Tmall joint brand held an innovative Hanfu catwalk show at Tang Furong Garden in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Photo courtesy of Alibaba
On August 10, in the children's library of Rugao City, Jiangsu Province, a teacher taught children the etiquette of Hanfu. Photo by Xu Hui (People’s Vision)
On the evening of May 19, Hanfu enthusiasts carried lanterns and took a rowing boat for a night tour of the water alleys of the ancient town. Photo by Hua Xuogen (People’s Vision)
In recent years, Hanfu has become more and more popular among Chinese young people. In 2019, the transaction volume of Hanfu on Taobao platform alone exceeded 2 billion yuan. The latest data shows that in the first half of this year, more than 20 million people have bought Hanfu on Tmall. This shows that Hanfu has transformed from a "small circle" of subculture in the past to a "big business" with tens of millions of consumers and billions of output values. "HanfuEconomy" is well-deserved.
Nowadays, the entire Hanfu circle has formed a relatively complete industrial chain, and a number of well-known brands in the circle have been born. Youth is a major feature of the "Hanfu economy". This The newspaper reporter interviewed Hanfu enthusiasts and brand merchants to tell the stories of the young people behind the emerging consumer phenomenon "Hanfu craze"
Feel the charm of tradition
"From Since two years ago, I have bought a set of Hanfu almost every month. "Cui Wan, a lover of Hanfu, opened her wardrobe, which was filled with all kinds of Hanfu: chest-high skirts, Ming Dynasty horse-faced skirts, Song Dynasty spiral skirts, crossed collars and big sleeves...the styles are dazzling and very gorgeous. Cui Wan She took out a chest-length skirt and introduced to reporters that this Hanfu set called "Zui Hongzhuang" was her first Hanfu set. Since joining the trap, she has spent an average of 1,000 to 2,000 yuan a month on Hanfu. Yuan. “I started from the bottom of my heart and was loyal to the Ming Dynasty. " Cui Wan said, "I bought about 10 pieces of Ming Dynasty horse-faced skirts alone. ”
There are more and more young people like Cui Wan who love Hanfu. Recently, the “Never-ending Hanfu Festival” was launched in Xiuwu County, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province. Thousands of Hanfu enthusiasts They gather from all over the country and become a beautiful sight. “In the past, wearing Hanfu on the street would attract a lot of strange looks, and some passers-by even asked me if I was wearing Hanbok. " Zhang Lihua, an amateur model of Hanfu, told reporters that she has been fond of Hanfu for five years and now she has become an amateur "grass grower".
"In the beginning, I just posted casually on Weibo and other public platforms. After posting photos of myself wearing Hanfu, I gradually gained a fan base. In my spare time, I would take photos of commercial models from some studios. "Zhang Lihua said that her first shooting was in Yuyuantan Park in Beijing. There were many passers-by watching her, and she was very embarrassed at the time. "Now it is common to shoot in public in front of the crowd's gaze, and I have become a lot thicker-skinned. "Zhang Lihua said with a smile.
