Since exploding in popularity in the late 2010s/early 2020s, fast fashion retailer Shein has captured the attention of millions of shoppers worldwide with its rapid trend cycle and rock-bottom prices. However, its exponential growth has raised concerns within the business community and among consumers.

In this article, we delve into the background of Shein, its remarkable growth, concerns surrounding its business model, and the implications of its expansion for British companies in China and beyond.

What is Shein?

Shein (pronounced ‘shee-n’ or ‘shee-in’) is an online fast fashion retailer with an app and website. It predominantly sells clothing, as well as homewares, beauty products, and an increasing range of miscellaneous items. Sales are driven by heavy discounts – which pop up as soon as a user accesses the website or app – and extensive influencer marketing, as well as the sheer number of products available to browse.

Like Temu, Shein keeps prices low by selling products directly from a network of third-party manufacturers in China. The real key to its success, however, lies in its ‘on-demand’ model, which leverages user data to quickly boost or shut down production of items based on how well they’re selling or what people are searching for. By placing small orders from suppliers who both design and manufacturer items, it can get items on its virtual shelves in as little as a week, allowing it to capitalise on so-called micro-trends and encourage people to keep buying.

Shein then ships products directly from China in individual shipments that have a low enough value that they avoid customs duty in countries like the US and UK. It ships to over 150 countries.

Shein became the largest fashion retailer in the world in 2022 after securing a US$100 billion valuation in a funding round, and it achieved more than £1.3 billion in sales in the UK alone in 2023 according to GlobalData. Although much of this growth has been attributed to Gen Z TikTok users, the average Shein user actually skews a bit older, at about 35 years old, and their average monthly spend is about US$100. This suggests that many consumers aren’t using Shein as an option to buy affordable essentials but rather are using its bargain prices to pad out their wardrobes with impulse buys.

Who owns Shein?

Shein was founded in 2008 by Chris (Yangtian) Xu, an SEO specialist. After several years of e-commerce operations under various guises, Xu changed his company’s name to Shein in 2015. The company ticked over for several years before the pandemic gave it its final push into the stratosphere – especially as brick and mortar retailers struggled.

Despite the company’s success, Xu has remained a mysterious figure. He rarely accepts interviews or even releases public comments. However, with an IPO thought to be on the way, he could find himself thrust into the spotlight.

Are there any criticisms of Shein?

Shein sits at the crest of a new wave of ‘ultra-fast fashion’ retailers that are attracting scrutiny for their environmentally damaging practices. The manufacturing of synthetic fibres like polyester and nylon – prevalent in fast fashion clothing – is highly energy intensive and produces large amounts of microplastics, while textile dyeing is one of the largest sources of water pollution. Overall, the UN Environmental Program has estimated that the fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions.

Moreover, Shein’s rapidly changing stock encourages a low re-use rate, and its products come packaged in large amounts of non-recyclable packaging.

Nevertheless, proponents of Shein’s model say that by gathering data on what consumers are buying and then directly feeding it back to manufacturers, they can reduce the production of unwanted items.

In addition to environmental concerns, Shein has repeatedly come under fire for copying designs and styles from independent designers. In July 2023, three US-based designers filed a lawsuit against Shein for “egregious copyright infringement”, alleging that it intentionally and systematically copied their designs. Shein has repeatedly said that it takes all copyright claims seriously and has introduced new AI tools to combat IP theft.

Beyond copyright, like other Chinese platforms, Shein is also facing scrutiny for its collection and use of data, especially in the US. A report published by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission in April 2023 accused platforms such as Shein of “posing risks and challenges to… regulations, laws, and principles of market access”.

What is the future of Shein?

In November 2023, Reuters reported that Shein was submitting applications to US and Chinese regulators for a US IPO in 2024. Shein did not confirm the size of the deal or its valuation at the time, but sources told Reuters it was targeting up to US$90 billion.

However, on 27 February 2024, Sky News revealed that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had met with Shein chairman Donald Tang to try to convince the company to float in London instead. If Shein chose London, it would be the second-largest IPO in the history of the London Stock Exchange and provide a major boost to the UK as a business destination.

In sum, there is no doubt that Shein is a Chinese company that has successfully “gone global”. However, in the long term, it may need to reflect on its business practices if it wants to stay on the good side of legal and regulatory bodies in countries like the UK and the US.

