/ Reviews
Deager Kao
by Raphael Seghin
on Friday, January 20, 2012 12:00 AM
Can you talk a little bit about the store, how did it start, what made you want to get into this?
Basically, I was working in Taiwan, 4-5 years ago, when a couple of friends suggested we start a concept men’s boutique in Shanghai, as we found that there weren’t many specialized men stores. So we decided to open up our first store in a little villa, in May 2009, selling shoes. We ran that for about a year, and we noticed people really liked it. Around a year later, we realized we couldn’t stay there. It was very small. About 30sqm. It was in a residential complex, hard to get to, hard to find. So we decided to aim bigger.
China is very big into tier 1 brands, everyone is wearing LV etc. They are kind of behind in the sense that, in LA or New York, there are a lot of small stores like ours, selling independent brands, just selling a certain style, the quality of different brands. We thought China was ready for something like this. You got Uniqlo and H&M, then you have the tier 1 brands, but we thought there was room for something in the middle. We wanted to give the consumer a different option. A lot of our brands are from the US. It’s hard bringing them over to china. A lot of these brands, we are the first store to bring them here. So it’s really our style, the new American cut, a little slimmer.
How did you think the reaction has been?
I think it has been pretty good. You get a lot of people that want to try new brands. I mean, they have the money to spend, they just don’t know where to buy, and they don’t know what to buy, so you kind of have to educate them. But there are a lot of people, they want to be different. They don’t want to be like everyone else, buying the high-end stuff. It takes a lot of time; our consumer base is probably 25-50, around that range, so you do have the white collars who want to buy something casual for the weekend, and our store is more like, casual-luxury. We also do suits, but it doesn’t do as well, considering the amount of tailors in Shanghai. Its hard to educate the consumer because, in the states for example, you see these brands on GQ a lot, there’s a lot more exposure, but here, it just started breaking the market. But then again, we get a lot of customers who come in, they don’t really know the brand, but once they try it on, they get this kind of loyalty to the brand. Once it fits, and it’s your style, people come back.
Would you say in general, the Shanghai population has been open to these new brands?
Yes, I think they have. I think Shanghai people are more into European, Japanese style brands, which we do have. But our main focus is American independent brands. Everything in fashion is starting to merge. Designs are starting to look very similar. And also, there’s a lot of cheap stuff in China, a lot of fake stuff, I guess it’s kind of refreshing to see a store that important quality products.
So why Shanghai instead of Taiwan?
They don’t really have the purchasing power. And they don’t really want to spend money on this. Maybe the older generation, but the younger generation don’t really care about how they dress. And there is only really one weather in Taiwan, hot. I really thought about it for a while, but I just saw Shanghai with their purchasing power, their potential, the culture is more street.
How do people find out about the store?
A lot of word-of-mouth. In the beginning it was foot traffic, but lately, it’s been satisfied people telling their friends, etc, and those are the best customers because they have a certain respect for what you do. Now, we have people outside of Shanghai who will make sure to stop by every time they are in town, so we have definitely built a certain loyal consumer base. It just serves to show there is definitely a market for all this. There are not many stores in China that are doing this. The ‘in’ thing right now is pushing local brands, which is working pretty well, but this is our niche, our style. Our customers trust our tastes.
How do you pick what goes in your store?
Every time I go to trade shows, there are so many brands. So I try to pick what I like. And I do think I’m fairly conservative in what I wear, so I’ll keep that in mind, picking things out for my more daring customers. There are classic pieces, things that will always sell, then there are the more forward pieces, which will not sell like crazy, but I’m sure certain customers will appreciate. There is no real formula for picking certain types of clothing, its more what we like, what will fit our style. Each brand serves different purposes. Work wear, suits, casual, etc. Every brand has a different style.
Do you think it is easier, now thanks to technology, for new brands to start up? Are there more brands on the market?
Independent brands started coming up about half a dozen years ago. There are a lot of brands out there now; I think its getting pretty saturated. Buyers don’t even know what to buy anymore. Especially for guys, how crazy can you make a jacket? They go for detail orientated stuff. There’s only so much you can do. If you still exist within 5 years, you’re probably doing alright.
You talked about it a little earlier, what are some of your future plans?
I think this year is going to be a big year. This year, we’re excited to head to Beijing, and we are going to be working on e-commerce, a website. Like I said before, a lot of people from outside of Shanghai like our store, and it might not be convenient for them, so we are going to launch a large, full-blown website. I think they are going to be excited once our website is up and going, that’ll probably be our first group. And Beijing, I find Beijing people; they don’t really haggle, if they like something they buy it. I think they dress pretty well. They are more adventurous in what they wear. Plus, the celebrities are in Beijing. This year is going to be the game changing year for us.
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777 Julu Rd
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