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In the live broadcast room of Jiaxing Caiyue Zhixue Clothing Co., Ltd. located in Xucun, Haining, the anchor is live broadcasting horse-faced skirts. Photographed by reporter Wang Zhijie
A brocade vest is layered with a hoodie, an embroidered jacket is paired with jeans, and a cool horse skirt is worn under a white T-shirt... In this spring and summer, whether traveling, shopping or even going to work, you can often see people wearing discreet clothes. Young people wear clothes with Chinese elements such as buttons, slant lapels, and stand-up collars. New Chinese style has become a popular code for the new generation of clothing.
The so-called new Chinese style has no clear definition at present. It can be understood as "clothing that combines traditional Chinese elements with current aesthetic trends". It focuses on being elegant but not heavy, unique but not exaggerated.
Standing at the forefront of this wave of national trends, some traditional clothing industry towns in Zhejiang are frequently out of the industry: Xucun, Haining, which started out as curtain fabrics and wall coverings, produces about 30% of the country’s new Chinese-style fabrics; One-third of the new Chinese-style fabrics are distributed and traded in the China Textile City in Keqiao, Shaoxing; the cheongsams from Linhai Yongquan support more than 60% of the shops in Suzhou Cheongsam City...
Go inside In a small town in Zhejiang, we saw the spring of new Chinese style.
An answer spanning ten years
In 2013, on the other side of the ocean, Wang Chao, a 23-year-old international student from Haining, celebrated his graduation ceremony in the United States. According to the school's tradition, students can wear their own country's characteristic costumes to attend the ceremony, but after searching through Chinese shops and e-commerce platforms, Wang Chao finally found only the costumes worn on stage. "Foreigners find it very interesting, and the photo was even published in the school magazine." But this search for a needle in a haystack made him discover that the needs of the niche group of Hanfu enthusiasts were far from being met. After returning to China, Wang Chao took over his father's home textile company, and Chinese-style fabrics became a new direction for his research and development.
In 2014, in Yongquan Town, Yin Xiaobo, a post-80s cheongsam designer who inherited his mother’s sewing machine, wanted to do something different. After watching a fashion show, he locked himself in his room to redesign and make plans. The high collar has been lowered and the skirt length has been shortened. Small changes have given the traditional cheongsam the flexibility of modern fashion. "It looks more energetic." The first step has been taken to improve the cheongsam.
In 2021, Shengzhou, co-organized by Shi Xiuhua and relativesThe tie factory is facing closure and the traditional track is shrinking. Over the years, she always feels that she has not caught up with the industry trends. My cousin suggested that young people’s ideas have changed, so it is better to make horse-faced skirt fabrics with “Chinese cultural characteristics”. After restarting the loom, Shi Xiuhua brought the new brand Yanjin Textile to Keqiao and rented a shop in China Textile City.
With a little hint and a step of exploration, before the term "New Chinese Style" became popular, the pioneers had a question in their hearts: Is there a future for doing an improved version of traditional Chinese clothing business?
In the horse-faced skirt processing workshop located in Xucun, workers rush to make orders. Photographed by reporter Wang Zhijie
Time returns to the present, and in the "click-click" sound of the loom, the answer gradually becomes clear.
Like many textile business owners in Xucun Town, Haining, Wang Chao wakes up almost every morning to the sound of WeChat messages and phone calls urging orders. At the busiest time, the interval between mobile phone calls does not exceed two minutes. Haining Tianlong Fabric Co., Ltd., where he works, has 60 jacquard rapier machines running 24 hours a day and can produce 6,000 meters of jacquard fabric every day. From the initial transformation, the production of national style fabrics accounted for only 5%, but now it has increased to 80% and has become the main business. Tianlong's orders have been scheduled until July.
A year ago, Xucun, a home textile town, mainly produced curtain fabrics, sofa fabrics and wall coverings. Nowadays, many traditional home textile companies are following the trend. More than 100 textile companies in the town are engaged in the production of new Chinese clothing fabrics, with a daily production of more than 200,000 meters of fabric, which can be made into nearly 7,000 horse-faced skirts.
