The picture shows Liu Tongtong (right) studying the design and production details of Hanfu fabrics in the Hanfu factory. Photo provided by the interviewee 02:01
As his college life comes to an end, Liu Tongtong, who is not preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination or looking for a job, has more time to travel back and forth between his Hanfu factory, office and online store. She always keeps 4 mobile phones by her side and keep them on 24 hours a day to contact customers.
Although he is only a college student, Liu Tongtong has already achieved some success in his entrepreneurship. In 2019, Anqing Tongpao Clothing Co., Ltd. founded by her made a profit of 5 million yuan. Although this year was affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the profit in the first half of the year has exceeded 4 million yuan.
It took Liu Tongtong 5 years from his initial love of Hanfu to starting a business. She has experienced failure, ridicule, and financial crises, but her love for traditional culture and Hanfu remains unwavering.
After graduating from high school, he opened a Hanfu online store
Liu Tongtong studied French in the 2017 class of Anqing Normal University and has been fond of ancient poetry and ancient decorations since he was a child. When I was in high school, I came into contact with Hanfu through Tieba and Weibo, and was attracted by the beauty of Hanfu. Since the price of Hanfu is generally high and it is difficult for his family to afford it, Liu Tongtong came up with the idea of making Hanfu. "Everything comes from love."
Liu Tongtong started learning patterns and styles from Hanfu forums and post bars, and quickly "entered" the industry in two years. During the summer vacation after graduating from high school, all his classmates went out to play, but Liu Tongtong opened a Hanfu online store, focusing on the design and sales of Hanfu. “I didn’t understand anything at the beginning, and at the best of times I could only break even and make no money at all.”
Due to lack of experience when starting a business for the first time, the difficulties she encountered became more difficult to solve.
In a cooperation with a garment factory, the collars of more than 100 pieces of Hanfu were made smaller due to the other party's mistakes. The other party did not agree to redo them. As the delivery date approached, Liu Tongtong had no choice but to make the collars smaller. I can take apart and modify the collar with my mother's own hands, and then sew it together stitch by stitch. After staying up all night for several days, I recovered some of the losses. This incident also gave her the idea of setting up a factory to make homemade Hanfu.
Start a business and make yourself a "magic oil"
When filling in the major after the college entrance examination, Liu Tongtong chose French major because she hoped that one day she could go abroad to promote Hanfu culture and showcase her own Hanfu designs at Paris Fashion Week.
After entering college, Liu Tongtong’s horizons broadened and his ideas became more mature. She founded a garment factory that designs and produces Hanfu, renamed the company Anqing Tongpao Clothing Co., Ltd., and expanded the online store to three. The self-made and self-sold model saved a lot of costs, and the company began to get on the right track.
But greater difficulties followed. Due to the lack of professional staff, Liu Tongtong, as the general manager of the company, often has to go to the fabric market in Zhejiang to purchase raw materials in person. Catching a train all night is already exhausting. In order to save money on accommodation, she often has to travel throughout the market to find the fabrics she needs on the day she arrives, often without even having to eat.
The company lacked sewing workers, so she sat on the sewing machine and operated it by herself; lacking artists, she taught herself photo retouching and editing software; lacking designers, she studied traditional culture and integrated it into Hanfu design... She My weight has also dropped from more than 100 kilograms when I was a freshman to more than 80 kilograms now.
In this way, Liu Tongtong hardened himself into a "universal oil" that was proficient in everything. She said that she was so tired that she wanted to cry at first, but since she chose to do it well, she must master these skills.
At the beginning of her business, some people expressed their disbelief towards Liu Tongtong, saying, "You don't know much about traditional culture at a young age", "Unorthodox", "Fancy"... The voices of doubt and ridicule around her never stopped. "I never care about other people's opinions, I just want to do what I have to do. My competitors urge me to study, and the school's entrepreneurship instructor always gives me key suggestions," Liu Tongtong said.
On the road to entrepreneurship, Guo Yuchen and Wang Guofeng were Liu Tongtong’s important partners. One of them was in Guangxi and the other was in Anqing. The three met in the Hanfu Tieba. Liu Tongtong was very interested in the Hanfu independently designed by Guo Yuchen, so they met Meet and communicate and feel like old friends at first sight. Wang Guofeng and Liu Tongtong met in a Hanfu hobby group. After meeting offline, they found that their entrepreneurial ideas were in sync.
Today, Guo Yuchen and Wang Guofeng hold designers and administrative positions in Tongpao Company. Liu Tongtong’s entrepreneurial team is becoming more and more professional, with “skilled workers” who are proficient in embroidery and sewing, and some who have studied Hanfu styles for many years. There are designers and professional managers... A group of people with the dream of Hanfu gathered together.
Using Hanfu as a "matchmaker" to inherit traditional culture
"Making the most beautiful and authentic Hanfu" has always been the mission of Anqing Tongpao Clothing Co., Ltd. corporate philosophy. Over the years, Liu Tongtong has worked hard to delve into traditional clothing culture. She and the designer even studied the ancient philosophical theory of a round sky and a square earth. From the flower and bird patterns to the styles of laces and robes, to the selection of tailors, every detail was taken care of personally. . The figurines of the Tang Dynasty, the murals of Dunhuang, the night banquet of Han Xizai... These traditional cultural works have also inspired Liu Tongtong's creation.
Now Liu Tongtong has opened anotherAn embroidery factory, its industrial chain covers almost the entire Hanfu production process. It is understood that a set of carefully designed Hanfu samples, including material selection, pattern making, embroidery and other processes, often takes about a month. She spent a lot of money and energy on original design in order to make traditional costumes that best reflect Han culture.
Right now, she is focusing her efforts offline, busy raising funds, and planning to set up an offline industrial park to create a more comprehensive Hanfu industry chain.
Recently, with the coordination and support of Anqing Normal University and the Dalongshan Town Government of Yixiu District, Anqing City, Liu Tongtong’s team came to Liaoyuan Community of the town to hold a special job fair to promote the employment of poor people in the community and promote traditional culture .
In entrepreneurship competitions, Liu Tongtong’s team has also frequently won awards, including the gold medal in the Anhui Province “Internet +” College Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, the gold medal in the “Challenge Cup” Anhui Province College Student Entrepreneurship Plan Competition, etc. She herself was also named the 2019 The “Upward-looking and Good Young Person” of the Year in Anhui Province is the only college student among the 50 candidates.
Chen Dong, secretary of the Youth League Committee of Anqing Normal University, said that Hanfu culture is highly popular among college students, and many colleges and universities have established Hanfu clubs or related societies. "Through a series of activities such as design competitions, we will guide young people to inherit the excellent Chinese culture in a way that they like to hear and see, and inject innovative vitality into the promotion of Hanfu culture."
In the first half of 2020, the company cooperated with the Zijin Hanfu Society of Anqing Normal University to hold the "Tongpao Cup" Hanfu Design Competition. 108 students from 15 universities in Anhui Province participated in the competition. Currently, Tongpao Company is planning to sign contracts with outstanding designers from various universities to tell traditional cultural stories and select talents for the Hanfu industry.
(The video was shot and produced by Anhui school media student reporters Xu Bachao and Fu Fangmin.)
Source: China Youth Daily
