As one of the world’s major textile producers, China is leading the way in innovating and improving textile manufacturing to meet the needs of contemporary fashion designers and wearers. To keep abreast of the latest developments, in December HKTDC led a delegation of Hong Kong fashion designers on a one-day tour of major textile houses in Guangzhou and discovered how the industry is responding to consumers’ ever-changing demands across quality, price and aesthetics.
The delegation began with a visit to the Zhong Da Men textile centre in Guangzhou. The centre opened in 2012 as a hub for textile manufacturers to showcase their products to global buyers and distributors, but has since evolved into a one-stop service centre for textile producers offering exhibition space, marketing, promotion, design and digitalisation services. The delegates met with womenswear company Jian Run Textiles which has customers nationwide and exports to over 40 countries.
Next, the contingent visited Ju Feng Textiles, China’s largest and most comprehensive manufacturer of ready-made knitted fabrics with a history of over 30 years. In discussion with Ju Feng’s senior staff, they learned about the latest trends and market movements in contemporary Chinese fashion.
After lunch, the group visited tech unicorn ZJTech which was founded in 2013 and has revolutionised the textile industry through data integration. Through the company’s cloth database analysis, smart textile facilities, and intelligent logistics centre, ZJ Tech has used a combination of big data, cloud computing, smart sensors and AI technology to become a comprehensive service platform for textile and garment producers. Apart from its own business success, ZJTech has spurred the industry to upgrade its entire manufacturing chain in terms of digitalisation, intelligence and clustering.
For the final stop, the delegates visited the headquarters of renowned retailer Yi Shang Men. The company curates design works from over a hundred independent designers and uses them as material for secondary creation, in the process forming an individual and one-off style exhibition. Reflecting a step away from traditional mass-market retail experiences, the brand has won awards, such as “Excellence in Experiential and Innovation Leisure Branding”, “Best Collection Retailer” and “Best Up and Coming Brand” among others. The founder Mr Yu Ze Ping welcomed the group, introduced recent updates in its featured designers and products, and discussed potential future partnerships.
During the day, participants also benefited from intelligence and insights provided by officials and experts in the Haizhu District Office of Technology and Industry Digitalisation and the Association of Fashion Designers, and networked with local designers and textile entrepreneurs in Guangzhou.