The March economic statistics are generally regarded as one of the most important indicators of the trends of the economy throughout the year in China, because they not only directly reflect current conditions, but also indicate future trends to some extent.
The 2024 government work report, released during the annual NPC and CPPCC sessions, set the projected target for GDP growth in 2024 at 5 percent (the figures for 2022 and 2023 were 5.5 percent and 5 percent, respectively percent), a figure seen by analysts. outside China they are cautious about the general outlook for the coming year.
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Economic growth is crucial for the fashion sector. After all, the fashion consumer market rises and falls with changes in disposable income. Taking the fashion industry as an example, activities in March were focused on women, with the 114th International Women’s Day as a common thread throughout marketing and sales. On the other hand, taking fashion as a pivot to revive the industrial economy, cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen welcomed events such as the Shanghai and Beijing Fashion Weeks and the upcoming May 5 Shopping Festival. At the same time, the five industrial exhibitions of fabrics and accessories, clothing, home textiles, yarn and knitting, which form CNTAC’s 2024 Spring Exhibition, attracted global buyers to Shanghai last month.
The performance of the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry in March showed a revival in retail sales as an economic barometer, while fashion weeks were the setters of future trends.
Empowering Women is once again entering the Chinese market
In early March, fashion executives who have long been active in the Chinese market returned to Shanghai for an event that traveled through history. Executives from Kering, L’Oréal and Cartier, as well as many female Chinese entrepreneurs, came together in the ‘Women for the Future’ forum. It was held at the same place where China’s first international conference for women’s empowerment took place 127 years ago.
Opened to visitors in 1885, Shanghai’s Zhang Yuan was the largest public activity center for citizens in Shanghai at the end of the Qing Dynasty and is known as “the first public space in modern China.” On March 8, under the joint promotion of Zhang Yuan, Shuofeng Culture and WWD China’s parent company, Chinamind Next Interculture Group, the space welcomed female leaders in the fashion industry.
Jenny Lan, president of North Asia and China public affairs at L’Oréal, shared her personal experiences in the workplace: the process and method of pursuing ideals as a woman involved in the beauty industry. At the same time, she says, L’Oréal has implemented many projects to empower women in China, including ‘Write Your Futuregarding”, which offers online courses and popularizes workplace skills for Chinese female university students. It has been held for three years and covers more than 3,000 universities and colleges in China, benefiting more than 150,000 female students.
There is also ‘Glamorous Career, Beautiful Life’, which takes care of troubled women and helps them acquire a skill and achieve career success. It has been running for ten years, setting up a total of 69 training locations on the ground in China and helping more than 10,000 women; the “Young Women Scientists in China” program, which is twenty years old and has shared with the public the stories of 204 Chinese women scientists working in science and technology.
Wingee SIN, global program director of The Cartier Women’s Initiative, shared how the award has empowered women entrepreneurs over the past 17 years by driving change and focusing on supporting early-stage, for-profit, women-led, mission-driven businesses by providing of financial, social and human capital support to help them grow and lead their businesses.
Cai Jinqing, president of Kering Group Greater China, also shared the French company’s efforts to empower women through videoconferencing. According to her, women are responsible for 64 percent of employees and 58 percent of managerial positions at Kering. Women In Motion has become a platform for changing perceptions in recent years as a key project for Kering to empower women.
In the consumer market, fashion shopping complexes have also launched activities and discounts for women. In the luxury sector, for example, Beijing SKP has launched activities similar to shopping parties, with a combined discount rate of almost 30 percent off for members. Others include Dennis David City in Zhengzhou, which offers 30 percent discount and five times store credit. In Chengdu, Taikoo Li creates the seasonal looks for different women’s lifestyles from a wide range of categories such as clothing, fragrances and beauty products.
On the brand side, To Summer, a Chinese perfume brand acquired by L’Oréal, used “Freedom and Imagination” as the theme for its second store in Shanghai to build a so-called “study room for a female writer,” urging women to create a to build a more intellectually refined and deeper spiritual world. Aesop, meanwhile, took all the products off the shelves of his three stores in Shanghai and Guangzhou, transformed them into libraries of women’s literature and divided them into six categories, inspired by the small moments of women’s growth, including moments of revelation, moments of greatness. and moments of courage.
A wave of fashion weeks: cities are using fashion exhibitions to bring the industry into full swing
Beijing and Shanghai, the two major fashion cities in China, inaugurated the China Fashion Week and Shanghai Fashion Week as in previous years, while Shenzhen, after many years of close cooperation with Milan, inaugurated the Shenzhen and Milan Lifestyle Week for the first time. As a new attempt at cultural exchange and industrial cooperation, Shenzhen hopes to attract international buyers and introduce international emerging brands to build a diversified industrial strategy. The aim is to use fashion as a ‘stabilizer’ that connects cities, revitalizes the economy and promotes employment.
Shanghai Fashion Week Fall 2024 with the theme “Innovation Promoted by China”, focusing on the themes “New Chinese Style, New Environmental Protection, New Movement.” There were various forms of fashion shows and presentations, forums, fashion fairs, showrooms and other displays and exchange activities. China Fashion Week, on the other hand, had empowerment as its theme, with an emphasis on Chinese aesthetics, intangible heritage innovationcross-border Chinese style creations, sustainability, digital intelligence, fashion, IPR, etc., covering more than 130 activities, including fashion shows, trend releases, fairs, thematic exhibitions, high-end forums, professional competitions and so on.
This year’s China Fashion Week aimed to promote the popularity of major industrial agglomerations in China. It first launched Shandong Day, Xiamen Day and the Northern Clothing Day to promote these cities and places. Brands from the Pearl River Delta Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and Shanghai were the main participants in this season’s fashion show. At the same time, China Fashion Week joined hands with Shengze in Jiangsu Province, China’s silk city and cashmere capital (Qinghe in Hebei Province) and other major industrial clusters, showcasing the results of cross-border cooperation between sources of origin and Golden Peak award winning designers, local brands and designers.
Prior to this, Chic2024 (Spring), which was held in early March and saw the participation of 1,398 brands and 1,250 participating exhibitors, had already welcomed international pavilions and brands from 19 countries and regions around the world.
Editor’s Note: China Insight is a monthly column from WWD’s sister publication WWD China, examining industry and consumer trends in that all-important market.
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