The post What is Shein? The Chinese fast fashion retailer explained appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

Since 2015, China’s apparel manufacturing industry has undergone a profound transition. Rising labour costs shifted the sector in a less labour-intensive and highly automated direction. Geographically, many apparel enterprises have relocated to regions with lower labour costs, such as western and central China.

Technologically, apparel enterprises upped their research and development spending. In 2020, more than 26,000 R&D projects were carried out in the textile and clothing sector. Nevertheless, many apparel enterprises exited the market during this industrial upgrading and structural transformation.

Besides manufacturing, China’s apparel export industry faced significant challenges from international trade disputes and increasing production costs. China’s clothing export value and global share have continuously dropped between 2014 and 2020. In the meantime, several rising apparel manufacturing countries in Southeast Asia started to threaten China’s leading position.

Despite these circumstances, China’s garment exports saw an upsurge in 2021 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. In contrast to many countries that shut down clothing manufacturing during lockdowns, Chinese clothes makers benefited from the country’s effective pandemic controls.

Given the fierce competition in the international fashion markets, China is looking for more opportunities at home. In the past two decades, the average expenditure on clothes and shoes in China increased dramatically.

Chinese consumers’ willingness to buy domestic brands also increased substantially. According to a recent survey, around 60% of Chinese consumers had bought fashion items from domestic clothing brands.

The prevalence of online shopping has also boosted China’s apparel retailing sector. In 2020, more than one-third of the apparel sold in China was via online retail platforms. To improve consumers’ online shopping experience, Chinese apparel retailers have invested in innovative technologies.

In spring 2020, China’s leading online retailer, Taobao, launched its first virtual dressing room, allowing consumers to try on more than 600 pieces of luxury items virtually. According to Statista’s Digital Market Outlook on the apparel industry, by the end of 2025, nearly 60% of China’s apparel market revenue will be generated through online sales, well ahead of the global average of 43%.

Despite the popularity of online platforms, almost 50% of fashion consumers still shop in physical stores (including department stores, speciality stores and monobrand stores) because they can feel the texture of the products and try them on if necessary. A secondary reason is that they can make sure the quality of the product matches their expectations.

Current trends: Dressing down, sustainability and more

Clothing and footwear in China are fragmented, with local and international fashion brands competing in different price ranges. However, the pandemic changed consumers’ habits. They now spend more time at home, choosing relaxed dress codes and work-from-home attire, which means that sweatshirts and jogging bottoms saw impressive results.

After the sales downturn in 2020, retail channels (especially brick-and-mortar stores) started to recover in a steady manner throughout 2021, in line with the proactive channel revolution by clothing and accessories players to get the most out of traffic to physical stores.

With the shift in shoppers’ behaviours post-pandemic and to better equip offline channels with the ability to combat unexpected events such as extreme weather and natural disasters, fashion retailers are adapting to new levels of operational efficiency pursuits in a consumer-oriented manner.

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of new technologies. When stay‑at‑home orders made it harder for consumers to shop in stores, many brands launched “virtual fittings”, where consumers could try fitting at home using online meetings and 3D body scanning technology.

Second, third and fourth-tier cities in China have pushed the growth of the luxury market. As a result, 88% of China’s luxury growth was driven by new consumers. One group of shoppers that have made a huge impact are Gen Z consumers, representing 40% of the industry growth. However, Chinese Gen Z consumers have different shopping behaviours from their predecessors when it comes to luxury purchases. Whereas a decade ago, 90% of Chinese luxury consumers would have first purchased leather goods, today’s Gen-Z consumers are more likely to first buy a ready-to-wear item, such as a signature T-shirt from an up-and-coming designer.

Another important factor to consider is the recent impact of the sustainable fashion movement in the apparel industry. People worldwide are increasingly conscious of the environmental impacts of their consumption habits, and Chinese consumers are no different. Young, urban and increasingly environmentally conscious consumers in China are following this trend.

With the rise of fast fashion – the mass production of cheap and readily disposable clothing – the fashion and apparel industry has become increasingly scrutinised by environmental activists. By some measures, the fashion and apparel industry is responsible for 4-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In contrast to fast fashion, sustainable fashion emphasises low-emissions clothing products that are made to last. As China seeks to radically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable fashion has the potential to transform the country’s fashion and apparel industry – but requires long-term investments to drive cultural change among consumers.