In the Hanfu circle, in addition to ordinary enthusiasts and "grass-planting girls", there are also many "status" enthusiasts - Hanfu "make-up girls", "hand-made girls" "Mother" and so on, Mao Mao is one of them. "I often do makeup for some Hanfu enthusiasts and models. In the past two years, the number of people with this need has increased significantly. "Mao Mao said that during festivals and Hanfu events, many Hanfu enthusiasts would come to her for make-up appointments and photographer appointments. Her task is to make these girls look beautiful. "I usually study historical materials and strive to Restoring ancient makeup, including all kinds of jewelry made by me, are also based on cultural relics. "The kitten said, "It's not easy to be a 'makeup girl' or 'handmade girl'. ”
Judging from the situation on Tmall overseas, Hanfu, as a new domestic product, has not only become a new fashion for young people, but this trend is also emerging overseas. From May to July this year, on the Tmall overseas platform, Overseas sales of Hanfu increased by more than 20% year-on-year. Liu Chuxin, who studied in France, told reporters that she likes traditional Chinese culture very much and it was common to wear Hanfu when she was in school in France. “My classmates are very curious about Hanfu. After my introduction, they became more and more interested in it. The more sameI also fell in love with Hanfu in school, and one of my classmates even asked me to buy Hanfu from China. "Liu Chuxin said, "Wearing Hanfu is also a way to inherit traditional Chinese culture. As sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, we do our part! "
"The Book of Songs" says: "How can it be said that there are no clothes? Be in the same robe as your son. "Tongpao" is what Hanfu enthusiasts call each other. As the number of "Tongpao" increases, Hanfu has become a branch that cannot be ignored in the subculture circle. Xiao Feng, head of Tmall women's Hanfu industry, told reporters that in 2017 From 2019 to 2019, the Hanfu category on Taobao Tmall has experienced explosive growth, with sales increasing sixfold in three years. Currently, the main brands, product supply, innovative development, and consumption of Hanfu all occur on the Taobao Tmall platform. "This year, Hanfu has grown exponentially. The market has been affected by the epidemic, but it will continue to see explosive growth. "Xiao Feng said, "We estimate that the potential users of Hanfu will exceed 400 million, and there will be great room for development in the future. ”
Entrepreneurship! Build a brand of “Hanfu Economy”
Behind the popularity of “Hanfu Economy”, in addition to the support of millions of consumers, it is also inseparable from a group of people with dreams. , the efforts of the creative "post-90s" Hanfu brand founders.
Taobao data shows that in 2019, more than 2,000 Taobao stores incubated Taobao brands with annual sales of over 10 million and brand attributes. The road from Taobao stores to "Taobao brands" is getting shorter and shorter, especially in the field of Hanfu, where familiar Taobao brands such as Hanshang Hualian, Huachaoji, and Shisanyu have emerged, with a total value of more than 2 billion. Yuan-sized market and maintaining a rapid growth of nearly 150%
Xiao Ruo, the founder of Taobao Hanfu brand Hanshang Hualian, came into contact with Hanfu as early as 12 years ago and was one of the first batch of Hanfu in China. As a merchant, she can say that she has witnessed the growth of this "2 billion market". Xiaoruo recalled that when she first came into contact with Hanfu in 2007, she could hardly find a place to buy Hanfu. But now she can search for Hanfu on Taobao, no matter what style or color. There are all kinds of Hanfu.
Huang Qiaoen, the founder of Yuanshan Qiao, opened a Taobao Hanfu store when she was still in college. She successively launched improved Hanfu and Chinese-style cheongsam, which aroused consumption. In 2018, Huang Qiaoen established the Hanfu brand Yuanshan Qiao. In just one year, Yuanshan Qiao quickly gained popularity in the Hanfu circle and participated in the 2019 Taobao Creation Festival, becoming a famous brand. A "Taobao brand" with an annual turnover of over 10 million yuan.
Hanfu Brand Weaving Division is a young brand. In May of this year, it was officially launched on Taobao. In less than 4 months, Hanfu Weaving Division was launched on Taobao. This segment has repeatedly entered the top ten. Lin Wei, the manager of the Weaving Department, is a "post-95s generation". In an interview with reporters, he said that the items currently on sale in the Weaving Department are mainly based on Ming Dynasty Hanfu. Mainly face skirts. "The reason for choosing it is that we believe that horse face skirts are most likely to be used as 'white T' and 'jeans' in daily clothing, so as to achieve the purpose of making Hanfu everyday and versatile." Lin Wei said, "We compare Hanfu to durian. IfIf you forcefully give a piece of durian to someone who has never eaten it, it will be difficult for him to accept it. But if you throw a piece of durian candy (horse-faced skirt) to him, candy, as a mass consumer product, will become more acceptable, and he may become a person. The first step to eating durian in the future. ”
The rapid development of Hanfu merchants and brands is the epitome of the entrepreneurial wave of small and medium-sized businesses on Taobao. Many entrepreneurs are working in niche industries. In addition to Hanfu, there are also figures, BJD, and LOLITA. , JK uniforms, etc., but they have become familiar brands to fans in their respective fields.
