Julia Alcântara
Lauren Peacher
Tini Tani
Faustine Lara
Kellen Hofer
In June and July in the past, the clothing wholesale market welcomed the peak of patter making and order placing of new fall/winter products, but this year the market seems to be too quiet.
From the feedback of the clothing markets such as Liuhua clothes distribution center in Guangzhou, Quanzhou clothing wholesale market in Fujian and Humen clothing wholesale market in Dongguan, most of the apparel companies have delayed their plan of launching new products in fall and winter and reduce the procurement conferences due to the increase in raw material and labor cost. More enterprises choose to expedite the release of new products and adopt hidden price increase, passing on the increase in cost to customers.
Tanneries in Quanzhou city with annual production capacity below 30,000 pieces of cow leather equivalence will be closed from now on, according to recent meeting for verification and regulation to enterprises violated environmental protection standards held in Jinjiang city. The meeting sets a ban on increasing of new leather processing projects in Quanzhou city and processing raw hides during the transition period.
Further more tanneries with annual production capacity above 30,000 pieces of cow leather equivalence and less than 100,000 pieces will be eliminated by from January 1, 2012. The regulations also include the drum with size of 2.8m×2.5m. Production with less 300,000 pieces leather wouldn’t be allowed to operate by the end of 2014.
The meeting required the 88 enterprises including sectors of chemicals, dyeing and printing, leather and paper making that fell to meet the verification to suspend production for rectification. The list of these companies was announced on local media.
Top 100 enterprises in Wenzhou city announced on August 13, 2010, footwear Aokang Group ranks the eighth in the list. This is fifth announcement of top 100 enterprises since 2006.
The top hundred enterprise list is composed of 72 manufacturers and 28 enterprises in service sector. In terms of sale value this year the leather sector ranks fifth in Wenzhou’s top 100 enterprises, 14 enterprises are listed in this year of top hundred enterprises.
General Customs Administration made a report of foreign trade for the first seven months on August 10. The report said foreign trade value increased 40.9% to 1.61705 trillion U.S. dollars. As for the exports it grew 35.6% to 850.49 billion U.S. dollars, imports up 47.2% to 766.56 billion U.S. dollars. Trade surplus reduced by 21.2% to 83.93 billion U.S. dollars.
At the same time footwear exports were up 23.6% to 19.42 billion U.S. dollars, the exports for luggage and bags rose to 9.13 billion U.S. dollars, up 30.7% year on year
Hong Kong entertainer Kelly Chen stalks out, strikes a pose and is immediately greeted by screams and flashing light bulbs.
This is German high-end fashion label Marc Cain's first show in the mainland and Kelly is here to lend her image to the brand.
"This label has some Germany characteristics - dark colors, slim cuts, furs and leathers. An uptown lady's look," Chen says back stage, still dressed in a leopard print overcoat and with her hair in a bun.
To the average Chinese fashionista, known designers are mainly Louis Vuitton and Dior from France, Prada and Fendi from Italy, Marc Jacobs from the United States. Few brand names are recognized from Germany, except perhaps Hugo Boss.
"We want to impress upon our customers that German designs are elegant, beautiful, and powerful," says Norbert Lock, the label's CEO.
Head designer Vita Karin Veit, who joined Marc Cain in 1975, says the brand's German spirit lies in its excellent quality, a reputation already established by German-made cars and heavy industries.
"(Even) the pirate products do not give me a headache as long as our products are successfully sold in the Chinese market and valued for their quality and style," Veit says.
Her designs for the next season are even more German with soft sorbet colors and luxurious materials elaborately crafted and combined with military elements exemplified by trench coats and caped parkas.
Marc Cain has opted for an unusual entry into the mainland market for its 2010 fall/winter collection.
It does not advertise nor open boutiques in luxury malls. Instead, it has chosen to work with top Hong Kong fashion designer William Tang.
Besides working in fashion, Tang is a marketing planner, a visual artist, a consultant as well as a writer, a DJ, and a VJ - multiple talents which have already earned him numerous faithful fans.
Marc Cain staffers approached him and he agreed to work with the label.
"It is a unique style for women between 30 and 50 years old. Their appreciation of fashion is not aggressive, nor fake, and they know how to express femininity at the proper occasions," he says after the show.
Wang Xiaoyuan, local fashion critics and fashion editor with Cosmopolitan China, says the label's cooperation with Tang is very interesting.
"Tang has many mainland fans. Many people like his unique taste, so they will become Marc Cain consumers upon his endorsement," she says.
Wang also feels that the decision to use Kelly Chen as the face of Marc Cain is a good choice as the actress has maintained a pristine reputation in the industry, which goes well with the brand's sophisticated upmarket image.
Young designers in Hong Kong showcased their creative wedding and evening gowns in one of the city's first competition on such attire on Monday.
The Asian Young Wedding Fashion Designer Award attracted 837 entries from 11 countries and regions including England, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Republic of Korea and Japan.
The competition was organized by Hong Kong-Asia Exhibition.
A total of 30 finalists had been picked to go head to head to win the competition later this month. They would face a panel of judges including local fashion designers Walter Ma and Arthur Lam.
In celebration of its sixth year as the Official Apparel Sponsor of the US Open Tennis Championships, Polo Ralph Lauren presents the Legends Clinic with Venus Williams, a live interactive virtual tennis clinic produced in partnership with Mercedes-Benz at New York's SPORTIME Tennis Center on Randall's Island on August 26 at 2:00PM EDT.
Tennis enthusiasts around the world will tune in as seven-time Grand Slam Champion Venus Williams answers questions, demonstrates technique and offers hints and tips on how to improve your game during this live one-hour interactive clinic. The clinic will reach a global audience as it will be streamed live online exclusively at RalphLauren.com.