Shi Xiuhua, the person in charge of Yanjin Textile, introduced the horse skirt fabric to reporters. Photo by trainee reporter Mao Yirong
More than 50 kilometers away, China Textile City in Keqiao, Shaoxing, recognized as the world's largest textile distribution center with the largest range of products, is responsible for about 30% of the country's new Chinese-style products. Fabrics are provided for garment making. Shi Xiuhua witnessed the trend of the industry here. Starting from the second half of last year, customers placed orders much faster than the production speed. On average, merchants came into the store every five minutes with palm-sized pieces of fabric to inquire. “Every style is a best-seller, and as long as it is jacquard fabric, everyone is rushing to get it.” Her store is located in Area A of the United Market. In the past two years, hundreds of new Chinese-style fabric shops have spontaneously gathered here. The market has specially set up “Hanfu fabrics, "Jacquard Zone" signboard guides merchants who come to visit.
An improved version of retro inverted cheongsam with large sleeves, a playful fashion girl-style cheongsam, a new spring and summer cheongsam with lace tulle... Nowadays, Yin Xiaobo's improved cheongsam has evolved into a variety of styles. In March this year, the cheongsam aesthetics and culture market in Yongquan Town opened in a lively manner. Nearly a hundred cheongsam merchants rushed back to their hometown of Yongquan to "go to the market" with new and popular products. "In the past, as soon as our factory shipped goods, we would go to the professional markets in Suzhou and Hangzhou." Wang Qun, the person in charge of Linhai Xizi Clothing Co., Ltd. lamented that the Chinese style was really popular. Unexpectedly, it was the first time to launch new products at home, and it took half a day. It sold for more than 20,000 yuan.
Seizing the opportunity and riding the wind, the emergence of these small towns in Zhejiang is no accident. From exploring the road 10 years ago to laying the industrial foundation earlier, having resources, ideas and the courage to invest have become the key for small towns to quickly seize opportunities.
Shaoxing Keqiao China Textile City is home to hundreds of new Chinese-style fabric shops. Photo by trainee reporter Mao Yirong
“Linping in Hangzhou, Shengzhou in Shaoxing, and Xucun in Haining are important bases for clothing manufacturing. Some textile factories and tie factories have successively transformed into the clothing industry. In addition, Keqiao is a clothing industry The trade distribution center has initially connected a national fashion industry chain," said Cao Yaoqiang, president of the Haining Home Textile Association. Taking Xucun as an example, the local area has a history of industrial development for more than 40 years and has mastered the core weaving technology and logistics network system. The horse-faced skirt is an extension of the original home textile industry.
After the new Chinese style wind blows, it is not just theClothing and ready-made garments have also ushered in spring for more upstream and downstream industries. Yanjiang Town, next door to Yongquan Town, is the home of handmade buckles. This year, the local Gongfu Workshop’s orders for buckles have tripled. The supply of pipa buckles, swallowtail buckles, etc. exceeds demand. The workshop still has a fixed number of 20 workers. It has attracted nearly 300 craftsmen from nearby villages; from January to February this year, the order volume of bead buttons produced in Qiaotou Town, Yongjia County, the "Button Capital of China", was close to 300 million; new jacquard machines are coming into the market every day, Zhejiang Qihui Electronic Jacquard Machine Company is one of Xucun's main suppliers. In the past two months, they have received a total of 400 orders, and 300 units have already arrived. "Our customers across the province estimate that there is still a demand for nearly 5,000 units, and the number will be even greater when combined with other suppliers." Corporate sales manager Lai Cheng told reporters.
Yin Xiaobo, the manager of "歖qizhu", is introducing the difference between the improved cheongsam and the traditional cheongsam. Photo by reporter Zhu Mengcheng
Behind the word "new"
In Yin Xiaobo's memory, the gradual popularity of new Chinese style has experienced many tumultuous times. The year after the Beijing Olympics, he discovered that many cheongsam shops had sprung up on the streets of Shanghai. This momentum had never been seen before. At that time, most of the cheongsams designed by Yin Xiaobo were exported overseas. This change made him turn his attention back to the domestic market; in recent years, Chinese-style clothing, Chinese elements have caught the attention of domestic and foreign audiences, and also brought Chinese design and Chinese brands into the public eye.
To a certain extent, the "newness" of New Chinese style is the newness of ideas. "The popularity of new Chinese style is closely related to the improvement of our cultural identity. The absorption and innovation of traditional culture is a manifestation of the cultural confidence of contemporary young people." Cao Yaoqiang said that in the past, Chinese consumers mostly relied on imported fabrics and imported brands. In order to pursue this, as the economy develops and the country’s strength increases, more and more people begin to re-examine traditional culture. Changes in lifestyle, aesthetic perspective and consumption concepts have made national fashion a new breakthrough in consumption.
