Beijing Hong Du Customer-Tailoring from Off the Rack

2008/01/15
text by Rocky Li

“Our service is one-on-one: we customize our production,” said Guo Quanjin, director of the general-office of the China Time Honoured Brand (Zhonghua Laozihao) the Beijing Hong Du Corporation Groups.

Indeed, customized services are essential for Hongdu, which has top leaders of the government and business worlds among its clients. As Guo sees it, customized services are becoming a trend for China's clothing business. "We are among the first to move in that direction," he said.

Beijing Hong Du is a clothing industry union that evolved from seven Shanghai-based clothing companies in 1956.

During the early 1800s, some Chinese tailors from Ningbo in Zhejiang Province went to Japan to engage in the clothing business. They focused on making western-style clothes. In the 1840's (after the Opium War), Shanghai was forced to open to the world, and it became an international city, with many westerners flocking to it. Some skilled Chinese tailors took note and returned to Shanghai from Japan to make suits for the westerners. So a special group called Hongbang Tailors was formed, and the western-style clothing industry boomed in Shanghai. One of the more famous clothing lines produced during this time was the zhongshan jacket, the upper half of a suit named after China’s first president, Sun Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen), which was initially made in Shanghai. The zhongshan jacket was a favourite of Chairman Mao Zedong, who became so closely identified with an improved version of the style that the suits were sometimes called Mao jackets. Today, visitors still can see this jacket created by tailor Tian Atong, a member of Hongbang Tailors and also a tailor with Hong Du after it moved to Beijing. This is the jacket seen in the portrait of Mao Zedong on the Tian’anmen Gate overlooking Tian’anmen Square.

To meet the needs of national leaders and foreign guests after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, some Hongbang Tailors were called to Beijing . Before the establishment of the present Beijing Hong Du Clothing Company in 1984, two names had been used: the Beijing Youlian Clothing Factory in 1956 and the Beijing People’s Clothing Factory in 1966, although the Hong Du brand had been in existence since 1967. In 1993, the Beijing Hong Du Corporation Group was established.

The Beijing Hong Du Clothing Company mainly made clothes for national leaders and ambassadors to China, such as Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. In step with the reforms that began in the 1980s, Hong Du has changed with the times, making clothing for the youth and uniform markets, yet it adheres to its tradition of making fine suits for leaders and social celebrities, mainly the western-style clothes and zhongshan jackets. One-on-one service was never sacrificed to market demand.

Some modern sales models are used by Hong Du, including joint-venture stores and franchised stores. The company has 30 franchised stores in Beijing.

These stores are served by the Hong Du production base located in the Beijing Liangxiang Industrial Development Zone. The operational facility covers 6,000 square metres, with a staff of 1,200. The company has introduced advanced production equipment to enlarge its production capacity, and it can produce 80,000 to 100,000 jackets or coats per year. But the mere adoption of modern machine manufacturing techniques has not changed Hong Du’s business philosophy. Their made-to-measure services still require a personal touch; so following its long tradition, Hong Du employs many clothes-making technicians, and their skills have been passed down generation to generation. As Zhu Minghua, the secretary-general of the Clothing Industry Committee of China Textile Commerce Association, said, “Every working staff member at Hong Du can be called a technician; and Hong Du is No. 1 in the made-to-measure clothing industry in the whole country.”

To keep up with the changing times and in seeking a greater share of the clothing market, Hong Du has constantly worked to develop itself. It cooperates with the Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology, especially concerning the group uniform market. When Subway Line 5 began operation in October 2007, the new uniforms of the subway staff debuted at the same time. The new look was well-received by subway passengers. In fact, the uniforms were made by Hong Du and the Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology.

Times change, bringing new challenges and requiring new business practices by enterprises, and the market economy system has affected the way Hong Du operates. It adopted the joint-venture and franchised-store sales models, which help this company. Hong Du reports annual sales of about 80 million yuan (US$10.95 million). In achieving this success, Hong Du has blazed its own trail in the market. It practices the 3S Standard—standardization, specialization and simplification—to manage these joint-venture and franchised stores, but Hong Du’s management has not allowed these business models to debase the Hong Du brand name in any way.

北京洪都集团公司

精工细作传承民族文化

改革创新引领企业发展

文/薛京晶

1956年3月，从上海迁至北京的波纬、造寸、蓝天、雷蒙、鸿霞、万国、金泰等七家服装店和中央办公厅附属加工厂合并组成了北京红都时装公司，承担中国党和国家领导人出席重要政治和外交活动的着装任务，同时也根据外国驻华使领馆人员的需要提供制装服务。1993年12月28日，以“红都”品牌为龙头，集服装设计、商业批发零售、宾馆写字楼等为一体的跨行业综合性企业集团——北京红都集团公司（以下简称“红都”）成立，旗下有15家子公司，拥有红都、蓝天、造寸、华表、双顺五个服装品牌，总资产达6.7亿元。2007年，“红都”的中山装制作技艺被列入“北京市非物质文化遗产”，使这一极具中国特色的服装制作技艺得以传承和发展......

