Royal wedding: a chance to go upmarket
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Yiwu International Trade City is waking up to this. The trend here is to shift wholesale business from the Middle East and Africa to Europe and the US. Local government is helping promote the shift. In 2010, it outlawed the use of chrome in jewelry products made in Yiwu. The government is inciting local producers to adopt environmentally friendly materials and move up the industrial value chain.
A few months ago, I did business with some UK retailers for the first time. They do not necessarily buy in to the "cut-price" stereotype about Chinese providers. All providers are equal, especially on the Internet business platform. In jewelry, design and quality determine what prices you can ask for.
My company was founded in 2000. I want to seize the current opportunity and make a name for us in high-end royal wedding memorabilia. I've already started to make a range of products, including cups, dresses, and Kate Middleton-inspired feather hairpieces. I want to impress my clients with good ideas and professionalism.
However, reinventing oneself isn't easy. What's bothers me most is what to do after April when the wedding has come and gone.
For nearly a decade, I've been making replicas based on photos or requirements provided by clients. But now I need to design products for customers overseas. It's hard for me to get a handle on their psychology, and integrate their cultural preferences into my products.
Taking a tour abroad and doing some on-the-spot investigation is probably a good method. But the costs are high, and such tours do not necessarily provide real knowledge and inspiration about the fashion trends there.
The best thing I can do now is to read fashion magazines like Vogue from time to time, and learn to blend the latest design elements in brands like Chanel and LV into my products.
I'm also talking to some professional design companies in Shenzhen. I know I can't just act on my own.
It's tough day-to-day, but I'm fairly optimistic about the future. After all, nothing is impossible in China.
Perhaps when Prince Harry gets married, he'll call on us to design the royal wedding ring, instead of just replicating it.
The author is the owner of Yiwu Unnar Jewelry Company in Zhejiang Province. This article was compiled by Chen Chenchen, a reporter with the Global Times. chenchenchen@globaltimes.com.cn
