Ningbo Peacebird makes domestic fashion a big-ticket item in exports

China, traditionally home to manufacturers, infrastructure project contractors and service providers, is not usually a place where people expect to find fashion elements with international appeal, much less a room for appreciative fans.

Things are gradually changing though. With more young Chinese consumers tending to buy clothing of domestic brands in recent years, Ningbo Peacebird Fashion Co Ltd, a major multi-brand fashion company in China, has reaped big dividends from the trend. It plans to continue to expand its global presence with more flexible branding strategies, international designers and innovations.

Zhang Jiangping, the company's chairman, said Peacebird will enter some overseas markets such as Vietnam and Malaysia soon, after learning about local consumers' impressive purchasing power and changing lifestyles.

"China has fabulous designers, a large market, and outstanding brands, but it needs to make global consumers aware of the charm of Chinese brands, which certainly can be promoted on a bigger stage," he said.

Zhang, the founder of the Shanghai-listed company, said that the firm will also adopt technologies to improve its online sales ability, such as deepening its cooperation with Tmall, an arm of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, as well as other digital shopping platforms, so the brand's products could connect digitally with consumers, especially at places where there are no brick-and-mortar stores.

Eager to reach more consumers in other parts of the world, Peacebird debuted its latest designs in Paris in late September, where it presented a fashion show that broke through the boundaries of cultural domains and integrated the latest trends in youth fashion in the name of "Chinese Design".

Under the theme of "Peacebird Game On", the Chinese company set off to attend the Paris Fashion Week from Sept 24 to Oct 2, the world's longest-running and biggest event of its kind, after displaying at New York Fashion Week earlier.

During the show, Peacebird's women's unit combined the classic magic of the Harry Potter IP, and displayed some items like black shawls, classic plaid trousers and nylon berets.

Harry Potter's unique magical elements and college style convey a theme whereby the traditional and the rebellious collide with a sense of fearlessness and openness, said Chen Hongchao, CEO of Peacebird and the general manager of Peacebird Women.

"By using the 'college' theme, Peacebird hopes to represent the curiosity and fearless spirit that teens adopt when facing the world," he said, noting they unleash their adventurous hearts as they explore their own world, as Peacebird also breaks through the shackles of fads in international fashion and is committed to injecting new energy into Chinese design.