China’s most prominent sustainable fashion brands, such as Icicle, Klee Klee, Krop and Ziran, largely cater to a higher-end market. Other companies, like Bastine, focus on sustainable textile production. Some foreign brands specialising in sustainable fashion have entered the Chinese market, including Everlane and Allbirds, with mixed success.

Do Chinese consumers still want to buy foreign fashion brands?

In recent years, China’s fiercely competitive environment has been pushing some international players out of China. Foreign brands are struggling to compete with domestic brands that leverage large social media followings to offer cheaper products at lower prices via live-streaming and e-commerce platforms, where Chinese e-commerce users can buy clothing products for less than RMB 50 (US$7.5).

Recent data from iiMedia Research showed that 62% of Chinese consumers bought clothes via e-commerce platforms in 2022, while 58.5% of all customers spent between RMB 201 (US$30) and RMB 600 (US$ 90) on making clothing purchases via traditional offline and online platforms combined.

The rise of nationalism is also stimulating the apparel industry to adopt more Chinese essentials, with “being a Chinese brand” and “having Chinese elements” being top considerations for young Chinese consumers, according to the China Youth Consumption Report from iiMedia Research.

The boycott of Xinjiang cotton by predominantly Western firms further exacerbated this trend, with Baidu’s 2021 big-data search report showing that the search volume of Chinese clothing brands increased by 137% after the moves due to concerns over human rights, which China has denied.

H&M, which drew criticism for being the first company in China to publicly boycott Xinjiang cotton, reported a nearly 40% year-on-year decline in sales in China. The company announced the closure of its flagship Shanghai store but returned to Tmall, having previously been dropped from the business-to-consumer online retail platform.

Old Navy, owned by Gap Group, closed all its stores and exited the Chinese market in March 2020 after six years in the country to focus its business on maximising efficiency in North America.

British clothing brands Topshop and New Look suspended their operations in China in 2018 due to weak performance. Bershka, Pull&Bear and Stradivarius, all brands in the Inditex Group portfolio along with Zara, have also closed their online stores.

According to industry experts, Chinese consumers prefer the lower prices and diverse designs offered by Chinese brands. Overseas fast fashion brands will be unlikely to respond to changes in design style to suit the aesthetics in China. Moreover, the notion that anything hip and trendy must come from abroad is slowly changing as Chinese companies are establishing their own fashion brands and collections. Big Chinese fashion companies, such as the casual wear brand Metersbonwe, the Trendy International Group and jewellery company Qeelin, have all discovered foreign shores for expansion, especially in Europe and the US.

Anyone wanting to break into the Chinese fashion industry – be it as a brand, retailer, designer or service provider – should, first of all, understand the market and the consumer, including Chinese sizes and bodies.

Quality is a big draw, with the best example being European products, which Chinese consumers love for their premium quality and fabrics. Geography is also key – keeping the vast market with its regional preferences in mind and that not only first-tier cities are important but also second and third-tier ones.

In terms of channels, anyone approaching China should keep in mind that e-commerce is booming and that a strong, customer-friendly Internet presence is a must.

Geographically, the industry is mainly located in the southeast around the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta, the Bohai Sea region and the southeastern coastal areas. Though there are 50 garment clusters throughout China, the total output of Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong make up 70% of China’s total garment output.

Though China is the number one in terms of textile and garment exports in the world, its situation is different from a country like Bangladesh when it comes to the industry’s overall importance. While in Bangladesh, it is the main and most important industry (at 85.9% of all exports), in China, it is one of many major industries such as mining, iron and steel, machinery, automobiles and others.

The challenges of manufacturing in China

In recent years, wages have increased in China faster than in other Asian countries, forcing foreign brands to look for manufacturing alternatives in the region, such as Vietnam.

Another difficulty has been the long transportation lead time to Europe and the US and the currently high freight costs. Due to recent supply chain disruptions and the Covid pandemic, some companies are finding it unsustainable to produce in Asia, turning to near-shoring, at least partly.

Additionally, the ongoing trade war with the US has hurt both countries. Tariffs have encouraged foreign companies to look for alternative markets and to outsource at least part of their production.