The most obvious thing that consumers perceive is the new design and innovation. Yin Xiaobo showed reporters a newly patterned cheongsam sample. On the white chiffon fabric, ink-colored flowers bloomed gracefully. Two gauze half-sleeves replaced the original sleeveless shape, which can not only "cover the flesh" but also look smart.Moving and elegant. "You can also do it yourself and twist the sleeves into scarves or shawls." Yin Xiaobo said that the biggest difference from old Chinese style to new Chinese style is the combination of traditional fabrics and elements with fashion elements. Nowadays, the fabrics used to make new Chinese style are becoming more and more diverse. In addition to traditional silk, brocade, and cotton, lace, chiffon, cashmere, denim, and even fur are also added. The integrated mix and match of fabrics, workmanship, and accessories brings a different visual experience.
Shi Xiuhua pays more attention to the daily trend of horse-faced skirts - improving it from a complicated and heavy formal wear to a wardrobe piece that can be easily worn out without having to worry too much about the wearing scene and makeup matching. little skirt. Recently, a new Hanfu fabric release show was held at the China Textile City Joint Market. Shi Xiuhua walked in front of the model team and introduced the creativity and connotation of each pattern to the audience: story-like pavilions and pavilions replaced the traditional dragon and phoenix patterns. , the low-saturation hollow yarn patchwork summer style reduces the feeling of heaviness...More than 20 popular styles are working hard to lower consumers' wearing threshold.
Walking the perspective, you will also find that New Chinese Style closely connects multiple links in the industrial chain. Data from social platforms and e-commerce live broadcasts are efficiently fed back to the production end. The textile and clothing industry in small towns We are undergoing a new transformation from traditional mass production to flexible manufacturing.
Post-00s Hanfu designer Liu Wenyue is designing horse-faced skirts. Photo by reporter Wang Zhijie
Liu Wenyue, a veteran Hanfu enthusiast and post-2000s Hanfu designer, has 239,000 Little Red Book fans. She used short videos to record her inspiration, design process, etc., and jellyfish, fireworks, aurora and other patterns that seemed incompatible with traditional clothing were all incorporated into the design of the horse skirt. In July last year, Liu Wenyue's company, Caiyue Zhixue Clothing Co., Ltd., moved to Xucun, Haining. Thanks to the local well-established home textile industry chain, it once took half a month to complete clothing sample modifications. Now it only takes 10 minutes to walk to the factory. It can be done. It only takes 30 days at the fastest for a new model from design conception to packaging and shipment.
"When will it be delivered?" "Wait and deliver it immediately." "Send it now if it's too late!" This year, Xu Shuixia, head of Lisen Textile in China Textile City, kept repeating the above words to customers. Xu Shuixia discovered that currently, nearly half of the company’s customer base is fromDouyin live streaming companies in Hangzhou, Guangzhou and other places. Most of these companies first purchase sample fabrics to make sample garments, which are displayed by anchors through live broadcast platforms, and then come to Keqiao to grab fabrics and place orders based on pre-sale orders. The race against time for large online orders made her intuitively feel the traffic effect of the e-commerce capital.
Let the trend become the direction of the trend
The "national style" is blowing hard, and at present, there are still many outsiders stepping into the game. A cloth merchant who visited Caoxian County, Shandong Province, one of the main production and sales bases of Hanfu in my country, lamented: "People delivering express delivery and doing takeout on the street are all rushing to make horse-faced skirts." It sounds exaggerated, but during the visit the reporter found , in Zhejiang's important industrial centers, there are more and more people transitioning from all walks of life.
“Some people who want to make quick money want to join the fabric purchasing army. They pay little attention to product quality and are more concerned about whether the price can get lower and lower.” Many merchants said frankly that how to do this well The quality control of new Chinese-style clothing has extended the period of popularity and made it the trend of the four seasons. It is a new topic in the new Chinese-style clothing industry.
Customers are trying on the cheongsam aesthetics and culture market in Yongquan Town. Photographed by reporter Zhu Mengcheng
What lies before the people of Yongquan is to improve the situation of "flowering inside the wall and fragrance outside the wall" and create a new Chinese-style "Yongquan IP". There are about 60 registered cheongsam companies in Yongquan Town, and there are about 800 local family-style garment-making shops, creating an employment population of more than 8,000 people. While the scale is large, the local area also faces problems such as uneven industrial quality, few high-end cheongsam brands, and low overall product visibility. The current situation of "only knowing Suzhou and Hangzhou, but not Yongquan" limits the local profit space.
