Chinese Textile Companies Aim to Build Better Bra
BAGUALING, China -- This past spring, China's biggest lingerie manufacturer, Top Form Inc., set up an unusual kind of laboratory.
Situated in a four-story facility here, near the southern border town of Shenzhen, the lab has equipment that includes molds resembling oversized bullets. Surrounded by these molds, workers struggle to unlock the mysteries underlying such phenomena as the seamless brassiere and the shape-retaining bra cup.
"We spend a lot of time on how to make a better bra," says Willie Fung, chief executive of Top Form, which makes 61 million bras a year under well-known labels such as Victoria's Secret, Playtex and Maidenform.
The continued global opposition to the tide of cheap Chinese garments is intensifying efforts by Top Form and other manufacturers to move away from being mere low-cost producers. That pressure increased once again yesterday as the U.S. and China announced an accord to limit the growth on a broad range of textiles -- including bras -- flooding the U.S. The accord follows a similar agreement with the European Union signed in June.
With these restraints, China's manufacturers fear a Darwinian struggle in which they are constantly undercutting each other on prices. That's why many like Top Form are investing heavily in designing and even marketing premium products. It's a shift that has taken on added urgency because under the pact with Europe -- and likely with the U.S. (details have yet to be worked out) -- Chinese companies making higher-priced items get preferential treatment from Beijing in determining the volume of their exports. During the past few years, China's biggest bra makers have invested in bra-research centers, bra towns (where most of the businesses are exclusively devoted to bras), and have even generated enough demand for the creation of a degree course in bra studies, started this year at Hong Kong's Polytechnic University. China has substantially increased investment in the textile sector in recent years, importing $3.5 billion of textile equipment last year, a 275% jump over 1998.
It's all part of a plan to evade the current roadblocks facing the industry. The world's clothing industry has been in upheaval this year after Chinese exports surged to the U.S. and Europe following the lifting of global import quotas in January. To retaliate, the U.S. imposed curbs, which are unpredictable and disruptive to business; these will now be replaced by a more stable system of growth limits averaging between 10% and 17% on Chinese textile exports until 2008 under the deal announced yesterday in London.
Chinese bra makers are better prepared for the restrictions than other textile manufacturers, many which have been taken aback by the strength of the backlash against Chinese textiles. Chinese bras were one of the first clothing items to face free-market access -- and the first to taste restraints.
"We knew trouble was coming," says Stephen Lo, chief operating officer at Ace Style Intimate, which makes brassieres for labels such as Calvin Klein and Debenhams, the large United Kingdom department-store chain. "The signs were there."
Since 2002, imports of Chinese-made bras have been hit with U.S. safeguard quotas twice -- the latest in August. Despite such quotas, imposed to protect domestic makers -- U.S. imports of Chinese bras have almost doubled as manufacturers rushed to build up market share, especially taking advantage of a period earlier in the year before the quotas were imposed to ramp up production. Chinese bras made up 41% of the total bra imports during the first eight months of this year.
Thanks to several years of double-digit growth, China's bra makers had plenty in the war chest to lavish on research and innovation, which they say will make their products more attractive and help them weather the trade restraints better.
David Morris, a university professor who teaches brassiere studies at United Kingdom's De Montfort University, says it is clear that China's bra makers aren't just relying on cost advantages anymore. Some of these Chinese bra makers are "the top end of seamless construction -- we couldn't duplicate it," he says.
Case in point: Top Form, which exports the bulk of its 61 million bras to the U.S. During the past decade, Top Form has evolved from primarily making cut-and-sew brassieres -- simple designs easily put together by China's nimble and low-cost seamstresses. Now, its bra production is a process more akin to car assembly: fusing together the many components needed to make a bra, eliminating much of the need for hand-sewing, or using high temperatures to mold sheets of synthetic fibers into wafer-thin shells.
The popularity of seamless molded bras, which can be smoothly worn under T-shirts, has soared in recent years and has helped nudge Top Form's average selling price per bra to $3.10 from $2.99 in 2002.
Productivity also has improved, since it takes about five minutes to make a seamless bra, compared with about 15 minutes for an average cut-and-sew bra, says Top Form's head of research, Kenneth Wong. To continue making improvements, Top Form's lab in southern China is developing cheap machinery to laminate material, a process that seamlessly sticks the layers of foam and outer lining that go into making bra cups. The company is also developing homemade versions of expensive machinery.
Before the bra lab in Bagualing, Top Form had various units scattered over its factories developing ideas and techniques. Only a fifth of Top Form's 2,300 styles produced yearly are the company's original ideas. With the research and development functions set up, the company aims to produce 30% or more of its own ideas. Coming up with hits is like "shooting in the dark," Mr. Fung says.
Some of those accepted by Top Form's customers still flop. Four years ago, the company pitched VF Corp., based in Greensboro, N.C., with a bra with reversible, changeable cups -- "two bras for the price of one," -- says Mr. Wong. But the product was too uncomfortable to wear, and there were no repeat orders past the initial 100,000 units produced, he says.
Top Form also experimented with bras that help provide extra cleavage through sealed packets filled with air (too prone to leaks and punctures) or oil pads (too expensive and heavy). Now, the company is trying a filling made from a thin variant of fiberfill, the material normally used to line winter parkas.