One problem companies sourcing from or manufacturing in China encounter is insufficient lead time assessment. Finding the right materials requires sufficient time and attention, and human errors may cause delays. Establishing efficient supply chain logistics in the region and coordinating all the delivery, storage and other activities within the supply chain is costly and time-consuming, risking unwanted — and often avoidable — delays.

Ensuring high quality can be tricky. Many factors can negatively affect product quality: insufficient apparel manufacturer assessment, poor quality assurance at the start of production, lack of quality control following production and no consideration for the quality or suitability of inputs.

A single sample often does not tell the full story about the quality of a product, and the reliability of a manufacturer’s quality control mechanisms. Many suppliers in China, Bangladesh and other major garment-producing countries in Asia either don’t follow production standards closely or have bad production standards.

Some companies don’t conduct a feasibility study before they start production. This often leads to underestimating prices and overestimating production speed, resulting in unpleasant surprises, higher costs and slower final delivery.

Legal challenges

On the legal side, intellectual property protection and trademark and copyright registration are necessary in China. In 2020, China concluded 2,429 court cases involving IPR in the fashion industry. The best way to protect a fashion brand against counterfeiters is by correctly registering it as early as possible with the appropriate IPR administrative agencies.

China’s IPR legal framework is similar to that of many countries. However, there are detailed differences that must be considered in the case of any cross-border transactions involving China. Among these, one of the most important is that China is not a signatory of many bilateral judicial assistance treaties. This means that the decisions of foreign courts are not enforceable in China and vice versa.

Administrative bodies, such as the State Administration for Market Regulation and its local delegates, typically carry out raids to seize goods from IPR infringers. They also have powers to impose penalties on IPR infringers.

Trademark law, patent law, copyright law and anti-unfair competition law and their matching regulations are the key laws in China to protect IPR.

China Consumer 2023

This article was produced as part of a series for China Consumer 2023.

Learn more about CBBC’s flagship consumer event of 2023 here.

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The emergence of a more diverse and niche-interest-driven Gen-Z consumer has led to a rethink of the styles being championed by fashion’s biggest players. Aiming to cater to both fast-changing aesthetic tastes and more multi-layered needs in terms of functionality, China’s clothing industry wants just one thing in 2023: to bounce back. Dao Insights walks us through the most prominent fashion trends, how they resonate with China’s shrewd consumers, and why all consumer brands – not just apparel companies – should take note.

Y2K 

Y2K, or “Year 2000”, is a fashion throwback to pop culture in the late 90s and early 00s. The sporty yet sexy aesthetic is characterised by slick futuristic looks and outfits including everything from tight leather trousers and shiny clothing to silver eye shadow and spiky up-dos. Jennie from Korean girl group Blackpink is a particularly well known pioneer of the look.

The style has emerged as a subculture in China, catering to the pursuit of personality and individuality, as well as the philosophy of “freedom to dress” upheld by young Chinese people. It is particularly sought after by young women aged between 18 and 29, who also have a strong interest in activities such as fitness, pop music and e-sports, according to the 2023 Fashion Trends Insights Report published by Taobao.

Taobao saw online sales of clothing in the Y2K style surge three-fold between 2020 and 2022, while the number of Y2K merchants reached 10,000 in the same period. With the topic of Y2K drawing a staggering 450 million views on China’s fashion vanguard Xiaohongshu, this trend has taken a firm hold in the hearts of Chinese consumers.

New Chinese Style

The guochao trend continues to maintain a foothold, although the fashion style inspired by the so-called “Chinese wave” has recently been given a new lease of life. While continuing the concept of blending contemporary designs with nostalgic cues from Chinese culture, the new styling appears to be bolder in terms of adopting Western aesthetics. Unlike traditional costumes such as Han Fu (or Han costume), this renewed look has strong links with a modern lifestyle and is synonymous with qualities such as “elegance and refinement”.

While suitable for a range of daily social and leisure scenarios, the style has made particularly frequent appearances during “Wei Lu Zhu Cha”, an old-fashioned activity involving a group of people roasting tea drinks by a stove, and has seen the most interest from the post-90s generation. This generation has been shown to have a stronger appetite for classical literature and travel and an overall appreciation for a laid-back lifestyle.

