A Peek into China’s Fashion Industry: An interview with Nels Frye
Western luxury in the East
Last year, the New York Times observed that, “Cosmopolitan editors in China started splitting their monthly issue into two magazines because it was too thick to print. Elle now publishes twice a month because issues had grown to 700 pages. Vogue added four more issues each year to keep up with advertising demand. Hearst is even designing plastic and cloth bags for women to easily carry these heavy magazines home”. It’s well known that Western luxury brands still view China as a strong market, and so it’s no surprise that these magazines’ advertisements are dominated by global luxury brands.
So what’s in store then for local Chinese luxury and contemporary brands? To the English speaker, the observations we hear from reporters regarding the luxury market are often tailored to a western perspective, and don’t necessarily reflect accurately China’s current fashion, retail and luxury space as seen and lived by the insider.
We speak to Nels Frye, the Editor-in-Chief of Lifestyle Magazine and Creative Director ofStylites Magazine, a true insider in China’s fashion scene. Nels, who is American, has lived in China for the past eight years.
Nels Frye
Image: Stylites
An editorial view
Dressed in a smart suit and accompanied by his wife, Nels and I began speaking about publishing in China from an editorial perspective. As Angelica Cheung, the Editor in Chief of Vogue China, mentioned at this year’s SEA Luxury Conference in Singapore, China’s elite fashion consumers – who also happen to be loyal followers of her magazine – have graduated from wanting just luxury items, and now are on the hunt for the unique. Angelica covers these alternatives in the form of additional editions published several times a year that feature lesser known and independent designers both local and abroad. This year, she published four of these editions, and expects to produce six in 2014.
What this means for everyone
I asked Nels how this translates to the masses, or perhaps, the lesser elites or non-elites. “In a society that is unfamiliar with the tradition of subscribing to magazines, the magazines take on the role of ambassadors of a certain kind of lifestyle. They are not only platforms for big fashion brands to promote awareness, but also sell a story about lifestyle, instilling in Chinese consumers a mentality of the need for fashion consumption.” Nels mentions that while the focus of the major publications is still on international brands, there are several magazines that make a conscious effort to push local designers. Popular asian publications such as Rayli, a magazine of Japanese origin that targets young girls, are also huge influencers in China. It is important to remember, however, that “all magazine publishers in China are also officially an advertising company representative of the government.”
Nevertheless, those consumers who have been exposed to the world of contemporary and independent labels, have been heavily influenced. I saw this firsthand when I asked Nels’ wife about her preferred fashion brands and style. A Chinese native, she admitted that her fashion taste was once limited to luxury brands, but, “Now I buy my clothes mostly from Nels’ friends,” she jokes, as I catch myself examining her well-tailored white shirt. Nels offers, “In comparison [to the States] the Chinese are much more style conscious like the Europeans, maybe because they are face-conscious as well. The cosmopolitan cities of China are influenced and similar to international cities like Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Berlin. Guangzhou is very much influenced by Hong Kong, a city with great style. However, we can identify Beijing as being a city with a more rebellious aesthetic, influenced by the bohemian, hipster style of western countries, because it’s a city dominated by students and artists. So it’s synonymous with the style of Berlin. Shanghai, on the other hand, is more high fashion-orientated. As you can see, Chinese cities generally are quite westernized and this is also due to the impact of well-known Asian bloggers such as Bryanboy, with their take on western fashion.”
Vogue China Special Collection featuring Du Juan
Image: sinuousmag
Beyond logo mania
So, what are the brands that the Chinese consumer are after now? “In China, especially the first-tier cities, we see a shift of interest in designer brands. The Chinese are getting tired of the ubiquitous logos of big brands and are starting to consume understated designers brands that are equally expensive, for example, Bottega Veneta. This might have been a political influence as well because governmental officials are choosing to buy luxury goods in a more subtle manner as there has been a lot of media attention drawn to them being able to afford well-known luxury goods,” said Nels.