老字号的“领袖背景”

“1957年，毛泽东主席照标准像时需要设计一套中山装，红都的高级技师从‘领袖’二字中受到启发，设计制作了大尖领中山装—— ‘毛式中山装’，如今，这张中山装照就悬挂在天安门城楼正中；周恩来总理也是红都的‘老顾客’，其中一套呢料中山装，总理一直穿了六七年，先后两次修补和翻改；刘少奇主席在1963年到南亚四国访问时，也是由红都的技师为其制装……”北京红都集团公司办公室主任郭全进说起红都的历史如数家珍。

50余年来，红都曾先后为毛泽东、邓小平、江泽民、胡锦涛等四代中国党和国家领导人以及柬埔寨亲王西哈努克、美国总统布什等外国首脑制作服装，并以“精工细作、高贵典雅、卓而不群”的高超制衣水平成就了一个时代的辉煌。郭主任表示，与那些有着几百年历史的老字号相比，尽管“红都”还是年轻的品牌，但是这些辉煌的历史和深厚的文化积淀为企业的发展奠定了坚实的基础。

文化传承下的产业复兴

红都是中国目前最大的提供单量单做以及个性化服装设计和生产业务的企业，在北京全市设有30家分店，有经验丰富的高级技术人员60余人，年销售额8000万元左右，其中有1/4为西装和中山装的销售额。

“红都在1993年时就被评为中华老字号，通过多年的发展，我们深感老品牌应该不断适应市场经济的发展和变化，及时调整产品从设计到服务的每一个环节，在继承和发扬优良传统的同时，也要做到创新发展”，郭主任深有感触地说。

目前，红都与北京服装学院建立起了合作机制，发挥北京服装学院在服装设计、服装工效等方面以及企业自身品牌和优良制作工艺等方面的优势，根据顾客的着装场合、时间及个性化要求开展着装咨询服务，利用高科技进行体型数据测量、功能设计、色彩设计、款式设计、面料选择等，还采用电脑辅助设计打版技术进行单量单裁，将时尚、先进、个性化突出的服装设计，量裁订做的一条龙服务和名师制装的新概念融为一体，打造出具有民族特色的“红都”服装精品。

此外，红都还将规模化生产与精品生产相结合，在房山区良乡工业开发区投资2900万元建造了占地面积15000多平方米的大型服装生产加工基地，并投资400余万元对生产流水线进行了更新改造，引进先进的机器设备和服装设计CAD系统，涉及所有种类的服装制作，年生产能力达到30万件（套）。

特色业务开拓大市场

“服装修改是我们开展的一项特色业务”，郭主任回忆起了不久前发生的一件事情。“美国迈阿密市的市长夫人在陪同丈夫来北京访问期间，听说了老字号红都提供服装修改这项特色业务，便将自己穿着不太合适的裘皮大衣拿来修改。经过红都技师精心改制后的大衣，既合体，又不失原来的款式风格。“红都果然名不虚传，中国师傅真厉害！”市长夫人高兴地连连称谢。

郭主任表示，随着目前中国国内服装市场的繁荣发展和国际知名成衣品牌的进入，对成衣修改的需求也随之扩大。红都看准这一市场，充分利用自身技术人员多、业务熟悉的优势，迅速发展服装修改业，并且成立了北京红都服装修改坊有限公司，并在金源新燕莎商城和西单商场等中高档商场建立了4家连锁店。

品质和信誉是发展根基

“其实，红都历经几度岁月变迁，风风雨雨50余年屹立不倒，并愈加焕发生机，品质和信誉在其中起了至关重要的作用。”郭主任意味深长地说。

红都拥有一支以高级服装技师为核心、中青年技师为骨干的专业设计、制作团队，这支队伍在延续了红都特有的“师徒相传”技术模式的同时，还将优秀的传统技艺与现代文化、先进技术结合，建立起完美的品质保障。

郭主任介绍说：“我们严格按照ISO9001质量管理文件及操作规程进行管理，加大对职工的技能培训。同时，在产品的质量管理部门和生产车间都设置了专职质检员对产品抽检，以便发现问题做到及时纠正，保证为顾客提供优质产品。我们的质量目标是——产品一次交检合格率大于99%；顾客满意率达到100%。”

此外，良好的服务是产品质量的更深层展现。红都特别为此制定了员工服务行为和态度规范，特别是在进行单量单做时充分考虑顾客的职业、气质、肤色、爱好等因素来选择面料，在设计制作服装的同时，还帮助顾客搭配服饰，深受欢迎。

与民族同复兴的未来之路

随着“好运北京”世界青年摔跤锦标赛在2007年8月成功落下帷幕，红都为测试赛工作人员设计制作的50余套服装获得了多方好评，这不仅使更多的中外朋友认识了这个服装品牌，也使红都肩负了更加重大的使命。“北京2008年奥运会对我们既是机遇也是挑战，奥运期间各国领导、官员以及运动员的着装是不可忽视的一道人造景观，蕴藏了无限的商机，红都将抓住这一契机，拓展出更大的企业发展空间，实现与中华民族的同复兴！”

Address: 28 Dongjiao Minxiang,

Dongcheng District, Beijing 100006

北京市东城区东郊民巷28号

Tel: +86 10 6513 6644

Fax: +86 10 6512 3749

WWW: www.yshongdu.cn



	Article featured in Business Beijing, January 2008 Publication sponsored by Information Office of the Beijing Municipal Government, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Development & Reform Commission of Beijing Municipality, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (Beijing Sub-Council)