The New Chinese Style has been steadily gaining steam in the past three years, with sales recording an increase of 150% between 2020 and 2022, which has pushed e-commerce platforms to double down on their efforts to showcase collaborations between brands and KOLs wearing such looks. Having garnered views of 1.5 billion on Douyin and another 310 million on Xiaohongshu, New Chinese Style bears great market potential that is yet to be unleashed.

Office Leisure

The work-from-home provision that emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic has reshaped the public’s work outfit choices. While office life has largely resumed in China following the relaxation of stringent Covid rules, a preference for chilled-out loungewear has remained – but with a professional twist.

This hybrid dressing style typically sees a combination of either a hoodie or other athleisurewear beneath a blazer jacket in muted colours with loose silhouettes, matched with trainers, which is “professional enough for the workplace” but also easily adaptable to situations such as a light workout in the gym.

Pulling off double sales growth in the past three years, this style is favoured by young working professionals aged between 25 and 30. The neutral palette is deemed compatible with China’s work environment but also provides comfort and flexibility in multiple scenarios, which is in line with the more diverse lifestyle lived by China’s Gen-Z and Millennial segments.

Vintage Styles

Also known as Gu Zhuo in Chinese, the rise of vintage style goes hand in hand with the overall growth of the vintage market in China in recent years. Nostalgic looks featuring dress styles from Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s and those reflecting the yesteryear aesthetics of France, Italy, the UK and America are among the top trending, propelling the hashtag “Vintage” to draw in more than 120 million views on Xiaohongshu.

The rise in vintage clothing is also coupled with the growing interest in musical theatre performances amongst the post-90s cohort, from traditional Chinese theatre shows to international classics such as Cats and the Broadway production of Rent. These musical works have played a crucial role in the penetration of vintage aesthetics among China’s younger generation.  

Old Money

This aesthetic refers to a low key luxury style. Instead of bragging about one’s wealth with pronounced logos, Old Money fashion is designed to exhibit a person’s sensibility through neat, understated and often expensive clothes.

Denoted by “quiet luxury” pieces such as chinos, cardigans, Oxford shirts and tweed coats, this style interests China’s young women aged between 18 and 35 in particular, who are generally financially comfortable and want to pursue a simple and classic aesthetic. The trend also fits in with an overall tendency towards more rational consumer behaviour, which focuses on the functionality and comfortable texture of products. According to the 2023 China Consumer Insights and Market Outlook White Paper, these unpretentious clothes are also viewed as a display of a person’s “maturity” and “personal taste”.

These fashion trends reflect the upgrading of China’s overall apparel market, in which clothing is highly associated with individuality and personality on top of basic functions. It also shows that wearable products are expected to be applicable in more varied scenarios, which is the result of multi-dimensional consumer demands. Apparel brands are, therefore, advised to keep their finger on the pulse of consumer interests in order to resonate with their target audience.

Call +44 (0)20 7802 2000 or email enquiries@cbbc.org now to find out how CBBC’s market research services can help you build knowledge and understanding of the Chinese market prior to investment.

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With the amount of media attention directed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, it has been hard to predict what the top news headlines would be in advance. However, perhaps no one expected Team GB’s outfits to be the breakout star of the opening ceremony. 

For their National Stadium look, Team GB wore duffle coats and roll-neck jumpers emblazoned with the Union Jack designed by British brand Ben Sherman, paired with leather Chelsea boots. The woollen coat in particular stood out among the down jackets worn by most of the other teams, with many posts on WeChat Moments appreciating the ‘gentlemanly’ style (a concept long associated with Britain in China). 

Thousands of internet users in China apparently appreciated the getup’s quintessential ‘Britishness,’ and according to The Guardian, reaction to the outfits briefly reached number eight on the Weibo Hot Topic ranking. “It was exciting to see British fashion make a dramatic splash at the Olympics, and indeed many of us have been hunting for our own Team GB Ben Sherman sweater ever since the opening ceremony,” says Sohail Shaikh, Director of Consumer, Learning, Food and Agritech at the Department of International Trade. 