“When young people come, they feel unreliable when they see only private houses but no factories.” Yin Xiaobo said that “small, The "scattered and chaotic" environment leaves hidden dangers for future development.
In order to break the deadlock, Yongquan Town plans to build a professional market for the embroidered clothing and cheongsam industry. Currently, the cheongsam industrial park covering an area of 28 acres is under construction and is expected to open for operation in August this year. Once completed, this gathering platform integrating design and R&D, experience customization, online and offline sales, and industrial incubation will promote the transformation of family workshop production into a modern smart chemical factory. according toWith the platform of the Trust Industrial Park, the surrounding pajamas industry in Zhang'an Street, Taozhu Town embroidered clothing, and mom's shirt industry will also have the opportunity to "turn them into a whole."
Compared to the "Yongquan Ironing" of "Foshan Electric Welding", workers can iron a cheongsam in 40 seconds. Photo by reporter Zhu Mengcheng
In Xu Cun’s view, the popularity of horse-faced skirts has added fuel to the transformation of local industries. "The time has come for high-end fashionable fabrics with Chinese national style." Cao Yaoqiang said that with the shrinking domestic and foreign markets, coupled with the continuous growth of local production in Haining, the traditional decorative fabric industry has almost reached the ceiling, and the transformation of Xucun has been brewing for a long time. "From the original professional market of decorative fabrics, we have added a new track of high-end national fashion fabrics."
Three years ago, Haining cooperated with Zhejiang Sci-Tech University to establish Haining Home Textile Fashion Fabrics in Xucun In the innovation center, a team of scientific researchers, PhDs and masters settled in Xucun to explore the fashion and lifestyle aspects of traditional fabrics. Nowadays, the center has linked the resources of China Academy of Art, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology and other universities to create Xucun’s own design platform; the previously established Fashion Industry College in the local area, through four-party cooperation, specifically serves talents to “stay in Xucun”. More than 280 trainees are about to graduate next year and become comprehensive talents for the industrial transformation and upgrading of Xucun.
Some people also question that New Chinese style is still a niche category. Is Xu Cun’s full investment safe? In this regard, Xu Cunren’s answer is to look outward, focus on the domestic and international dual circulation, and create a ceiling for niche industries.
CustomerA household is choosing a horse-faced skirt in Xucun. Photo by reporter Wang Zhijie
Currently, many textile companies in Xu Village are already studying colors and patterns that match foreign aesthetics, taking international exhibitions as an opportunity to go global along the "Belt and Road" initiative. Haining Tianlong Cloth Industry, run by Wang Chao, has reached a cooperation intention with SHEIN, a leading fast fashion cross-border e-commerce company. The company will provide 20 new Chinese-style clothing every month to test the waters of cross-border e-commerce. "To be honest, this speed of style update is still very challenging for our design team." Wang Chao said, but this also shows that there is demand in overseas markets. In the future, this may be a new blue ocean.
[News+]
Let ancient and modern have a "chemical reaction"
Liu Wenyue
During this period, our Hanfu work Wave after wave of news media came to the room, and everyone asked me curiously: "How did you switch from pre-school education to designing horse-faced skirts?"
My answer is always It's two words - love. I loved Hanfu when I was in college. I saw other people posting Hanfu designs online, so I tried to draw my first design work. Unexpectedly, a merchant later purchased this work for 300 yuan. From then on, I had the idea to turn this love into my career.
In 2019, my partner and I, who are also Hanfu enthusiasts, opened a Hanfu studio. At that time, Hanfu was still a niche hobby. I often think, how can we get more people to like traditional clothes and be willing to wear them? I integrate modern people's aesthetics into the design, and at the same time superimpose many traditional elements such as intangible cultural heritage, Chinese herbal medicine, and ancient paintings to create a "chemical reaction" between ancient and modern.
In the past two years, the craze of national style has spread to clothing, and Hanfu has developed into a popular aesthetic. Our studio has also undergone a new transformation, using horse-face skirts as the main product, which is more convenient for daily wear and is not restricted by age. Today, my fan base ranges from 80-year-old grandmothers to primary school students in their teens, and I often receive orders from overseas.
Among my peers, there are more and more young people. Everyone has their own unique design styles and ideas, but we all hope to pass on the traditional clothing culture and convey the essence of Chinese culture. Aesthetics and confidence. Each of the horse-faced skirts I designed is woven with the words "China creates horse-faced skirts."
(The author is a post-00s Hanfu designer)
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