamura 2.24, which operates Ryodan showroom in Paris and represents brands such as We11done, Namacheko, Holzweiler, Fumito Ganryu and Mame Kurogouchi. This year, Ryodan will collaborate with Galeries Lafayette in Shanghai to create designer-focused installations for the department store’s grand opening.

“[Young and Liang] really stand out where communicating tasteful products to clients is concerned, they spend the time and effort to bring in things that not all stores would bring in, and educate their consumers,” Ng added.

Multi-brand fashion stores with a contemporary to designer positioning are also proliferating beyond top-tier cites, offering international brands a direct line to over half of China’s luxury consumers who, according to Boston Consulting Group, live outside of the country’s top 15 cities; spending in lower-tier cities is expected to triple to $6.9 trillion by 2030.

This means western showrooms need to become better versed with places such as Nantong, in Jiangsu province, where owner and buyer Yi Sun's Jaci Vela is located, or Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, where owner and buyer Cherie Wen stocks brands such as Joseph, MSGM, Sonia Rykiel and Tibi in her TAG (The Art Gallery) retail outlet.

Le Monde de SHC's Shanghai store | Source: Le Monde de SHC

In China’s northwestern city of Urumqi, An Meiling runs ANZI+; in Shandong Province’s Qingdao city, Ru Zhang and Belinda Zhao are owners and buyers for Vanzone. Though Zhang and Zhao’s store started life in 2010 exclusively stocking Chinese labels, they have since expanded to include international labels like Self Portrait and Chinti & Parker.

In the industrial heartland of Shanxi, meanwhile, Masstone owner and buyer Na Wang stocks Marni, Jill Sander and Jonathan Simkhai in the city of Taiyuan, population 4.2 million.

A Two-Way Street

Even as global brands and showrooms become acquainted with China’s retail pioneers, it still remains a challenge to understand the retail landscape of the giant, fragmented country. As Xin observed, “if you wanted to visit every city in China with a [multi-brand] store, it would take you about six months.”

Ding, likewise, empathises with the difficulty for showrooms in feeling comfortable with new Chinese clients they’ve never heard of, from places they’ve never heard of, with different English and Chinese names, a WeChat ID, a QQ string of numbers for an email but no website or Facebook.

Simultaneously, she sees the frustration on the Chinese side with the time it takes for things to get done internationally, the frenetic pace at which decisions are made and connections are forged in the Chinese business environment is somewhat at odds with the way European business is traditionally done.

The China market is a big opportunity and everyone is throwing themselves at it, but patience is important.

“Chinese retailers tend to work really, really fast, mostly in Chinese and mostly on WeChat, when they feel like they have to struggle in English through email, that’s a burden for them,” Ding said. Additionally, long lead times from international brands have helped give homegrown and Korean brands a leg-up in the Chinese marketplace, making it vital for international brands to have a profile “worth waiting for” in order to compete.

It’s one reason showrooms note that Chinese buyers tend to gravitate toward known brands, rather than take a risk on something unknown or directional.

Though both sides continue to improve mutual understanding in order to broker the right deals, it’s not always an easy road. For European brands, even knowing when and how to enter the Chinese market is no small feat.

Ng cautions brands to take a considered approach and not be tempted to rush in. “The China market is… a big opportunity and everyone is throwing themselves at it, but patience is important,” he cautioned.

“Know what the Chinese people need before you [try] selling [to retail buyers because ultimately] it has to make sense to the [end] consumer.”

时尚与美容
FASHION & BEAUTY

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In Other Kris Wu News…

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Shanghai Fashion Week Launch 

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科技与创新
TECH & INNOVATION

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JD Launches Pinduoduo Rival

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Alibaba Aims to Serve 1 Billion Customers a Year by 2024 

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China’s Social Media Trends for Q3

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消费与零售
CONSUMER & RETAIL

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Luxury Should be Targeting China’s Girl Boss Generation

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Hang Lung Properties Chairman Predicts Dramatic Growth

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Chinese Tourists Eschew Hong Kong For Southeast Asia

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政治,经济与社会
POLITICS, ECONOMY, SOCIETY

Shenzhen, China | Source: Robert Bye for Unsplash

Shenzhen Jumps into World’s Top Ten Financial Centres

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New Beijing Airport Opens Its Doors

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China Lags Behind in Global Gender Gap Rankings

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