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Raise the China Brand

For a long time, the leading countries in style and fashion have usually been cited as Italy and France. However, in recent years, China, and Beijing in particular, have emerged with a new wave of home-grown designers playing an increasingly attractive role in these industries, especially in the domestic market.

Mao Lan, a first-year master’s student majoring in fashion design at Tsinghua University’s Academy of Arts and Design, is not as worried about future employment as some of her compatriots in other academic disciplines.

 “Fashion design is one of the slowest developing industries in China; thus there is still a lot of opportunity in the domestic market. Only recently have China’s designers and investors realized branding’s importance and value: yet having your own brand is the ultimate goal of all fashion designers,” Mao said.

Mao, of Guangzhou, came to Tsinghua to study fashion design more than five years ago. Since then she has learned a lot about different styles of designs and needs from across the country.

“I believe that the fashion industry is more developed in the South, and that is why I want to stay in Beijing. Here designers are more able to express original ideas, and because of the difference in climate, Beijing designers are able to experiment with a wider world of fashion, such as cold weather clothing,” she added.

Though students are still willing to continue their educations overseas, such as at St. Marten in the United Kingdom, new investments in areas such as the 798 Art District and nearby D-Park have given young designers many more local opportunities.

Professor Xiao Wenling, head of Fashion and Textiles Design in Tsinghua University’s Academy of Arts and Design, said, “I believe that locations such as 798 and D-Park are essential for fashion and art design development in Beijing; the areas’ high concentration of artists can lead to the creation of new designs and concepts.”

“These are exactly the types of projects that local governments should promote.However, because this industry is largely based on the innovation of artists, there should be little intervention in creativity,” Xiao added.

Xiao explained that there was a period in the 1980s when government did invest in China’s fashion design industry, but then tried to redirect the industry to focus on China’s ethnic minority cultures. “This did not work well, as their designs were not considered mainstream and generated little value. It is far more important for the government to give our industry the essential hardware we need and leave the software development to the artists.”

The goal of all fashion design students is probably to start up their own brand; yet, few of them have been able to accomplish this task. Working for either local or international companies can be just as rewarding, according to Professor Xiao, who explained that top designers can earn as much as US$3.5 million a year.

Research shows that most entry-level graduate fashion design jobs normally offer up to 5,000 yuan (US$750) a month, which cannot be considered “low” in terms of most graduates’ average salary of about 2,000 yuan to 4,000 yuan (US$300–$600). Increases often depend on how fast an individual’s designs meet the demands of their employers. In extreme cases, when a designer’s products can carry an entire line for a brand and generate intellectual property value, keeping a designer may well be one of the most costly expenses for a clothing company.

The recent global economic downturn has resulted in much worry in the fashion industry despite the speed at which it is growing. The most troubled in the textiles industry are exporters such as Eilly Huang, who owns a branded fashion export and wholesaling company which primarily exports for North American markets. “Our industry may be one of the worst hit, and like many exporters I have taken this opportunity to concentrate more on the domestic market.”

Huang specializes in wool garments and explains her need for fashion designers, “We need hundreds of samples each season. These samples differ in style from country to country, and the demand for good local fashion designers is going up. We often find ourselves competing with foreign brands such as the Koreans or Japanese for top designers.”

According to Huang, the range of opportunity for fashion designers in China is extremely large compared to other more-developed markets that tend to be more focused. For example, France and Italy are known for more high class luxury brands and designs, while some of the world’s best-known sporting apparel is from the United States. China has local brands in all fields, and this range is only set to grow.

服装设计师——职业发展新机遇

文/胡瑶

当人们过去谈起品牌、时尚、潮流时，似乎只有法国、意大利这样充满时尚韵味的国家才会进入脑海。30年的改革开放，使中国已经成为世界上最大的服装生产国、出口国和消费国，中国的服装纺织品出口总量目前占据世界的25％。但中国的服装品牌虽然已逾万种，迄今仍没有国际级的设计师，更没有到造出一个国际服装知名品牌，这与服装大国的地位极不相称。有所转变的是，近来在中国特别是北京，正涌现出一批本土服装设计师队伍，在国内服装产业中发挥着愈加重要的作用。

服装设计行业在中国发展起步较晚，所以国内市场上还有不少空缺。中国工业和信息化部已经做出重要决策：以服装产业为龙头，带动整个纺织工业的发展。近来，中国的服装设计师们也开始注重实现品牌的开发与价值，他们当中很多人的终极梦想是创建属于自己的品牌。