A post from the British embassy on Weibo sharing a video of the Ben Sherman ad campaign for Beijing 2022 attracted hundreds of comments lamenting that the jumpers were sold out on the brand’s official websites in the US and UK. In what in hindsight appears to be a huge missed opportunity, Ben Sherman –which got its start selling mod-style short-sleeved shirts in the 1960s – does not currently have an official store on Tmall or JD.com.

The Guardian noted that one Weibo user likened the Team GB outfits to the Hogwarts uniform. Harry Potter, as one of the UK’s most significant modern cultural exports, has also become somewhat representative of British style in China, especially since Universal Beijing Resort and its Harry Potter-themed land opened in September 2021. 

Chinese millennials — who grew up reading the books in both Chinese and English — have flocked to the park to explore the Hogsmeade Village recreation and, more importantly, take pictures wearing Hogwarts-inspired costumes to post on WeChat and Xiaohongshu. The surge in popularity for Harry Potter and associated looks has not been lost on international chain retailers, either, with H&M selling public school uniform-style jumpers as part of its autumn/winter collection. 

Setting trends is nothing new for the UK. British universities and design houses provide a crucible for design talent from around the world

A quintessential sense of ‘Britishness’ has long been a fundamental part of the appeal of the British fashion brands that have succeeded in China, including Paul Smith and Burberry. These brands are considered to be synonymous with heritage and craftsmanship, particularly if they have an association with the Royal family like Burberry. Burberry, in particular, is popularly worn as part of the 英伦风 yinglunfeng (aka ‘British style’) aesthetic, which features a lot of plaid, tweed and muted colours (similar to the ‘dark academia’ and ‘light academia’ trends that have become popular on TikTok in recent years). High street and mid-range British fashion brands, on the other hand, have often failed to make a splash in China, facing intense competition from massive international chains like H&M and Zara.

“Setting trends is nothing new for the UK. We host one of the world’s four biggest fashion weeks, are home to a legion of high-end and fashion-forward clothing brands, and our universities and design houses provide a crucible for design talent from around the world,” adds Shaikh. Whether Team GB’s opening ceremony look will kickstart a new wave of interest in British style in China remains to be seen.

Image taken from @TeamGB/@evemuirhead on Twitter

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Scottish S1 Pupil Emma McCain had the chance to see the tartan she designed coming off the looms at the Johnstons of Elgin mill last February.

Earlier this year, she has won the design competition launched by the Moray Council and the Confucius Institute for Scottish Schools (CISS), with a design that reflects the links between Scotland and China.

With the supervision of Mrs Fionna Shearer, Principal Teacher of Art and Design, and Laura Garner, the Design Director at Johnstons of Elgin, Emma designed and produced the winning tartan.

The pattern she created includes colours that are common in Scottish tartans, namely, blue and white for Scotland, red and yellow for China, and green for the Confucius Institute.

The colours chosen embodied the spirit of the competition, which had the double aim of celebrating the educational links between Scotland and China, and raising awareness towards the increasing need for language employability skills.

At the time of writing, the Elgin mill manufactured a limited number of scarves – 400 units – and the CISS is planning to buy them.

The idea of the competition came from Willem Smit, from The Moray Council Education and Social Care Department, who approached Johnstons of Elgin asking if they would be interested in the project.

The panel decided on Emma’s tartan design as it married the colours together well in a bright colour pattern being popular in China today

The company accepted his proposal with enthusiasm, as the competition fits perfectly into its Schools Interaction Programme, which looks at ways in which young people in Moray have a better understanding of Johnstons of Elgin and assist them in developing their skills for work.

Pupils from six establishments in Moray had entered the competition, and all of them are learning Mandarin with exchange teacher Miss Fang.

“The panel decided on Emma’s tartan design as it married the colours together well in a bright colour pattern being popular in China today,” said Smit of the judges’ decision.

“We were delighted that the pupil who designed the winning tartan would spend time in our Design Department, seeing how the new design would be prepared for the Design Team for the production phase. The winning pupil & her classmates also had the opportunity to see the winning design going into production in our Weaving Department,” said Jim Morris, People Development Coach at Johnstons of Elgin. “It has been a real pleasure working with The Moray Council and the CISS on this exciting project.”

And Emma’s successes are not over yet: her tartan is going to be presented at the Scottish Parliament in June.

The project is testament to how Moray young people, their teachers and local businesses like Johnstons of Elgin can work together to bridge cultural and international gaps for the common good of all concerned.

