The textile and apparel industry is a demand-oriented industry, and market trends tend to change with consumer demand.
McKinsey pointed out in the “2023 China Consumer Report”:
1. China’s middle- and high-income households are growing at double digits, which will drive consumption growth;
2. Affluent consumers prefer high-end brands, and the trend of high-endization continues;
3. Consumption has not been downgraded, and consumers are wiser when purchasing goods and choosing channels;
4. Product is king, consumers become more aware of technical specifications;
5. Tend to choose local brands, and not just out of national pride.
If you think about it carefully, these all coincide with the development direction of the textile and garment industry!
Crazy stacking of buffs, high added value brings high returns
In recent years, due to the blind expansion of the textile industry, the problem of overcapacity has become increasingly serious, especially in the large-scale conventional fabrics sector. The market has continued to fall into involution, low-price sales often occur, and fabric prices have fallen into a situation where it is easy to fall but difficult to rise. situation. However, high value-added fabrics are uncharacteristically showing a rise in both volume and price.
The same is true in the apparel field. Even if the demand side recovers less than expected, high-end brands still outperform mass brands.
Product is king, and today’s consumers are becoming more and more savvy. They will not only research the ingredients of fabrics, but also conduct comprehensive comparisons of products.
For example: when buying a down jacket, they will care about the three-proof effect of the fabric, and compare the warmth retention and down content of the down jacket; when buying sun protection clothing, they will care about the sun protection level, and compare the breathability and coolness of the sun protection clothing; when buying sports When wearing sportswear, they will pay attention to the comfort of the fabric and compare the resilience performance and moisture wicking ability of sportswear.
Because of this, textile companies began to add buffs to fabrics like crazy. With the help of technology, this company uses the properties of zirconium carbide to make the fabric capable of storing heat and keeping warm and has health-care properties; that company uses coated TPU, combined with patented technology and technology, to use air instead of down to achieve warmth and temperature regulation; and other companies It adopts ultra-fine triple sunscreen yarn, which is woven with high density and removes additives to achieve long-lasting sunscreen…
These fabrics can not only make clothing more special and create new selling points, but also better meet the needs of high-income people and promote the formation of consumer orders.
The rise of national trends, integrating products with Chinese elements
In the past, we blindly worshiped “imported products” and were willing to spend more money to buy foreign brands. But after the rise of the national trend, these will all become a thing of the past.
In recent years, domestic clothing has become very sensitive to fashion trends, and brands have integrated national fashion elements into their products to form an aesthetic logo that is more in line with Chinese aesthetics. Attracted by good looks, users can form differentiated memory points for the brand.
For example, Hanfu, as a traditional costume that carries national memory and culture, is now a new fashion sought after by many young people. Nowadays, more and more consumers are willing to wear Hanfu on the streets, and improved Hanfu has gradually become commonplace.
When the market sales of Hanfu exceed 10 billion yuan, it will naturally bring benefits to textile companies. A textile company revealed that as consumers pay more and more attention to the comfort, fineness and elegance of fabrics, we have specially developed fabrics that incorporate national style elements such as cirrus pattern, tangled branch pattern, madder pattern and loop pattern. For example, fabrics such as brocade, chiffon, Tencel, and linen are also more popular in the market.
A printing company said that we do quick reverse printing and can produce customized patterns in one day and three days to complete. Our company’s main products are original Chinese-style patterns, hand-painted style printing on jacquard fabrics, ink tie-dye printing on pearl satin, etc.
The “breaking circle” effect has made Hanfu products affordable for the masses, and it has also lowered the purchase threshold for Hanfu products. Sentiment, marketing and product cost-effectiveness will all become the basic conditions for the rise of national trends.
From materials to technology, from design to products, emerging needs are emerging one after another. As the consumer report outlines, this is an era of resilience. It is hoped that these consumer trends can bring some inspiration to textile people and provide some ideas for subsequent product development.
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