国内设计师发展空间广阔

尽管中国一些服装设计专业的学生热衷于到诸如英国圣马丁服装设计学院等享誉全球的服装设计学院深造，但也有很多人选择在北京发展。他们认为在这里服装设计师可以自由地表达自己的创意和理念，而且由于气候的原因，设计师们更能感受到服装的多样性，激发更多灵感。国内如798艺术区等地的兴起，更为年轻的服装设计师们提供了更多在本土发展的机会。

对本土时尚重要性的意识，也催生了一批服装设计相关产业的发展，如服装摄影、平面设计、时尚传媒等。这些领域的企业特别是国内知名的时尚杂志，都急需掌握时尚的年轻人才。

“我认为像798这样的地方，对北京的时尚和艺术设计发展是至关重要的。在这里，艺术家的高度集中有利于新设计和新概念的诞生。798是一个非常成功的典型，政府可以考虑从这个角度来推动本土服装设计产业的发展。但因为服装设计对设计师灵感要求的特殊性，一个宽松的创作环境不可或缺。”清华大学美术学院纺织与服装艺术设计系主任肖文陵说。

目前，国内的一系列青年服装设计比赛，比如由中国服装设计师协会等举办的“新人奖”、“益鑫泰”设计奖、“诺蒂卡”创意奖评选和“汉帛奖”设计大赛等，也意在推动中国服装设计行业的发展，提高设计师的知名度。

虽然所有服装设计师都梦想创建自己的品牌，但实现了这个梦想的设计师仍是凤毛麟角。国外的一些知名品牌是以设计师为中心，所有设计先定出一个总体风格，围绕这个风格再进行设计。国内的服装企业是以利润为中心，设计师的流动性很强。据肖文陵介绍，中国顶级首席服装设计师的年薪最高可达到350万元。

据调查，许多服装设计专业的毕业生，刚工作时月薪在5000元左右，这个数字将随着工作经历的增长而上升。比较特殊的例子是，当设计师可以为一个品牌独自操刀一整条生产线，他的脑力劳动价值得到充分的体现时，为留住人才，服装公司不得不支付设计师高额报酬，这项花费可能会是整个服装公司开销中最大的一笔。目前市场上对女装设计师的招聘要求一般为：具有3—4年女装设计的工作经验，设计创意强，能够准确把握市场需求与流行趋势，设计能满足公司产品市场定位，并具整体设计开发与策划执行能力以及团队领导能力。

加大国内市场开发力度

近期全球经济下行为服装产业的发展笼罩了一层阴影，虽然目前各项经济指标如行业增长率等仍然表现健康，但不少纺织服装出口企业已经开始忧心忡忡。一些企业认为服装纺织行业是国内受金融危机影响最深的行业之一，企业趁机进行生产结构调整，以加大对国内市场的开发力度。

据业内专家介绍，中国的服装设计领域比起成熟的国外市场而言更为广阔。国外市场的专一性更强些，像法国和意大利主要设计生产高端的奢侈品牌和设计师品牌，而美国则有一批世界知名的运动品牌。国内的服装产业涵盖各种不同类型服装的设计制作，所以服装企业对设计师的需求会一直稳定上升。

专家认为，服装品牌所蕴涵的文化个性主要体现在设计风格和创新上。作为服装设计师，最重要的是掌握市场需求动向，用设计优良的产品去占领市场。设计师需要同时参与品牌定位、产品风格定位、消费群定位、年龄段定位的工作。要拥有扎实的专业设计能力，能把创意与市场紧密结合的设计师将会成为用人单位的重点考虑对象。

“校友俱乐部”方便毕业生就业

为方便毕业生就业，国内的一些服装设计教育机构还建立起了“校友俱乐部”。 肖文陵说：“这些已经在业内打拼多年的设计师们有很多已经有能力自己扩充设计队伍，他们更倾向于雇用有相同学术背景的毕业生。他们会更信任与自己毕业学校相同的毕业生，因为学历上的共同点会有利于交流的通畅，同时，‘校友俱乐部’所提供的人际网脉有助于职业起步。”

经过近10年的发展，中国出现了一批国际知名服装设计师，如张肇达、郭培、梁子、罗峥等。2006年“十一”期间，中国设计师谢锋带着自己创立的吉芬(Jefen)品牌，作为第一个成功登陆巴黎时装周开幕秀的中国服装品牌而备受世界瞩目，这也被认为是中国设计师进军国际时装界的一个标志。此后，计文波、杨紫明等也开始单独出现在国际著名时装周的T台上。特别是在2006年，中国8位知名本土品牌集体亮相意大利米兰时装周，这更是极大地提升了中国品牌的知名度和美誉度。随着中国国力的不断提升，中国的服装设计师将越来越受到世界的瞩目。