Shuffle in the fast fashion industry intensifies and offline businesses face greater challenges

The reshuffle in the fast fashion industry intensifies and offline businesses face greater challenges

Recently, news of the delisting of Souyute Group (securities abbreviation: *ST Soute), the parent company of the casual wear retail brand Trendline, has attracted the attention of many netizens.

As a clothing giant in the past, Trend Front was once deeply sought after by young consumers, but now it has been abandoned by the times, which makes people feel regretful.

In fact, the growth rate of the fast fashion industry has gradually slowed down in recent years. Not only domestic fast fashion brands such as Trend Front, but also foreign fast fashion brands represented by H&M have also closed stores and shrunk in the Chinese market. Fast fashion The industry has entered a new stage of differentiation from the barbaric growth stage of horse racing and enclosure.

Old players are facing elimination

Public information shows that Souyute Group was established in 2005 and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in November 2010. The company’s brand Trend Frontline captured the preferences of consumers at that time and rode on the popularity of Korean-style clothing to rise rapidly. At the same time, Trendfront also positioned itself as an affordable fast fashion brand, so it has a strong presence in the third and fourth tier markets. Certain popularity.

“Trend Front was my favorite when I was a student. Kelly Chen was the spokesperson at that time, and I still have several posters of her endorsement.” When mentioning Trend Front, netizen CC was very sad. In her mind, this brand’s clothes are pure and lively in style, full of “Korean flavor”, and represent affordable youth casual clothing. However, in recent years, with the gradual decline of Korean culture, the fashion front has gradually lost its appeal to consumers. “When I went shopping in my hometown at the beginning of last year, I saw that this store was on clearance. The price was 39 yuan a piece. I bought a few clothes before the store closed. It was also the last souvenir of my youth.”

From the clothing giant in the past to being forced to delist now, the decline of the trend frontline must be regrettable, but it is only a microcosm of the development of the fast fashion industry.

In recent years, the survival situation of established fast fashion brands has not been optimistic. Among local fast fashion brands, La Chapelle is the first apparel company to be listed on both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Its offline stores once exceeded 9,000. However, in recent years, La Chapelle has experienced store closures and bankruptcy and liquidation. On March 31, 2022, La Chapelle’s A-share shares were officially suspended from trading, and then announced their delisting from A-shares. On June 20 this year, according to the WeChat official account of the “Shanghai Bankruptcy Court”, Xinjiang La Chapelle Clothing Co., Ltd. was unable to pay off its due debts and obviously lacked the ability to pay. After the creditor applied, the Shanghai No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court ruled Accepted the bankruptcy liquidation of La Chapelle.

Meibang Apparel, which “does not follow the ordinary path”, has been in a state of loss since its performance exploded in 2019, with a cumulative loss of more than 3 billion yuan in four years. Meibang Apparel stated in its 2022 annual report that the decline in sales in 2022 was mainly due to the company’s continued channel adjustments during the reporting period and the initiative to close inefficient stores. At the same time, during the reporting period, the company’s only logistics and warehousing park was out of operation for nearly three months, and the goods in the warehouse could not be shipped out normally, resulting in a year-on-year decline in sales scale and a simultaneous decline in sales volume.

While local fast fashion brands have suffered losses one after another, established international fast fashion giants have also experienced frequent failures. Since 2021, H&M’s performance in China has been declining, and its number of stores has also begun to continue to decrease. In June this year, the H&M flagship store in Taikoo Li, Sanlitun, Beijing announced the withdrawal of the store. This is another major layout adjustment for H&M in China after the closure of the Huaihai Middle Road flagship store in Shanghai last year. Inditex, the parent company of ZARA, is also accelerating its contraction in the Chinese market. In July 2022, Inditex announced the closure of all physical stores of its three major brands: Bershka, Pull & Bear, and Stradivarius. In addition, many fast fashion giants have also adjusted their business strategies in the Chinese market. Currently, many brands such as Old Navy, New Look, American Eagle, and Topshop have withdrawn from the Chinese market.

New players have entered the game

It is undeniable that today’s fast fashion industry is undergoing a major shuffle. However, despite the generally difficult situation in the industry, there are still new players entering the market and trying to carve up the market. cake.

While European and American fast fashion brands have withdrawn, Korean fast fashion brands have begun to accelerate their deployment in major domestic business districts. In 2021, Chuu opened its first store in China. In just two years, the number of Chuu stores in China reached 156, achieving rapid growth even during the epidemic. Brandy Melville, a fast fashion brand that also targets girls’ trends, has also become the new favorite of fashionistas. After entering the Chinese market and opening its first store in Shanghai in 2019, Brandy Melville opened its second store in Sanlitun, Beijing, in May 2021. Some consumers born after 2000 told reporters that Y2K and sweet and spicy styles are what attract them to buy. The designs of these fast fashion products are avant-garde and fashionable, and the colors are bright and highly saturated, which is in line with their flamboyant personalities.

As a native Chinese fast fashion brand, URBAN REVIVO (hereinafter referred to as UR) is also rising in a low-key manner and has become a brand force that cannot be ignored. In terms of brand style, UR insists on localized innovation, and its layout and design details are more suitable for Chinese people. In terms of product updates, UR attaches great importance to tracking hot trends. Official data shows that��, the frequency of new products is maintained at twice a week, and the number of styles developed in a year is 12,000. The brand pricing is the same as H&M, and it is enthusiastically sought after by consumers because of its focus on product personalization and cost-effectiveness. Official data shows that during the “6·18” period, UR’s women’s clothing series ranked first in the brand rankings on e-commerce platforms such as Tmall, Douyin and JD.com, becoming a women’s clothing track The biggest winner.