The vigorous development of Taobao’s small and medium-sized businesses is closely related to the platform’s continuous innovation of business soil. Xiao Feng said that since this year, Taobao has continued to expand. It has launched a series of actions such as the "Galaxy Road Plan" and Taobao Live's "Ten Billion Support Plan", with the goal of helping small and medium-sized businesses make good use of platform resources, improve marketing capabilities and efficiency, and achieve faster growth for generations of young entrepreneurs. Here, you can turn your dreams into reality and turn your niche hobby into a big business.
Get out of the circle! Take advantage of the digital age
Don't be satisfied with "enclosing your own territory". "Cute", the co-branding of film and television dramas has become an important driving force for Hanfu to "break out of the circle". At the end of 2018, the custom-made Hanfu co-branded with the TV series "You know, it should be green, fat, red and thin" sold nearly one million yuan in just one month, becoming a hit The joint model of Taobao store "Liu Yan Xi Ling" and "Chen Qing Ling" has been ranked among the top five most popular Hanfu among consumers for more than three months in a row. The exclusive custom-made suit for the character Wei Wuxian in the drama has been in The sales volume of the large-sleeved Confucian skirt jointly launched by "Flower Chao Ji" and "Chang'an Twelve Hours" has surged 12 times in a few months.
Tmall cooperates with the TV series "Da Ming". "Fenghua" and other 7 popular IPs, jointly developed special IP products with Hanfu brands, forming a closed marketing loop from watching the drama to purchasing. According to data released by Tmall, during the broadcast of "Da Ming Fenghua", the number of Ming-made Hanfu transactions increased by more than 20% year-on-year. 800%, and the transaction amount exceeds 500%. This year, Alibaba will open up the entire ecosystem for Hanfu and further promote the reconstruction of the Hanfu brand.
Xiao Feng said that one of the major measures to help Hanfu "get out of the circle" is. Help Hanfu merchants to upgrade their brands, and through digital empowerment, help brands improve the efficiency of operating members and fans. For example, the number of fans of the leading brand Hanshang Hualian has reached 3.4 million, and the number of members has exceeded 300,000. The number of members has increased by more than 100,000 over the same period last year. 14 times. This group of consumers can be said to be the most valuable assets of merchants. At the same time, emerging brands are constantly emerging on Taobao and Tmall, and their market performance is eye-catching. For example, the number of fans of Taobao store "Yixi" has increased from The number increased from more than 10,000 to nearly 500,000, an increase of more than 40 times.
Xiao Feng said that the “going out” of Hanfu brands is also a major factor in the continued “heating up” of the “Hanfu economy”. Mao teamed up with Shanghai Fashion Week to create a fashion week on the cloud. Four Hanfu brands on Tmall gathered at the fashion week on the cloud to show off their new summer products for the first time. "Xiao Feng said, "Hanfu brand Han Shang Hualian has also appeared on the big screen in Times Square, New York.It has become a Chinese Hanfu brand standing on the world stage, showing the world a diverse, inclusive and dynamic cultural image that combines Chinese traditional aesthetics with modern trends. "
Although Hanfu is no longer a "niche", Xiao Feng believes that the field of Hanfu is still facing problems such as not being routine enough and not closely integrated with trend elements. "The advocacy of traditional culture by the country and the media has a negative impact on traditional culture. The Hanfu market has a great influence and will further promote the integration of Hanfu into daily life. "Xiao Feng said, "Travel, company annual meetings, wedding banquets and other occasions have also become one of the main driving factors for consumers to purchase Hanfu. A large number of brands on Tmall have tried to integrate Hanfu elements and trend elements to make Hanfu elements more common. . ”
Lin Wei believes that the current Hanfu still faces the shortcomings of inconsistent forms and insufficient market vitality for restored Hanfu. “Because most people’s attention is currently attracted by costume dramas, ancient games, Cosplay, etc., people It is easier to treat restored Hanfu as props. "Lin Wei said, "The weaving department prefers to combine the current trend aesthetic design while retaining the traditional shape and craftsmanship. While exporting traditional culture, it can also allow more consumers to accept and wear this type of Hanfu. . ”