Retailer Bosideng ends UK contracts

A woman walks past a Bosideng International Holdings Ltd store in Yichang, in Central China's Hubei province. Liu Junfeng / for China Daily

Chinese fashion retailer Bosideng International Holdings Ltd is ending contracts with its UK buying and design teams and shifting some key manufacturing to China.

Three buyers, including a design executive and an assistant based in Bradford, northern England and one designer in London, have been made redundant. The move is part of strategic adjustment, Bosideng China said in a reply to China Daily on Thursday.

No more collections will be designed from the UK as local Chinese designers will take their place and add more Chinese elements into the following work, according to Bosideng China. They are shifting down clothes' manufacture to their factories in China and keeping other men's apparel categories overseas.

The company's plan of marching into the European market is also being reconsidered, to balance the aims of neither rushing in nor missing major opportunities, Bosideng said.

Headed by former Crombie head of design and buying Amelia Pretious, the aim of the UK team was to create a collection that would sell domestically and in China, according to UK trade publication Drapers. Pretious unveiled Bosideng's autumn 2014 collections at New York Fashion Weekin February.

Bosideng, operating around 10,000 stores and one of the largest clothing operations in China, invested 30 million pounds ($50.41 million) into its first store on South Molton Street in London, which opened in September 2012. The brand's London line specializes in designer men's clothes, with prices in line with famous brands like Ted Baker.

Bosideng launched a pop-up shop in New York City, with plans to expand into the US market in coming years. The Shanghai-based fashion brand has participated in New York Fashion Week.

Pushing for an international presence is on the brand's agenda, and Bosideng founder Gao Dekang has said it's time for international expansion.

Though Bosideng is little known outside China, it has been a top brand in down making in China where it has more than 10,000 retail locations. The label introduced an up-market line for its London store with premium men-swear items for European consumers.

The first collection designed for Bosideng was the spring/summer 2014 season, focusing on fine tailoring with fabrics from Italy, while keeping the brand's Chinese heritage "intact," Pretioushas said.

But Bosideng UK's trading has not been as buoyant as expected. "Last Christmas, I went to Bosideng's shop in central London several times out of curiosity. I found that most of its clothes carried discount tags during sales seasons. Even so, there were few people in the store," said Wang Yang, who works in London.

"I'd never heard of Bosideng before," London resident David Glonek said. "Normally we trust local brands or other famous brands. When the prices of the new brand are equal to local brands, I absolutely prefer local ones."

"As a Chinese brand which wants to attract British or European customers, they must build the reputation first," he said. Two sources at Bosideng UK confirmed to China Daily that its chief executive Wayne Zhu has not been based in the country for several months. Zhu is the founder of Bosideng UK.

Zhuhas said the rebranding is aimed to upgrade the value chain, from cost-effective apparel to top-quality designer clothes. If the London model is successful, Bosideng will take the same model to other European countries. Jason Denmark, director of retail operations, Bosideng UK, said the company hopes to capture Western sensibilities in its new lines.

"What we will achieve is to dovetail a subtle combination of Chinese and UK fashion-influenced design, using mainly European fabrics and manufacturing processes, to create this unique collection," he said.

The Chinese fashion brand, sandwiched between trusted local top-notch European brands and fast fashion's more affordable offerings, is finding it tough to position itself at the proper pricing, a British retail expert who declined to be named, said. The expert suggested Bosideng highlight its online presence and create a Western brand name to gradually build its reputation.