Economic growth spurs China's innerwear sector

The intimate apparel industry in China has been growing rapidly in recent years, as the economic growth has led to a rise in people’s income, and has boosted the demand for innerwear.

In fact, Chinese women are now asking for more attractive styles and luxurious items and firms are now trying to create new designs to meet the changing demands.

Speaking to fibre2fashion, Mr. Yang Shibin, leader of the China Knitting Industrial Association, said,“In recent years, the rapid economic growth in China has led to continuous rise in income levels of people, which is providing favourable support to the steady growth of China’s innerwear market.”

“The production of innerwear has been growing at an annual rate of 10-15 percent, and the value of annual output reached 200 billion Yuan last year,”he informs.

He names Maniform, Triumph, Wacoal, Love, Oudifen, Embry and Tingmei as major brands selling intimate apparel in China.

Briefing about preferences of various age groups, he says,“Although China’s innerwear market started a little late, the demand for high-end lingerie has gradually increased. High-end consumers are generally in the age group of 20-25 years, for whom conspicuous consumption is one of the main motivators.”

“In comparison, the preference of those who are in the age group of 35-45 years is different. Their purchase is based on rational restraint even though they are high-income earning urban white-collar workers. Their preference is based on work and social needs,”he adds.

Talking about future scope for innerwear brands in China, he mentions,“For any brand, the development and expansion in the market will depend on how it seizes opportunities for development. In addition, a brand image needs to be built based on efficient internal management and operation mechanism to provide high-quality items in tune with market demand.”

“Moreover, there is a new trend of personalized products and this provides a vast room for the growth of innerwear market in China,”he states.