Garment customization on-trend ahead of traditional Chinese festival

Bespoke garment tailoring is taking off in China, as wealthier consumers upgrade their wardrobes with personalized, unique clothes to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on on Feb 1, as reported by CCTV+, a partner of TV BRICS.

At a garment shop in Dalian City, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, shoppers choose customized pieces that are tailored to meet the their preferences instead of ready-made clothing.

According to Shen Bing, the store manager, bespoke clothing sales have increased significantly over the past few months.

"Our order volume has been increasing every month and is currently more than 2,000 sets since we opened in May last year. Our December sales have also shown an increase of nearly 20 percent from November," said Shen.

Other custom clothing manufacturers say besides strong sales from brick-and-mortar shops, orders have also been pouring in online.

Dalian Longsheng Fashion Co., Ltd is offering digital measurement services in addition to in-person fittings.

Clients send in a photo of themselves, and an automated system takes their personal measurements and will size garments accordingly.

"With the online platform, clients can view the finished product in 360 degrees. For example, if a customer doesn't like the zipper, he can change them into buttons. They can decide fabrics, colors and design details," added Wu Qi, Chairman of the Dalian-based garment maker.

The submitted data will be corrected by designers and delivered to the factory for production.

Generally, it takes less than seven days for clients to receive their finished clothes.

According to Wu, the "New Retail" business model based on data collection and personalized design is likely to become a new trend in the garment industry.

"I think, due to the convenient new retail, we can offer better services to customers and meet their personalized requirements," said Wu.

In order to provide even more customized services, many clothing enterprises also employ image consultants for clients according to various scenarios.