City swims against the tide to create fashion brand

WHEN you lie on the beach, soaking up the sunshine and relishing the warm breeze, there is at least a 25 percent chance that your swimsuit was made in Huludao, an obscure city shaped like a gourd in Liaoning Province.

In the production workshop of Yifeng Group, a local private swimsuit maker, pieces of blue fabric are hung on the production line, waiting to undergo a 20-plus step process, including cutting and sewing, before being packaged and shipped to Britain.

“It is a peak production season. Our factory is running at full capacity,” said Liu Xueyan, chairwoman of the group.

There are more than 1,200 swimsuit companies like Yifeng in Huludao, whose combined annual output exceeds 14 billion yuan (US$2 billion).

The city produced 190 million swimsuits last year, accounting for 25 percent of the global market and 40 percent of the domestic market, local swimsuit industry experts estimated.

The swimwear industry in Huludao took off in the early 1980s, thanks to the China’s reform and opening-up policy. Every summer, tourists wearing various swimsuits swarmed into the city’s seaside for vacation. Local people sensed the business opportunities.

“Many villagers had experience in garment processing, so it was not difficult to make swimsuits with simple designs,” said Yu Shuqin, vice president of the Swimwear Industry Association in Xincheng, a production hub of swimsuits and a county-level city administered by Huludao.

Liu, 61, is one of the earliest pioneers. When she worked as a civil servant in the local forestry bureau, she usually made swimsuits at night to earn extra money — 6 yuan a night, three times her daily wage.

She quit her job and started her own business in 1993. “My husband and I promoted our swimsuits in cities like Beijing, Shenyang and Dalian. They were quickly sold out by beach peddlers at first,” Liu recalled.

Later, they moved up the ladder by selling their products in big shopping malls.

Over the years, the number of workers in Liu’s factory has increased from dozens to more than 500 and 20-plus sewing machines have been replaced by an advanced production line, with an annual capacity of over 10 million swimsuits.

“Family workshops once dominated swimsuit making in Huludao. Compared with the city’s traditional strengths in petroleum, nonferrous metals and shipbuilding, they were looked down upon by many people,” said Shi Wenguang, a former vice mayor of Huludao who played a key role in developing the swimsuit industry.

The swimwear business stood out as the local government was keen to adjust the city’s industrial structure and reduce its heavy reliance on traditional industries. To create a solid brand image, Huludao has hosted an annual global beach swimwear culture expo since 2011.

“Through the expo, we hope to attract more talent and turn their fancy designs into products,” Shi said.

To diversify market channels, the city has seized new opportunities such as e-commerce.

The highlight of Peng Wei’s day is to check the sales of his swimsuits on Amazon.com, a global online shopping platform. “Not bad, 10 types of our products were listed on the top 100 best-selling swimsuits last month on Amazon,” said Peng, 37, general manager of Geman Swimwear in Xingcheng.

Now Huludao is home to over 35,000 swimsuit e-commerce firms. Through the global retail platforms such as AliExpress and Amazon, Made-in-Huludao swimsuits have been exported to 140 countries and regions.

(Xinhua)