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Knitwear is undergoing a rebrand in China as a new wave of independent designers embrace the design possibilities of cashmere and fine knits. The latest in a series of upbeat initiatives sees Ruohan, a Chinese knitwear label founded in 2021 by designer Ruohan Nie, collaborating with Chinese cashmere giant Erdos on a collection to launch this September.
The collection of 28 looks, which is being previewed in Paris from today, is indicative of the sophisticated low-key style of the Shanghai-based designer, who studied at Parsons School of Design. There are cashmere knits, silk suits, coats and trousers. “Compared with commercial brands, the designer brands are very diverse and creative, very bold and use different yarns. They are single-handedly creating a new trend for the knit industry,” says Dai Tana, general manager of Erdos Cashmere Group and its brand division.
Nie joins a wave of designers driving a new take on knitwear in China. Crush Collection, one of China’s first independent knitwear brands launched in 2010, applies tailoring techniques to fine knits. Rui’s provocative second-skin knits in super-elastic Lycra have earned a global appeal, worn by the likes of singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, actor Maisie Williams and K-pop star Jennie Kim.
Puyuan Fashion Week, a new biannual event launched this April in the Zhejiang Province, featured many new design talents including Swaying/Knit, ZI II CI IEN and Nan Knits — the latter made a splash on the fashion scene during the pandemic with colourful sci-fi-style separates and signature woven bags.
Their success is driven in part by a growing preference among consumers — and notably, younger shoppers — for understated luxury. “An old money aesthetic or ‘quiet luxury’ has been trending in recent years. One of the key elements Chinese consumers associate with such styles is expensive knitwear,” says brand consultant Yishu Wang. “Hence, Loro Piana and Max Mara, known for their cashmere and wool products, have been very popular in China.”
Erdos Group, which operates five distinct cashmere brands among other businesses and has an overall staff of 40,000, has been partnering with local designers since 2018 in what started out as a branding exercise. Since then collaborations with clothing brands Uma Wang, Xu Zhi, Tommy Zhong, M Essentials and supermodel Liu Wen have all played a part in what has turned into a significant commercial rollout and strategy, which has helped the conglomerate to reposition with an eye on the next generation of consumers, says Tana.
“The world of knitwear has changed so much,” says Steven Oo, a designer from Myanmar who has been living in China for 10 years. Osmos, his highly technical label registered in Shanghai, prioritises research and development and has a small small factory in Pudong with a knit lab with 30 machinists. It introduces five to six new stitches seasonally. “A lot of what I do as a brand isn’t even categorised as knitwear — to the consumer it looks like a different category — but we are knitting on super-fine gauge.”
Nan Knits, helmed by Hu Nan, is now in its fourth season. It produces 100 styles seasonally and counts 15 buyer stores across China as stockists. “Knitwear is moving away from being loose and unflattering because of the demand from the younger generation,” says Hu. “If you go on Farfetch or Ssense, there’s a big knit category — there is a real demand for designer knitwear. Most of my [customers] are under 25. My best seller is a small bra top that is well-priced.”
Both Crush Collection and Swaying/Knit are among top sellers at retailer Labelhood, founded by Tasha Liu. In August 2022, Labelhood opened its first knitwear-focused concept store with Erdos in Shanghai’s JC Plaza. “With the strengthening of the supply chain in recent years, factories are able to produce a variety of knitted products and our brands are more willing to introduce knitted items,” Lui notes.
A focus on natural fibres
Beyond cashmere, wool is proving popular in China with younger consumers. Between July 2021 and June 2022, consumers aged 18 to 34 accounted for more than half of online spending on wool clothing on Tmall and more than 60 per cent in first-, second- and third-tier cities, according to a 2022 Wool Apparel Consumption Trend Insight report by agency CBNData, in partnership with The Woolmark Company and Alibaba’s Tmall.
According to Australian Wool Innovation, 80 per cent of Australian wool is processed and manufactured in China while 50 per cent of finished products are sold in the country. A report by Boyan Consulting, published in April, predicts China’s wool industry will be worth $16 billion by 2025, up from over $11 billion in 2017. “Chinese consumers’ overall demand for premium products has remained robust, driven by their perceptions of superior quality, brand value and status,” says Jeff Ma, Woolmark’s EVP of marketing for Greater China and developing markets in Asia, referring to the luxury products more widely. “Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about sustainability and environmental issues, which has led to a growing interest in eco-friendly and natural fibres too.”
The Woolmark Company, whose remit is to promote the use of wool globally, has spied an opportunity. For this year’s Earth Day, Woolmark teamed up with Shanghai’s influential theatre group Sleep No More to create a video promoting merino wool. Performers buried garments in soil to demonstrate the rapid rate of merino wool’s biodegradation. It has also partnered with local brands including lingerie and loungewear label Neiwai, with whom it launched a merino wool collection in 2022 that used blockchain for digital transparency of the supply chain. This also taps into a growing awareness and demand for sustainable fashion in China.
In another initiative, Swaying/Knit, a regular brand on the Shanghai Fashion Week schedule, has launched a repair service for all customers buying its cashmere products. In July, Crush Collection will receive Oeko-Tex certification — more than 40 per cent of its pre-fall 2023 collection is certified to guarantee that all materials used are non-harmful. “I’m pretty confident we are the first independent designer brand in China to be certified by Oeko-Tex,” says founder Vivian Chang. Crush Collection aims to be 100 per cent environmentally certified by 2025.
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