Some time ago, CARVEN opened its fourth boutique in China at Plaza 66 in Shanghai. . At the opening ceremony, French Consul General in Shanghai Ji Bowei went to cut the ribbon, and some media and KOL were also present. A few days later, it opened its fifth boutique in China at SKP in Beijing.
By displaying the brand new store, this is the first time that CARVEN has conveyed its new brand image to the outside world since it changed ownership.
In October 2018, Zhihe Group acquired CARVEN, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, for 4.2 million euros (approximately 33.19 million yuan). Through this acquisition, Zhihe Group controls CARVEN’s wholesale business, five physical stores and brand e-commerce business.
According to the acquisition agreement, Zhihe Group will help CARVEN revitalize its two major markets, France and China. Revitalization is inseparable from opening new stores. Therefore, in the early days after the acquisition, rumors spread that Zhihe helped CARVEN open 33 stores in China within three years.
But this is not the case. In the past two years, CARVEN has not opened many stores with the help of Zhihe Group. It has only opened three stores in high-end shopping malls such as Chengdu IFS and Shenzhen MixC. Regarding this speed of store opening, Tao Xiaoma, CEO of CARVEN France, believes that it is reasonable and reasonable, “You need to clearly position the entire Chinese market, and then you will expand like a shower head.”
For this Sino-French transaction, the biggest concern of industry people is whether China’s Zhihe Group can really get CARVEN out of its predicament. If we look at what CARVEN has done in the past time, we will find that its focus is on two things: one is to help reorganize the creative team in Paris, and the other is to access supply chain resources to strengthen manufacturing capabilities.
When acquiring CARVEN in 2018, Zhihe Group renewed the contract of 72 employees of the brand, but Serge Ruffieux, the then creative director, was not retained. Since then, CARVEN has streamlined the personnel structure of its French headquarters and has not publicly appointed a new creative director. So far, it has not released a new series of shows.
However, CARVEN’s creativity has not stalled in the past two or three years. It is constantly adjusting and evaluating the brand’s new creative direction while re-testing market reactions. In fact, during the initial layout of Chinese stores, CARVEN and ICICLE, the core brand of Hehe Group, launched a three-quarter joint capsule series, and the products were displayed and sold in ICICLE’s stores.
It can be seen that the purpose of this is to ensure that CARVEN has continued exposure in China and will not fade out of the market. In addition, through cooperation with ICICLE, CARVEN also hopes to gradually integrate the French creative team with the supply chain business of the He Group.
As a clothing group born in China, supply chain is one of Zhihe’s strengths. According to CARVEN, before joining Zhihe Group, CARVEN’s biggest disadvantage was its weak manufacturing base. Due to its small size and scale, it has neither its own factory nor external factories with stable cooperation.
“What we have done in the past two or three years is to connect their creative power with our manufacturing power and the operation of the Chinese market.” Tao Xiaoma Tell Jiemian Fashion, “The first phase of the task has now been completed well.”
When explaining how Zhihe Group incubates the CARVEN brand , Tao Xiaoma repeatedly used words such as “slow” and “patient”. But how to find a balance between such development and the path of becoming an international brand is not easy. Under the impact of social media and digital development, luxury goods groups are increasing the pace of new product launches, which has also led to increased pressure on industry-wide activities. There is an obvious tendency to integrate, and more and more brands are being absorbed by business organizations operating in groups. .
From a business perspective, the support that conglomeration can provide is more stable. For example, in addition to providing the above-mentioned supply chain and channel expansion support, Zhihe Group has acquired the birthplace of the CARVEN brand – No. 6 Champs Elysées in Paris. No. 6, Champs Elysées is where CARVEN’s earliest workshop and store are located. In 2021, CARVEN will reopen a 380-square-meter brand global flagship store here.
Tao Xiaoma revealed to Interface Fashion that after two or three years of construction, CARVEN’s creative team is now relatively complete. Although the specific details have not been disclosed, there are probably two directions that can be used as reference. One is to let CARVEN build on the basic understanding of a 75-year-old French fashion house and then upgrade it to a higher level. This is mainly from product design and channels. Start from both sides.
The second is to integrate social value into the connotation of French fashion, “because creativity is everywhere, but the value of creative social services is the most permanent and vital thing of a brand.” Tao Xiaoma said. In fact, before acquiring CARVEN, Zhihe Group’sand manufacturing capabilities have reached a certain height, the next step for the group is to upgrade its brand. In addition to relying on the Zhihe Paris line to enhance the brand’s tone, ICICLE has begun to focus on transforming and upgrading some retail stores since 2017, with the direction of lifestyle collection stores.
