Hangzhou has designs on Armani as luxury labels take off
A two-hour drive inland from Shanghai, Hangzhou is best known for its tea and for a lake eulogised by ancient poets and frequented by Chairman Mao. But the city is also starting to win a reputation for the industrial parks on its outskirts.
In one factory with red lanterns hanging on the front wall, the worst nightmare for Italian clothes manufacturers is beginning to unfold - it has started producing hand-made clothes for Giorgio Armani.
China's assault on clothes manufacturing over the last two decades is well known. It started in simple T-shirts and socks, moving on to more complicated items such as tailored blouses and shirts. However, the Sun Hong Garments factory is evidence that a few Chinese companies can achieve the quality of even the most demanding Italian luxury labels.
"There are probably easier ways to make money in China because it can be difficult to meet the quality standards, but it can be done," says Sheng Mei, the 36-year-old fashion-school graduate who runs the factory.
Ms Sheng is not just producing items for Armani's less expensive brands such as Armani Jeans and Armani Exchange, she is also working for Armani Collezioni, the company's second-top label. The clothes include a lightweight cotton coat with a fox-fur collar and hand-stitched patterns, which sells for around �650 (￡450, $790). Armani said that only a small portion of its Collezioni line was produced in China and that the "vast majority" continued to be made in its Italian factories.
Armani is far from the first luxury brand to try Chinese factories. The extent of the outsourcing can be seen in Ms Sheng's career since graduation. ("Why go to university to become a tailor?" her father complained.) The first contract, over a decade ago, was to make 2,000 blouses for a brand in the Max Mara stable, while she was still employed at a state-owned trading company. In 1999 she took her clients to a new company set up by her family, which now has annual sales of $10m - all from exports of designer clothes.
Ms Sheng says that although some of her Italian clients do not use a "Made in China" tag, Armani has been doing so - she personally checked last month in Europe.
"When I see my clothes hanging in a shop with no mention of China on the label, I feel a little sad," she says. "So I am so happy about Armani. It shows that Mr Giorgio Armani really respects Chinese people."
If northern Italy was able to build its luxury industry on the skills of local artisans, Hangzhou has some of the same advantages. The city has a long tradition in silk embroidery and Sun Hong hires women in the villages around the city to do sewing. "If you try to do that sort of thing by machine, it always looks cheaper," she says.
Ms Sheng admits she has had quality problems. She will not give details, but says these can be resolved with good management. "In China there are many people who can make good things, but they do not always try," she says. "It is up to managers to make an extra effort and check the quality that one last time."
Yet if Hangzhou is a threat to Italian clothes manufacturers, it is an opportunity for designers. The success of private entrepreneurs has given Hang-zhou one of the highest concentrations of millionaires in China. Alibaba, the website in which Yahoo in-vested $1bn, is based in Hangzhou.
These entrepreneurs are the foundation for a thriving luxury goods industry.
Last year a new open-air mall opened beside the lake called Euro Street, which is lined with the top Italian brands, including Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani and the first Armani Casa store in China, selling Italian-made sofas for $6,000. You can sip espresso at a Ferrari café overlooking the lake, just down the road from a showroom for the famous cars.
Ms Sheng admits she recently bought a $500 skirt at Dolce & Gabbana. "I suppose I could have made something similar myself," she says. "But the cut of the cloth and the fabric were just so lovely."
“中国制造”奢侈起来
距离上海2小时车程的杭州，因其茶叶和一个受到无数古代诗人赞美的湖泊而名闻天下，毛主席也曾经常盘桓于此。如今，它也开始因其市郊的工业园而蜚声海内外。
在一个外墙悬挂红灯笼的工厂里，意大利服装制造商们最可怕的噩梦正开始变成现实：这里已经开始生产乔治?阿玛尼 (Giorgio Armani)的手工缝制服装。
中国在过去20年里大举进军服装制造业的历史已是众所周知。从T恤衫和袜子等简单产品开始，逐渐过渡到生产那些裁减讲究的上衣和衬衫等复杂产品。然而，浙江盛宏服装有限公司(Sun Hong Garments)证明，部分中国公司甚至可以达到意大利奢侈品牌苛刻的质量要求。
盛宏服装总经理盛梅称，在中国，或许有更容易的挣钱途径，因为达到（意大利奢侈品牌的）质量标准非常困难，但它还是可以做到。 盛梅今年36岁，毕业于一家时装学校。
盛梅掌管的这家企业不仅为阿玛尼生产Armani Jeans和 Armani Exchange等较便宜的品牌，同时还生产该公司第二大高档品牌Armani Collezioni。这些服装中，包括一种带有狐狸皮领子和手缝图案的轻质棉外套，售价约为650欧元。阿玛尼称，只有一小部分Collezioni系列产品在中国生产，其它“绝大部分”继续在其意大利工厂生产。
阿玛尼远不是第一个尝试将产品交由中国工厂生产的奢侈品牌。从盛梅毕业之后的职业生涯就可以看出奢侈品牌外包到中国的程度之高。（她父亲曾抱怨道：“干嘛要上大学去学裁缝？”）十多年以前，当盛梅还在一家国有贸易公司上班的时候，她接到了第一笔订单――为Max Mara旗下的一个品牌生产2000件上衣。1999年，她把客户带到她们自家建立的一间新公司。目前，这家公司年销售额达1000万美元，全部来自品牌服装的出口。
盛梅称，尽管她的一些意大利客户没有在产品上使用“中国制造”标签，但阿玛尼已经这样做了――她上月亲自去欧洲核对过。
“当在商店中看到我们的产品没有中国制造的标签，我感到有一些遗憾，”她说，“但我很高兴阿玛尼已经这么做了，这说明乔治?阿玛尼 (Giorgio Armani)先生非常尊重中国人。”
如果意大利北部地区可以依靠当地工匠的手艺来建立他们的奢侈品产业，那么杭州在这方面也有一些类似的优势。这个城市在丝绸刺绣方面具有悠久的传统，盛宏服装就雇佣周边村庄的妇女做缝纫工。“如果你试图用机器做这种工作，产品往往会看上去很便宜。”
盛梅承认，她也遇到一些质量方面的问题。她没有具体说明，但表示，这些问题可以通过良好的管理来解决。“在中国，有许多人都能做出很好的东西，但他们往往不努力，”她说，“经理们有责任付出额外的努力，最后把好质量关。”
如果杭州对意大利服装制造商来说是一个威胁的话，对服装设计师而言则是一个机会。私人企业家的成功已使杭州成为中国百万富翁最集中的城市。电子商务网站阿里巴巴(Alibaba)便坐落在杭州。雅虎(Yahoo) 向这家网站投资了10亿美元。
这些企业家正是杭州日益兴旺的奢侈品行业的客户基础。
去年，一个名为“欧洲街”(Euro Street)的户外商业街在西湖边开张。这里，意大利顶级品牌林立，包括 Dolce & Gabbana、乔治?阿玛尼 ，还有Armani Casa在中国开设的第一家商店――该店销售的意大利产沙发标价高达6000美元。你可以安座在法拉利(Ferrari)展厅不远处的法拉利咖啡厅里，一边小口喝着浓咖啡，一边眺望西湖。
盛女士承认，她最近花了500美元在Dolce & Gabbana买了一条裙子。“我想，我自己也可以生产类似的东西，”她说，“但这条裙子的裁剪和它所用的布料都非常美。”
