Down Jacket Returns To Winter Clothing, Medium And High-End Consumption Continues To Be Hot

Since this year, the price of down raw materials has been on the rise. Especially since November, with the consumption of down products entering the peak period, the price of down raw materials has hovered at a high level. Data shows that in early November, the price of 95% white goose down reached 1300 yuan/kg, up more than 40% over the same period last year. By the end of November, the price of 95% white goose down still remained at the range of 1100 yuan to 1200 yuan/kg.

So, behind the return of down jacket to the "C" position of winter clothing, what is the status quo of down and its product brands and industry?

Medium and high-end consumption continues to be hot

According to the relevant data of China National Garment Association, as one of the world's largest down jacket consumption markets, China's down jacket market is growing rapidly, with the market size approaching 200 billion yuan in 2023 from less than 100 billion yuan in 2017, with a year-on-year growth of 15.81%. It is expected that the down jacket market in China will reach 250 billion yuan in 2025.

Data shows that since November, the search volume of thermal clothing categories represented by down jackets has increased by 150% year on year, and the order volume in Northeast China has increased by 80% year on year. In Beijing Heshenghui Shopping Center, the sales of down products have continued to rise since winter. The head of an outdoor sports brand said that the sales of down clothes had increased by 10% month on month.

On line, this year's "Double 11" shopping festival lasted for nearly a month. As a major part of each e-commerce platform, the sales of down products continued to maintain a good growth momentum.

In Tmall, the turnover of Bosideng, Gaofan, Yaya and Xuezhongfei exceeded 100 million yuan. Among them, the turnover of Bosideng down jacket exceeded 1 billion yuan. In Tiaoyin, it has attracted a large number of consumers' attention and purchase through live broadcast with goods, short video marketing and other ways. Yaya and Bosideng are the top two down brands in the women's clothing peak brand list. At Vipshop, down jacket products also ranked at the top of the sales list of apparel products, with a year-on-year growth of more than 30%.

In addition, according to JD's "Double 11" full cycle sales data, from October 14 to November 11, the turnover of women's down jacket, men's down jacket, sports down jacket and children's down jacket categories doubled year on year. At the brand level, the sales of the duck brand increased more than five times year-on-year.

The "Tmall Double 11 Youth Cooling and Warming Atlas" released by Tmall Taobao and Ink Weather recently shows that this winter, down jackets return to the "C" position of winter clothing. The young people finally returned to the embrace of "White Moonlight" down jackets after taking turns to "spoil" winter clothes such as military coats, big flower jackets, and assault jackets. Down jackets of well-known brands are increasingly popular with consumers.

Data shows that during the "Double 11" period, the turnover of down jackets with a price of more than 1000 yuan on Tmall e-commerce platform increased by more than 30% year on year, and the turnover of extreme cold goose down jackets with a price of more than 2000 yuan on Bosiden exceeded 20000. In contrast, during the "Double 11" shopping festival in Pinghu, Zhejiang, a down industry cluster, the sales of popular down jackets were tepid.

In addition, with the continuous development of the down jacket market, more and more brands and products pour into the market, making competition increasingly fierce. In order to stand out in the market, many brands have to attract consumers through price war. Ms. Li, a consumer from Inner Mongolia, told the China Textile News that in some areas south of the Yangtze River, down clothing products are mainly light and fashionable, but in the northern region, only down products with brand influence and quality assurance can be recognized by consumers. Which online celebrities are "white brands"? If down quality is not good, It is easy to be "eliminated" by cold air in northern areas.

In fact, whether in the south or the north, people pay more and more attention to the brand reputation and product quality of down jackets. Although some online online red brands and so-called "white brand" products have gained high attention and sales in a short time, few of them can become "red" for a long time.

Brand side caters to market changes

With the improvement of people's living standards and the change of consumption concepts, consumers' demand for down jackets is also changing. In addition to the most basic warm keeping function, today's consumers pay more attention to the design style, product quality, brand attributes and other aspects of down jacket. Medium and high-end down jacket brands have become the first choice of consumers in the market.

As a national brand in the down jacket industry, duck down jacket did not blindly follow the high-end line, but entered the mass market through the "parity" positioning. The price of duck duck products is controlled within the range of 300-400 yuan. This price positioning makes duck duck stand out in the competitive down jacket market and meets the demand of consumers for high cost performance down jackets.

