The Research Journal of the Costume Culture (복식문화연구)

The Costume Culture Association (복식문화학회)
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An analysis of the characteristics of the Chinese contemporary fashion market and the competitiveness of the Korean fashion brand

중국 상해 패션 시장의 특성과 한국 패션 브랜드의 경쟁력 분석

  • Kim, Hyunsue (Dept. of Clothing & Textiles, Hanyang University) ;
  • Lee, Younhee (Dept. of Clothing & Textiles, Hanyang University) ;
  • Lee, Jiyeon (Dept. of Clothing & Textiles, Hanyang University)
  • Received : 2017.01.18
  • Accepted : 2017.03.10
  • Published : 2017.04.30
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Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the characteristics of the contemporary Chinese fashion market and the competitiveness of Korean fashion brands in China. Fashion professionals experienced in both the Korean and Chinese fashion markets participated to investigate the Shanghai market and consumers. The results of in-depth interviews show that Shanghai is the most favorable city among Tier 1 cities for Korean fashion brands planning on entering into the Chinese market. Shanghai consumers are open to international brands and highly prefer newness in fashion. Contemporary menswear was selected as a potentially big market due to the increase of unique, young, upper-middle-class male consumers. The Korean fashion brands' strength is that they are capable of satisfying Shanghai consumers with excellent product planning and sensory design capabilities. Their disadvantage is that their brand recognition is weaker than that of global and international brands, and their ability to localize to the Chinese market is weak. The opportunity comes is from the Korean Wave, which is a positive for Korea's products and has good geographical access. The threat is that the Shanghai market is fiercely competitive; having access to many worldwide brands, and the competitiveness of Chinese brands is on the rise. To enter the Shanghai market, creative design ability, trendy product development, skill, and appropriate PR methods such as using Korean culture contents would be required to satisfy the young, powerful consumers in Shanghai.

Keywords

References

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