THE fashion and apparel industry of Ningbo is looking forward to a bright future as local enterprises embrace cost-saving automation processes and new business models that allow shoppers to buy customized garments through the Internet.

“Ningbo is the biggest clothing manufacturing base in China, with the annual average output value reaching 200 billion yuan (US$29.54 billion). We also have the most clothing brands in China, with over 3,000 brands registered here — including about 40 national-level brands and 10 important enterprises supported by the China National Textile and Apparel Council,” said Song Dajun, deputy director of the Ningbo Economic and Information Technology Committee.

The roots of Ningbo’s modern fashion industry stretch back nearly a century, when local brand Hongbang Tailor started making some of China’s first Western-style suits. More recently, the industry has grown thanks to its annual fashion festival, first launched in 1997. This year’s Ningbo Fashion Festival was held from October 19 to 22 in the Ningbo International Conference and Exhibition Center. The event attracted representatives from 283 enterprises in 10 countries and regions, including China, America, Britain, France, Switzerland and Italy.

Ningbo was also the first pilot city to join the “Made in China 2025” initiative, an honor that has added fresh impetus to expand and develop its cornerstone industry.

“We have listed the clothing industry as one of the top five pillar industries in Ningbo’s development plan to pilot in the ‘Made in China 2025’ and the city will give great support to promote cooperation and industrial transformation in the clothing industry,” said Tang Yijun, the acting mayor of Ningbo.

One hot topic of discussion at the event was the rising cost of labor, which some have identified as a problem prohibiting future industry growth. To cope with this and other manpower issues, experts and industry insiders have pushed for automated production to lower costs and maintain quality.

“Machines can cut fabric the same way again and again, while human beings can’t always be that precise. Besides, automated machines will decrease the need for manpower while at the same time guaranteeing that orders can be finished in time,” said Johan Grieten, development manager at Suzhou Handeli Electro-Mechanical Technology Co, which develops automatic machines to produce suits and jeans.

Local knitwear producer Cixing Company has invented an automated sweater-manufacturing machine. The machine was on view at last month’s fashion festival.

“We developed the knitting machine by ourselves. It can complete a sweater automatically in half an hour using a design programed in advance into the knitting system,” said Yao Feng, a technical engineer at the company.

According to Yao, the machine can knit a garment using as many as 24 different color threads simultaneously, dramatically reducing production time compared to conventional production means.

“The machine can produce customized clothes by changing the programing code to include different information about size and pattern,” Yao said.

Made to order

Clothing customization has emerged as another industry trend over recent years as retailers and brands grapple with mounting piles of unsold inventory.

“People need clothes, but mass-produced clothes don’t always meet customers’ needs. It could take decades to sell all of our clothing stockpiles,” said Wen Lisheng, a professor at Donghua University, one of China’s leading schools for textile studies.

Youngor is a national-leading menswear brand based in Ningbo. It signed cooperation agreements with five luxury fabric suppliers — Ermenegildo Zegna, Cerruti 1881, Albini, Loro Piana and Alumo — during the festival as it maneuvers into the customized clothes market with its new high-end brand, Mayor.

“A large amount of mass-produced clothes are stockpiled in warehouses in China while men’s clothing from international luxury brands have irrationally high prices. Youngor is going to create a new Chinese luxury customized men’s clothing brand, Mayor, by employing the same fabrics as those world-leading luxury brands and the same production process but at lower price — about 8,000 to 15,000 yuan for a suit, compared with foreign luxury brands charging 10,000 to 40,000 yuan for a suit,” said Li Rucheng, president of Youngor Group.

Apart from the low price advantage, Youngor plans to operate 1,000 flagship stores in China where customers can enjoy comfortable face-to-face service.

“We will invest 3 billion yuan in establishing these flagship stores to cultivate and manage our loyal members, which are the most important resource in the new trend of customized clothing,” said Hu Ganggao, the general manger of Youngor Dresses Share Holding Co, a subsidiary of Youngor Group.

According to Hu, online stores will also open in the future to form a comprehensive sales ecosystem. Data from customers, shopping both online and offline will be recorded and used in the company’s customized clothing business.

Industry newcomer Thumb Wardrobe is also promoting customized clothes, targeted at middle-income consumers. It allows shoppers to design customized clothes using their choice of fabric, color, size, and style with a mobile app.

“We were founded in May and in five months we have received 10,000 orders. Of these, 86 percent are from repeat shoppers, which indicates the loyalty of our customers,” said Zhang Yong, chairman of Thumb Wardrobe Garment Technology Co.

The company aims to provide top quality clothes at lower price by cutting out middlemen and connecting customers directly with the company’s factory.

“Once the online orders are finished, the digital information will be transformed into a manufacturing assignment at our factory in Fenghua District. After seven days, customers can get clothes made with their own designs. We use good quality fabrics, but by cutting out the intermediaries our customers can pay about 399 to 599 yuan for a shirt,” Zhang said.

Moreover, Thumb Wardrobe operates a 1,200-square-meter store in Ningbo’s Yinzhou District, where customers can enjoy complementary matching consultations and free dry-cleaning and ironing.