Italian Chinese Clothing Industry Plays An Irreplaceable Role

Prato is a city in central and northern Italy. It is a distribution center of textile production and sales with a history of hundreds of years. In the process of Prato's development from a traditional European textile center to a world-famous "fast fashion" clothing base, the Chinese garment industry has played an irreplaceable role. They have broken through difficulties and explored new ways to make the clothing industry constantly radiate new vitality.

"Since the first Chinese cutting company was established in Prato in 1999, Chinese garment enterprises have developed rapidly over the past 20 years, forming a mature" fast fashion "clothing industry cluster Li Xiaofeng, President of the Italian Chinese clothing industry association, said in an interview with China News Agency reporters that there are now more than 5000 Chinese clothing enterprises, large and small, in Prato, which are distributed in two "fast fashion" garment industrial zones.

Nowadays, Prato Chinese "fast fashion" clothing industry chain is becoming more and more perfect, and the division of labor is more refined and specialized. Li Xiaofeng said: "in the past, dyeing, washing, cloth, printing and other industries were all done by local people. In recent years, Chinese enterprises have more and more laid out these fields, forming a complete industrial chain including fabric companies, accessories companies, clothing production and processing, trading companies, logistics companies and so on."

Under the influence of high inflation, rising energy prices and other factors, the Italian Chinese clothing industry is also facing some challenges. Ren binwei, a member of the Italian Chinese clothing industry association, runs a clothing enterprise in Prato. He said: "the increase in production costs has made Chinese clothing enterprises lose their price advantage. In addition, the overall market demand has declined. Business has recovered from the end of last year to the beginning of this year, but now it has suffered a great impact."

"For example, a piece of clothing used to sell for 10 euro, now it has to sell 15 euro. Customers originally ordered 3400 pieces of a style, but now they may only order 78 or 80 pieces." Ren binwei said that the impact of clothing brand OEM like his company is smaller, but for enterprises that need to sell ready-made clothes to wholesalers and customers, their sales pressure is greater.

How can Prato Chinese garment enterprises solve the problem? In order to better integrate resources, gather information and expand customers, Chinese practitioners try to open up online business channels.

Ren binwei "Some time ago, several members of the Chinese Clothing Association launched a commonweal" Huachang app "to provide a platform for information exchange among peers. Chinese owners need to buy Fabrics and accessories, find processing plants and workers, or handle clothing inventory and find customers. The app will automatically match relevant resources to help business owners solve problems."

Many Chinese enterprises have settled in the app for more than a month since it was launched. Some businesses have reported that they have increased their exposure and found new customers. "In the future, we plan to launch multilingual plates, invite more Italian run clothing companies to settle in, and we also plan to expand the clothing information throughout Europe, hoping that garment industry in other countries can also find resources." He said.

"Garment enterprises want to break the situation, the development of original design and brand building is also very important." Li Xiaofeng said that in the past, many Chinese clothing enterprises engaged in wholesale. In recent years, many enterprises have launched their own brands, employed fashion designers graduated from professional colleges and universities, integrated the brand concept into fashion design, and then carried out exquisite and meticulous production and processing, holding the whole industrial chain of design, production and sales in their own hands.

In Ren binwei's view, the core condition of branding is original design. Chinese clothing enterprises need to form their own style and aesthetic system. In the process of branding, they should also solve the problems in the sales process and continue to expand the sales network and channels. "The future of our brand is to make our brand more competitive."

"With the expansion of the market, the improvement of product types and quality, and the continuous improvement of the business network, the influence of Chinese clothing enterprises is continuously expanding." Li Xiaofeng said that the development of the Chinese clothing industry not only stems from the hard-working quality and unique business wisdom of the Chinese, but also can not do without the local policies and the tolerance of the people.

"We Chinese clothing industry association will continue to strengthen industry exchanges, promote the upgrading of the clothing industry, ensure the safety of Chinese enterprises, and actively give back to the society in which they live. We believe that the Chinese garment industry can join hands to create a new situation and create new prosperity for Prato." He said.

(source: China News Network)