Taiwan Today

A blossoming design culture is driving the development of homegrown apparel and fashion brands.

Chou Pin-chin (周品均‬) launched her first clothing venture, Taipei City-based Tokyo Fashion Co., while studying mass communications at university in 2004. Offering unique garments for young women at budget prices, the firm quickly grew into one of Taiwan’s leading online apparel retailers. Brick-and-mortar stores followed, with annual revenues ultimately exceeding NT$2 billion (US$66.67 million).

Chou’s most recent foray into the industry, unveiled in 2016, adopts a markedly different approach. Wstyle Co., also headquartered in Taipei, aims to be a fashion rather than retail brand by designing high-quality, short-run garments for a specific market segment: professional women. “Vendors are primarily concerned with the function, price and variety of products, whereas a brand must convey a core identity or foster an emotional resonance with consumers,” she said.

The varying philosophies of Chou’s endeavors highlight a subtle yet significant shift in Taiwan’s textiles industry. While original equipment manufacturing remains the dominant business model, a growing number of local companies are working to carve out a position in the downstream sector through creating homegrown garment brands with international appeal. “Taiwan is behind many other advanced nations in the development of a high-end fashion sector,” said Flora Sun (孫正華), head of Fashion Taipei Association (FTA), an industry group established in 2017 comprising local design studios and apparel sellers. “The country is working hard to catch up by embracing the latest trends and cultivating emerging talents.”

According to Chou, young consumers favor a marriage of comfort, style and uniqueness in clothing and accessories. By creating brands to cater to this demand, businesses can cash in on the trend away from low-cost, mass-produced goods, she said.

Role Reversal

Wstyle subverts the traditional Taiwan textiles model by crafting original designs in-house and outsourcing production overseas. After developing initial concepts, the company works with fabric and garment manufacturers in South Korea to bring items to market. Chou flies to the Northeast Asian country twice a month to exchange ideas and oversee assembly on the firm’s ever-changing line of coats, dresses, pants, skirts, tops and accessories. “A company like mine can’t use the same materials year after year, but needs to constantly source new varieties in different hues that complement our latest ideas.”

This reversal of the traditional business model could become the norm for local apparel companies. Taiwan textiles manufacturers have shifted production abroad in recent decades, while many remaining domestic operations are focusing on technically complex high-performance functional fabrics.

According to Chou, enterprises ought to view this industry transition as an opportunity to nurture homegrown brands. She believes firms should capitalize on an emerging design culture among Taiwan youths by cultivating talents who can prosper in the fast-moving global fashion sector. “While it used to take a year or more to go from concept to market, this can now be accomplished in a matter of weeks,” she said, adding that local university design programs must prepare graduates for the punishing pace of the modern fashion industry.

Chou and Sun attribute a major downturn among Taiwan garment-makers and retailers in the early part of this decade to a failure to match the rapid development cycles of leading international brands. During this period, Chou left Tokyo Fashion and founded Wstyle with the aim of standing out in Taiwan’s competitive rag trade through expressing a core design philosophy. “Our brand isn’t about flashy styles, but rather highlights the wearer’s innate charm,” she said. “Clothes can teach a woman about herself and help build self-confidence.”

Brand Philosophy

This passion for understatement and individuality in fashion design is shared by Lee Wan-chin (李萬進), founder of Taipei-based bespoke suit firm Gentlemen Co. Established in 1986, the Gentlemen Tailor brand offers high-quality attire for all occasions. The veteran clothier has crafted suits for presidential inauguration ceremonies and leaders from Republic of China (Taiwan) diplomatic allies during state visits. “Our brand is about promoting a formal, elegant style that conveys decency and respect,” he said.

While Lee continues to serve a loyal clientele base, his son Jason Lee (李至誠‬) and son-in-law Chen Yung-jen (陳勇任) are working to attract a new generation of customers through embracing contemporary designs, such as smaller collars and more fitting waistlines. The firm is also adapting to growing competition in the sector, Jason Lee said, noting that they have lowered their starting price point to about NT$30,000 (US$1,000) and set up a new plant in 2017 to manufacture shirts. “We are committed to embracing innovation in design and production methods,” he added.

The company also plays an important role in sector development through nurturing tomorrow’s master tailors. It regularly takes on apprentices from vocational schools, and plans to spin off its internship program into a formal educational institute.

Gentlemen’s dedication to craftsmanship is reflected in family members’ performances at national and international competitions such as the biennial World Federation of Master Tailors Congress, the Oscars of the tailoring world. At the 2017 edition running July 31 to Aug. 5 in northern Taiwan’s Taipei and Taoyuan cities, Chen won the Golden Needle Award in the male category, while the equivalent honor in the women’s classification went to Gentlemen employee Lin Xiao-jing (林曉菁). “These events provide us with an opportunity to demonstrate our expertise on the world stage,” Lee Wan-chin said. “While local customers traditionally show a preference for foreign brands, we hope our products can foster a trend toward homegrown names with equal or higher quality.”

Youthful Energy

FTA head Sun said that growing design competence and an abundance of youthful energy are driving the development of Taiwan’s fashion industry. This passion is on display during annual graduation shows at the nation’s leading tertiary-level design centers including Shih Chien University’s Department of Fashion Design in Taipei and Fu Jen Catholic University’s Department of Textiles and Clothing in New Taipei City. It is also apparent at major events for budding designers like the annual Taiwan Fashion Design Award organized by the government-supported Taiwan Textile Federation.

According to Sun, Taiwan’s transition from a textiles manufacturing hub into a major apparel brand and fashion center will require a new mindset. Fashion design must not be viewed as simply “a new way of selling fabrics,” she said, adding that local firms should seek to tap into a youth design movement incorporating influences from Japan and Western societies to create a distinct Taiwan identity.

Wstyle’s Chou said that increasing awareness of the nation’s fashion culture across Asia, and particularly in Mandarin-speaking societies, is helping foster domestic brand development. “Although we’ve done very little international marketing, about 10 percent of our sales come from outside Taiwan, mostly from countries in Southeast Asia,” Chou said. “While a variety of factors such as similar climates and body types play a role, the primary reason the products are proving popular in this region is our company’s unique design philosophy.”

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw