Does Japan currently have its own top-tier clothing brands?
Many people may be able to name brands such as Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, Comme des Garçons, and Sacai, but these brands are not made in Japan. In courses such as brand creation and marketing at Japanese universities, professors only say that “how to communicate with customers” is important, but do not list “origin of production” as a focus. This mode of thinking is different from Europe, which focuses on origin.
As of 2014, the domestic production rate of Japanese clothing has dropped to 3%. This reality has caused many Japanese factories to face crisis and even bankruptcy. The peak period of Japan’s clothing production was in 1990. At that time, the domestic production rate of clothing was 50.5%, and about 1 million people worked in factories. This data has continued to decline since then. In 2005, the number of garment factory workers had dropped to 400,000.
The rise of fast fashion is one of the reasons for the rapid decline of Japan’s clothing production industry. Consumers began to prefer low-priced goods, and sales of high-quality and high-priced goods declined. In 1991, the sales of Japan’s department store industry reached a peak of 9.713 trillion yen. In 2016, this figure has fallen to 5.978 trillion yen. A survey by the Japan Department Store Association shows that fast fashion is the main reason for this phenomenon.
In addition, there are layers of middlemen between factories and consumers, which ultimately makes it difficult for subcontracting factories to obtain benefits. Typically, a factory’s revenue is about 20% of the product’s selling price. Products with higher selling prices can guarantee a certain degree of factory profits, but the emergence of price wars quickly erodes factory profits.
In 1990, Japan began to enter deflation, and various factories began to cut costs. “Overseas trainees” (referring to Japan’s system of accepting foreign workers in order to protect the company’s labor force) gradually became the backbone of supporting Japanese manufacturing. A 2010 research report pointed out that approximately 12,000 trainees were engaged in work related to the production of clothing and fiber products. The general background of this situation is that the low-wage sewing industry has difficulty gathering local talents in Japan and can only rely on trainees.
But this situation has led to an endless cycle: the trainees who have finally got started will leave after the three-year training career, and the factory can only recruit and train new people, which is gradually different from the ideal of “passing technology to future generations.” Walking further and further away. Previously, most of the people who went to Japan to work as trainees were Chinese. Due to the increase in domestic wages in recent years, the number has gradually declined. At present, most of the trainees come from Vietnam, Myanmar and other countries. But when wages in these countries rise, Japan will once again have a labor shortage. The fundamental way to solve the problem is to ensure the interests of the factory, increase the wages of workers, and hire local residents who can work for a long time.
Due to reasons such as the aging population and low birthrate, how to make good use of overseas labor in Japan has become a major opportunity for the garment industry. As of now, there are approximately 2.7 million foreigners living in Japan, of which more than 2.2 million are from Asia. In addition, Japan’s “luxury brand craze” is a thing of the past. Shigehiko Senda, former director of LVMH Group Japan, said: “LV is a great brand, but now it is no longer an era when it is either full-body LV or trendy.”
This may be an opportunity for Japanese fashion to revive. Toshio Yamada, founder of Factelier, Japan’s first Internet brand focusing on “Made in Japan”, said that three elements are needed to revitalize the Japanese clothing industry: focus on the market, have autonomy, and invest in inefficient manual production.
Pay attention to the market
Although the brand of Japanese-made products is well-regarded, the design aspect leaves much to be desired. On the premise of ensuring technology, the products provided by the brand must meet the needs of consumers. “Factories in Italy and France will arrange production after considering factors such as the market and fashion trends.”
Autonomy
Japanese factories mostly adopt a subcontracting production model, so they all produce according to the style, texture and other requirements put forward by the partners. If a brand wants to be independent, it must break away from this model, develop its own sewing and sampling skills, and truly have the ability to control its products.
Invest in inefficient manual production
In countries such as China, Vietnam, and Myanmar, companies with large amounts of capital have introduced advanced machines to efficiently produce large quantities of clothing. But Japan, with its high labor costs, should seek differentiation and adopt old-fashioned power looms and time-consuming dyeing techniques. Like the traditional factory in Gangshan, it produces denim used by luxury brands such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton. “Other factories should do the same, investing in inefficient manual production to increase the added value of the product itself.”
Source: Asian Textile Alliance
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