The first project to be launched is the “Zhihe Space” opened next to the headquarters of Zhihe Group in Caohejing, Shanghai. This space has three floors. The first floor is a brand clothing display and sales area, as well as a brand restaurant called SILEX. The second floor is a gallery, and the third floor is a bookstore.
After that, ICICLE also successively opened brand-new brand flagship stores in Shanghai Shimao Plaza, Ganghui Plaza 66, etc.
Today, ICICLE has achieved omni-channel coverage in the Chinese market. There are brand official websites and directly operated stores on third-party e-commerce platforms online, while offline stores are a combination of brand direct operations and franchise operations. model operation. Currently, ICICLE has a total of 276 stores nationwide, including 81 directly operated stores, most of which are located in first- and second-tier cities, while there are 195 agent stores, mainly located in second- and third-tier cities.
In 2019, ICICLE’s global flagship store opened in a single-family residence at No. 35 George V Street. This flagship store has a space design and display layout based on the Zhihe product series. It also integrates other retail formats such as books and has become an important window for ICICLE to display its brand image and creativity to the European market.
Therefore, increasing investment in overseas markets remains the next focus of Zhihe Group. As far as the ICICLE brand is concerned, replicating the omni-channel model of the Chinese market in France is the goal for the next period.
ICICLE is currently preparing to build e-commerce teams in France and Europe. At the same time, the brand is also striving to enter famous department stores in Paris. Once France also improves its online and offline omni-channel model, it will be easier for ICICLE to expand to a wider international market.
Japan may be the second overseas market that ICICLE will soon enter after France. In the early stage, Zhihe will try to open small stores in well-known department stores in Japan to test the market temperature. Tao Xiaoma revealed that ICICLE has received investment invitations from Japanese department stores, and the value concepts such as “harmony between man and nature” that ICICLE advocates are more easily accepted by Japanese consumers.
Through the business combination of the two, Zhihe Group “will be more balanced in terms of model and resource sharing and talent cultivation. This will make the group develop healthier.”
However, although Zhihe Group has made great achievements in product research and development, design, manufacturing and production, and even international layout, how to communicate with the public And telling brand stories is still a new topic for Zhihe.
For a long time, ICICLE did not have a public relations and communication department, and advertising materials were sales-oriented. This is largely due to the low-key personalities of the two founders, Tao Xiaoma and Ye Shouzeng. However, as the brand image is upgraded and the internationalization strategy is rolled out, how to shape the company’s external image and correctly convey corporate value is a challenge for Zhihe Group.
With Zhihe’s acquisition of the Kaide factory that originally produced double-sided tweed coats for Max Mara, especially after the launch of the Zhihe Paris line, based on pricing, raw materials and consumers Such feelings made Zhihe dubbed the “Chinese version of Max Mara” by the outside world.
This directly caused Zhihe’s reputation among Chinese consumers to be polarized. Consumers who like ICICLE are loyal fans, recognize the product craftsmanship and the values advocated by the brand, and are willing to pay for these things. But consumers who don’t like it think Zhihe’s pricing premium is too high. For example, a common opinion on Xiaohongshu is “I might as well spend a little more money and buy Max Mara.”
It can be said that becoming another version of a well-known brand is both a compliment and a hindrance. For ICICLE, its current solution is to differentiate itself from European brands in terms of brand culture and products themselves. A black Loro Piana pure cashmere coat from Zhihe Paris Line’s 2020 autumn and winter series is priced at more than 30,000 yuan. In the store, the shopping guide did not shy away from mentioning that this dress was produced in CapitaLand’s Jiangsu Haimen factory, but she believed that ICICLE’s French creative team understood the Asian body shape and designed it based on Asian body shapes. Body type as a reference standard.
“Many former Max Mara customers have switched to buy the Zhihe Paris line because the style is more suitable for us Chinese.” At the same time, Zhihe Group hopes to continue The implementation of environmental protection concepts will be implemented in China.
It has only been a few years since the concept of “sustainable fashion” spread to China from European and American countries, but it has been frequently used by large and small brands and fashion events. , it has become a cliché of “empty slogans with no results”. The reality is that the price of environmentally friendly and high-quality clothing is so high that the general public cannot afford it.
Tao Xiaoma believes: “Customers really shouldn’t spend high prices to buy environmentally friendly products, which is why we don’t publicize these outside all day long. We still have to work hard to make things Yes, and at the same time it doesn’t come with a high cost.”
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Tao Xiaoma believes: “Customers really shouldn’t spend high prices to buy environmentally friendly products, which is why we don’t publicize these outside all day long. We still have to work hard to make things right. , and at the same time it will not bring a high cost.”</p