Despite trade woes and domestic pressures, Top Form last month posted a 17% growth in annual net profit to about $24 million. Times ahead may be hard, "but we're prepared," Mr. Fung says. "We can ride out this storm." 黛丽斯国际欲以质量取胜于内衣市场
今年春季，中国最大的女性内衣生产商黛丽斯国际有限公司 (Top Form International Ltd., 简称：黛丽斯国际 ) 建立了一个非同寻常的实验室。
这个四层楼的实验室坐落在中国南部边境城市深圳的八卦岭，拥有外形类似于特大号子弹的模具等设备。工人们围绕在这些模具边，试图破解制作无缝文胸和不变形罩杯等秘密。
黛丽斯国际行政总裁冯炜尧 (Willie Fung) 说：“我们将很多时间用在如何提高文胸质量上。”该公司每年贴牌生产 6,100 万件文胸，其中包括 Limited Brands Inc. 的 Victoria's Secret 、 Sara Lee Corp. 的 Playtex 和 Maidenform Brands Inc. 的品牌。
全球对中国廉价服装泛滥的反对正在促使黛丽斯国际和其它制造商努力摆脱低成本厂商的形象。随著周二中美双方宣布就流入美国的众多中国纺织品（其中包括内衣）的增幅限制达成一致，该公司面临的压力进一步增大。此前，中国曾与欧盟 (European Union) 在 6 月份签署了类似的协议。
在这些限制之下，中国的制造商担心竞相降价、弱肉强食的局面会愈演愈烈。这也是黛丽斯国际等许多厂家投资于设计甚至营销高档产品的原因。这种产品升级已是迫在眉睫，因为根据同欧盟（很可能还有美国）达成的协议，生产低价产品的公司的出口量不能超过价格更高的竞争对手的出口量。
在过去几年里，中国最大的一些内衣生产商竞相投资兴建研发中心和内衣城，这些地方的绝大多数企业都同内衣生产有关，从设备厂商到部件的批发商等不一而足。这种旺盛的需求甚至催生了一个新的大学专业，香港理工大学 (Polytechnic University) 就从今年开始设立了内衣学学位课程。中国近年来大幅增加了在纺织品领域的投资，去年共进口了 35 亿美元的纺织设备，几乎是 1998 年的 4 倍。
至少，中国从中获得的一个回报就是：它已经被视为文胸这种高科技服装产品的重要生产国。
Ace Style Intimate 的首席运营长 Stephen Lo 说：“我们知道遇到了麻烦，这种迹象已经很明显了。”该公司主要为美国的卡尔文?克莱 (Calvin Klein Industries Inc.) 和英国的 Debenham 贴牌生产文胸。
如何绕过面前的障碍是内衣生产商不得不考虑的问题。自 1 月份全球纺织品进口配额取消后，随著中国对美国和欧洲出口量的飙升，世界纺织业就一直处于动荡之中，美国还对此采取了报复措施。根据周二达成的协议，美国将中国从现在至 2008 年的对美纺织品出口增幅按不同服装种类设定在 10% 至 17% 之间。
中国的内衣生产商对这种限制所作的准备比其它纺织品厂商更加充分，对中国纺织品的强烈抵制让不少中国纺织品厂商受到了冲击。中国的文胸是第一个自由进入海外市场的服装品种之一，当然也最先品尝到了设限的滋味。
自 2002 年以来，中国产文胸曾两次遭遇美国的保护性配额限制，最新一次是在 8 月份。尽管如此，美国从中国进口的文胸数量仍增长了近一倍，尤其是今年早些时候设限前制造商抓住机会大幅提高产量。今年前 8 个月，中国产文胸占美国文胸进口量的 41% 。
由于近年来一直保持两位数的增长速度，中国的内衣生产商拥有足够的现金从事研发和创新。他们表示，这将使其产品更具吸引力，有助于他们更好地抵御贸易限制。
在英国德蒙特福德大学 (De Montfort University) 教授内衣专业课程的大卫?莫里斯 (David Morris) 说，很明显，中国的内衣生产商不再仅仅依赖于成本优势了。这所大学是香港理工大学之外唯一一所设立内衣专业学院的知名大学。莫里斯说：“部分中国内衣生产商处于无缝制作的最前沿，我们无法仿制。”
黛丽斯国际就是其中一例，该公司每年生产的 6,100 万件文胸中，许多都出口到了美国。过去 10 年里，黛丽斯国际已经走出了原来主要依靠手工缝制文胸的模式。现在，该公司的文胸生产过程同汽车组装非常类似：将文胸的各种部件融合到一起，取消了过去所需的大部分手工缝制工作。
无缝内衣近几年来越来越受到人们的欢迎，也使得黛丽斯国际的文胸平均售价从 2002 年的每件 2.99 美元上升到 3.10 美元。
黛丽斯国际研发部负责人 Kenneth Wong 说，生产率也得到了提高，现在制作一件无缝文胸仅需 5 分钟左右，而过去手工缝制平均需要 15 分钟左右。为了继续做出改进，黛丽斯国际在华南的实验室正在开发叠合材料的低成本设备。该公司也在自己研制生产设备，以期取代海外昂贵设备的使用。
在八卦岭建立内衣实验室之前，黛丽斯国际在其下属工厂内就有许多从事设计和技术开发的部门。在该公司每年生产的 2,300 款文胸中，只有五分之一源自公司最初的创意。随著研究工作的集中，公司希望自己设计开发的款式能至少占到 30% 以上。
不过，冯炜尧称，要想提出市场欢迎的创意就象是在黑暗中打靶一样。就连批发商接受的一些款式最后仍以失败告终。他说， 4 年前，该公司为 VF Corp. 生产了一款罩杯可翻转可变的文胸，宣传口号是“用一件的价格买两件文胸。”但这款产品穿戴起来很不舒服，在最初的 10 万件产品生产之后，就再也没有接到过订单。
尽管面临贸易纠纷和国内压力，黛丽斯国际上月仍公布，年净利润增长 17% ，达到 2,400 万美元左右。冯炜尧说：“未来不会一片坦途，不过我们做好了准备，我们能够渡过难关。”