As we spoke on about tiered cities, we inevitably began to compare the major fashion cities of China to other fashion capitals in Asia. Nels pointed out that Tokyo is in a world of its own where dressing to the extreme is the norm. Such a level of edginess doesn’t exist in China, or Singapore for that matter, which he felt was “not stylish at all even though they have a higher income and can afford to be.” Menswear was singled out both by Nels and also by Suzy Menkes at the Luxury Conference; both observed that men in Asia are metrosexual and well-dressed. Nels focused in particular on the men in Seoul who he feels have a stylish but more subdued dress sense.
Alas, in China, Nels thinks it’s still too early in the consumer lifecycle for the Chinese to have found their distinct or defining style in terms of both street trends and on an industry level, in the way that the Parisians defined chic, and the Americans dominate the sports luxe and RTW culture.
Nels observes that, “China is almost, if not on par, with the United States as the biggest consumer and biggest producer of goods in the world,” but its fashion industry is neither well defined nor differentiated. Even though there is a fashion week in China, it’s primarily a government event and barely has any significance in the fashion industry; magazine editors don’t even attend the shows. This is something Nels hopes to change through his various projects, in particular his recent initiative, the Hub, a fashion trade show held in Hong Kong that focuses on high quality products and niche brands.
Digital – not what you think
The lack of transparency, or perhaps, the intrusion of third party agencies is also prevalent in the digital and social space in China, with websites known to have less transparent search results than western sites. “The subtle advertorials almost serve as propaganda,” Nels stated. Chinese websites also emphasize different elements in the web design process, and they typically lack the sense of organization and minimalistic layouts seen in westernized sites. Nels observes that most Chinese platform websites are a lot bigger than many of the English websites: “To put it into perspective, they are a combination of Yahoo and Blogger with almost every kind of content and information available on their home page. The Chinese are used to visiting websites like this and so are well-versed in navigating through the content and information,” said Nels, who sees Weibo as a very influential space for fashion and politics, while Sohu and Xinlang are popular and busy portals for bloggers. Bloggers in China, he says, are very much attached to an existing platform as opposed to starting and running it on their own. Mobile apps, WeChat in particular, are also important to pay attention to.
Information flow
The current average annual income as reported by the New York Times is US$2,100, with Shanghai leading the way with an average annual income of US$4,200. Nels, who finds these numbers a bit misleading, states that everything is gray income, “most people here who buy fashion and live in cities are richer than you and I can ever dream of being,” he says, “even if those averages do reflect reality for the majority of the population, consider that China has 1.4 billion people and Shanghai has over 20 million.” A report published on Jing Daily by McKinsey & Company in June this year states that the middle class of China’s average income spans from US$9,000 to US$34,000, with the upper middle class making an average of US$16,000 to US$34,000.This is then compared to the Hurun Report, which states that in 2013, there are currently 2.7 million high net worth individuals in China, with personal assets that equate to US$950,000 and ultra-high net worth individuals with assets totaling more than US15.8million.
This made me raise the question: Where then, are these people, of such varied income levels, obtaining their fashion?
According to Nels, the retail market has picked up in the last six to seven years. “Before this, China did not even have fast fashion brands such as Zara, and sartorial choices were limited to luxury brands, fakes and a few local brands. However, there is a diverse retail landscape in China now and a lot more Chinese can afford to dress better. Many local designers are gaining popularity and making their mark in the local fashion scene. Retail stores are also becoming more conceptual and interesting. For example, we have a retail store called “7 Days” that offers 70% local designer goods and 30% foreign designer goods, but both are aesthetically Chinese. You will also pass by smaller stores such as Dongliang that offer edgy local designer products. You can see this big selection of local designers is expanding online.”
“China is transitioning nicely to the next stage of luxury, although it might take a few years before mass consumers adopt a sophisticated approach to shopping. As an industry, China’s fashion scene has much to overcome, from changing the consumer’s definition of a luxury good to creating an industry that exists independently - not one that can be potentially skewed towards or misled by the government.” On a personal level, Nels admitted that he is currently evaluating his next steps. “China has a huge potential for me to work with; it’s also a region that is fundamentally flawed in the way other major cities aren’t and can be detrimental to life [the context being the high pollution levels]. It is tough for me,” he said.
We would love to hear your comments and view on China’s fashion, retail and tech industries and the direction it might be heading towards. Tweet us or comment on this article.
This article was published on The Thread, Inverted Edge's editorial platform.