"The Legends Clinic is ground-breaking. This is a dynamic way of connecting fashion, technology and sports in a way that has never been done before," said David Lauren, Senior Vice President of Advertising, Marketing and Corporate Communications. "We are providing our customers around the world a unique experience to personally connect with one of the world's premier tennis legends while she is engaged in her sport."
Ralph Lauren will design a limited-edition dress in partnership with Eleven to be worn by Venus Williams during the Legends Clinic as well as a special limited-edition US Open polo shirt to accompany the collection. Both the Ralph Lauren designed limited-edition dress and polo shirt will be available on-site at the US Open Polo Ralph Lauren shop and online at RalphLauren.com. Additionally, the limited-edition US Open polo shirt will be exclusively available at Macy's Herald Square in New York. Fifteen percent of sales will be donated to the Women's Sports Foundation, dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women through sport and physical activity.
"It is truly exciting to partner with Polo Ralph Lauren in this unique endeavor and to bring my professional expertise and personal experiences to tennis fans around the world," said Venus Williams.
The Ralph Lauren US Open collection is available on-site at the US Open Polo Ralph Lauren shop open for the duration of the tournament. The store also features a wide selection of items such as tote bags, tennis dresses, skirts, sweaters, commemorative caps, classic Polo shirts for men and women. The collection will also be available at select Ralph Lauren stores, department stores and online at Ralphlauren.com.
As part of the Legends Clinic, Mercedes-Benz, the official vehicle of the US Open Tennis Championship and presenting sponsor of the Men's Single Championship, will highlight its new SLS AMG supercar that draws inspiration from the 1954 300SL Gullwing, a legendary car known for its iconic style and innovation.
This announcement reinforces Polo Ralph Lauren's leadership in major sporting initiatives. The company also serves as the Official Outfitter of the Wimbledon Championships and will be the Proud Outfitter for the US Olympic and Paralympic Teams at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Polo Ralph Lauren also sponsors an elite roster of professional golfers, as well as the Blackwatch Polo Team.
Consumption has entered a conspicuous new era. Think you're alone making very personal decisions about the perfect pair of sunglasses or shirt? Think again. Eyes are everywhere, information is fed to shoppers, and the crowd speaks, right up until a purchase has been made. And especially, after.
Shopping is no longer about a consumer making an individual choice. It's about interacting.
"The reality is, you need to create a connection, create a personal experience," Chris Beer of Luxottica, an eyewear company based in Italy, told The Times.
Luxottica is experimenting with a concept store that makes buying eyewear an event. There's a treadmill to test the wind resistance of sunglasses; a machine that simulates glare on snow and touch screens so shoppers can snap photos and eventually post them on Facebook. By offering a more personalized experience, Luxottica hopes to lure customers from online shopping.
But the Internet is where things probably get the most "intimate." A new kind of Web coupon is full of information about its user. Bar codes store information like identification, Internet addresses and a customer's online searches. When the coupon is used, stores can keep track of the customer's purchasing behavior and give follow-up offers.
"It's almost like being able to read their mind, because they're confessing to the search engine what they're looking for."
Some retailers are testing a product from I.B.M. called Presence, which sends out real-time coupons to cellphones the moment a customer walks into a store.
Makes you wonder if you really picked out those boots all by yourself.
Consumption isn't just about you. It's about what other people think about you. "Haul" videos on YouTube, where young women open their shopping bags and describe each item, have generated hundreds of thousands of views and comments. Then there are sites like Fashism and Go Try It On, which are making fashion more interactive. Upload a photo of yourself wearing an outfit and viewers rate it and offer advice.
Amy Silbergeld, 22, of San Francisco, uses Fashism daily. It helps "people to look their personal best, rather than helping them to conform to others," she told The Times.
Blank Label does just that by selling customized shirts online. One of its goals is to communicate directly with customers, and for several hours a day, Fan Bi, the chief executive, chats with customers. Danny Wong, a partner, said he was excited about "bridging the gap between consumer and manufacturer."
And that gap has shrunk drastically. When shopping, you're not alone. Just ask, and everyone will tell.
Rozanna Purcell, Miss Ireland 2010, holds a pair of Galway Crystal candlestick holders that she brought as her national gift for the Miss Universe National Gift Auction in Las Vegas, Nevada August 14, 2010. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Nevada Cancer Institute.
Venus Raj, Miss Philippines 2010, tells a guest about her national gift at the Miss Universe National Gift Auction in Las Vegas, Nevada August 14, 2010.
Raise your head on August 16 and gaze at the stars, you will find something romantic going on in the sky.
VALENTINE'S Day in China, the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, falls on August 19 this year.
That is, on Sunday evening, Niu Lang and Zhi Nu will meet on a bridge of magpies(鹊桥) across the Milky Way(银河). Chinese grannies will remind children that they would not be able to see any magpies on that evening because all the magpies have left to form a bridge in the heavens with their wings.
Chinese ceremonies
The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is the only Chinese festival devoted to love in the Lunar calendar.
Unlike St. Valentine's Day in Western countries there is not so much emphasis on giving chocolates, flowers and kisses. Instead, Chinese girls prepare fruits, melons and incense(熏香) as offerings to Zhi Nu, the weaving maiden, praying to acquire high skills in needlecraft(裁缝), as well as hoping to find satisfactory husbands.
In the evening, people sit outdoors to observe the stars. Chinese grannies would say that, if you stand under a grapevine, you can probably overhear what Zhi Nu and Niu Lang are talking about.