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Back in 2011, the British Council established a campaign to pair up specialist technical colleges in China with British higher education institutions. Initially focusing on fashion design, the aim was to have both staff exchanges and shared student projects. Out of this, a partnership between the Zhejiang Fashion Institute of Technology (ZFIT) and the University of Salford was born.

Several visits from ZFIT staff were made to Salford, including one by Yuan Yong who spent 12 months studying Salford’s approaches to working and research methodologies before returning to ZFIT where he now holds the position of Director of International Exchange and Foreign Cooperation.

Initially, joint academic projects were hampered as ZFIT students mostly came from backgrounds of relatively low academic attainment and low income. However, with staff support and the sharing of documents that explained Salford’s Fashion Design programme, the quality of student work vastly improved over the following years.

Fashion designs by Carline Zhou of the Sino-UK student project

At the same time, the formal academic relationship has evolved, meaning that there is now a joint programme, with three pathways in Fashion Design, Communication and Management, that has been approved by China’s Ministry of Education.

With this growth in the course’s stature, it has gained support from the local fashion and textile manufacturing industry. By 2016, this had led to placements for Salford student and job opportunities for Salford graduates.

The nature of the project was that it encouraged people to collaborate – to give them confidence and to learn to work with each other

Of course, the financial benefits of a guaranteed intake of Chinese students who attend their final year at Salford is clear, but the benefits are far more than the economic. The opportunity for students to experience the fashion industry in China is excellent from a marketing point of view.

“Many of our students have never been outside UK or even the north west of England and now we take them to Ningbo,” explains Professor Allan Walker, Dean of School of Arts and Media at the university. 

Fashion design by Ying Xin Jiang of Salford MA programme

“All final year undergrads go to Ningbo and buy materials out there for their final show. We used to go to Paris but it’s more cost effective for students to go to China. The industry is incredibly welcoming and generous to our students. For many, it’s the most amazing experience they’ve ever had,” says Walker.

The reputational value of Salford’s positive relationship with China and exposure at events such as Beijing fashion week has attracted the attention of students from across China. And importantly, the experiences of the hundreds of students and staff who have worked between the two countries since the project really took off in 2014 have been transformational. Many students from Salford return to China to undertake work placements, internships and full time jobs in China’s fashion industry thanks to the relationships, network and confidence they gained from their time in the country as part of their degree.

“The companies employ our students – some long term. Some have been out there for two, three, four years,” says Walker. “Ningbo is a major centre for fashion manufacturing – there a lot of designing and manufacturing for the big stores in China is undertaken there so students can establish links with some very big companies indeed.”

ZFIT have benefited greatly from the partnership too. The unique selling point of having a relationship with one of the UK’s best fashion departments helps bring in more students, allowing for increased tuition fees and further government support. The use of Salford’s materials has also increased the academic quality of the university, and by implication its reputation and internationalisation.

As part of this mutually beneficial relationship, In December last year, the University of Salford and ZFIT held their first joint one-day project in Ningbo that saw 37 students from Salford and approximately 185 ZFIT students work together on a project called Colour Technik.

Teams from Salford’s Fashion Design BA, and a number of ZFIT courses (including Sino-UK Fashion Design, Sino-UK Fashion Communication, Sino-UK Fashion Management and the ZFIT Make up department) worked with 20 Chinese and three UK staff. Over the course of 24 hours the students, split into four groups, had to design, make and model a fashion collection based around a specific colour and texture.

“The nature of the project was that it encouraged people to collaborate – to give them confidence and to learn to work with each other,” says Walker. “It put the students under significant pressure, giving them a taste of the deadlines and rushes that they would experience in industry itself. The collaborative nature is really emphasised in that it involves all the skills – it covers designers, stylists, make-up artists, models, even choreography and event management.”

Internationalism at its best, the Colour Technik programme was a success and plans are already afoot for a 2019 re-run. But the collaborations don’t end there. In February of this year, the University of Salford went to New York Fashion Week where students and graduates exhibited their works, whilst 25 students hosted a popup with ZFIT students and graduates, showing that collaboration between the two nations can spread even into third nations. With even more projects on the horizon this partnership looks like it is only going from strength to strength.

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