The relevant person in charge of the duck brand said that in addition to precise price positioning, the duck also significantly improved the brand's supply chain management efficiency through digital means. Yaya connects the whole supply chain through digital technology, covering all aspects from consumer preference prediction, intelligent selection to supplier production management. This digital supply chain enabling enables ducks and ducks to have the ability of "quick reaction" and quickly adjust production plans and product launch according to market demand.

For a long time, the high-end down jacket market has always been the world of overseas brands such as Canada Goose and Mengkelai. However, with the change of consumer consumption concept and the rise of national fashion consumption, consumer demand for down jacket is also changing, and domestic high-end down brands are gradually emerging in the market, becoming the new favorite of consumers.

Ruixi, a designer brand born in Pinghu, Zhejiang, a down industry cluster, combines traditional art with innovative techniques to create a down fashion that breaks the rules. According to designer William Shen, with its trendy design, Reich not only launched co branded products with French clothing brand Menclair, but also appeared on the show of Milan Fashion Week.

"From the initial processing and production, to building a brand, and then to the rise of a brand, Reich has achieved self transcendence." William Shen said, "It is not good to always follow others in their backside to imitate."

"Resonance with consumers" is an effective means for clothing brands to expand the market. At the beginning of November, Bosiden launched the city co branded down jacket jointly built with Harbin, making the once popular "Erbin" the brand spokesperson. "'Erbin Bosideng' has become one of the red standard accessories of Harbin Tourism Network." A consumer who bought this series of down jackets said, "The design pattern on the clothes is fashionable and has the characteristics of Harbin city, which is very memorable."

He Maosheng, Vice President of Bosiden Group and General Manager of Supply Chain Management Center, said that Bosiden always adheres to the principle of quality first, and ensures that every down jacket is worth its money through scientific research investment, quality system construction, logistics guarantee, quality control digitalization and other efforts.

The price of raw materials rises, and the import increases

With the head down brand continuing to lead the industry innovation, and consumers' demand for lightweight, urbanized, fashionable, functional and other consumption of down clothing, the development trend of the down industry is undergoing constant changes.

Chen Shaotong, vice president and secretary-general of Guangdong Garment and Apparel Industry Association, said that the rise in the price of down raw materials will be transmitted to the production and consumption sectors within a certain period of time, and to a certain extent, will affect the market price.

The relevant person in charge of a down enterprise in Pinghu, Zhejiang Province, said that the raw material cost accounted for about 75% of the total production cost of down jackets, of which down accounted for nearly half. Therefore, once the price of down raw materials rises, down jackets will become more expensive immediately.

It is worth noting that the growing consumer demand for high-end down products, especially imported down products, also exerts a subtle influence on the market price and scale of related products to a certain extent.

According to the relevant statistics of China Down Industry Association, the total imports of China's down industry in the first three quarters of this year were about 860 million US dollars, up 26.6% year on year. Among them, the import of down and raw wool was about 33000 tons, up 73.6% year on year; The import volume was about 290 million US dollars, up 35.8% year on year. The import volume of down clothing was about 4.783 million, up 27.8% year on year; The import volume was about USD 570 million, up 11.8% year on year. Down bedding imports are relatively small.

In September, the import volume of China's down industry was about 220 million US dollars, up 63.3% year on year. Among them, the import volume of down raw hair and down clothing increased significantly, the import volume of down raw hair increased by 68% and 167.4% respectively year on year, and the import volume of down clothing increased by 62.8% and 52.4% respectively. Among them, the import volume of down clothing accounted for 83.1% of the total import volume of the industry.

Yao Xiaoman, honorary president of China Badminton Association, said that imported feathers are an effective supplement to the domestic raw material market, an economic lever to adjust the market, and also a demand for overseas feather processing. Feather is imported at a low price, washed and processed into finished cashmere, and then exported at a high price or to meet domestic demand, which is the purpose of importing feather raw materials. The raw wool imported from Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and other places is of good quality and low price, which is welcomed by domestic feather and down processing enterprises. In addition, the relevant national standards for down products also put forward higher quality requirements for down jacket manufacturers. In order to meet the relevant standards, manufacturers need to purchase high-quality down raw materials, which will naturally make the price of high-end down jacket products "firm". (Photographer/reporter Zhang Guidong)