After years of development, Hanfu is moving from a niche circle to the mass market, becoming an important part of the national trend culture and national style economy. It not only provides new marketing ideas for tourism, photography and other industries, but also provides ancient style scripts and costumes. Immersive consumption featuring Hanfu elements such as banquets and banquets is in the ascendant.
During this year’s May Day holiday, the immersive Tang-style street life district “Chang’an Twelve Hours” opened in Xi’an. Many tourists specially put on Tang-style Hanfu and came to watch Tang art, listen to Tang music, and taste Tang Dynasty Food. Among the well-proportioned ancient buildings, with fluttering clothes and flying skirts, the beauty of Hanfu is eye-catching.
After years of development, Hanfu is moving from a niche circle to the mass market, becoming an important part of the national trend culture and national style economy. It not only provides new marketing ideas for tourism, photography and other industries, but also provides ancient style scripts and ancient costume banquets. Immersive consumption that focuses on Hanfu elements is in the ascendant.
Hanfu consumption is becoming increasingly popular
“I used to wear Hanfu when walking on the street, and people often asked me where I was going to perform. Now more and more people recognize it as Hanfu, and many people can even tell the dynasty and shape.” Changzhi City, Shanxi Province Cao Xiaoyan, a garden and landscape designer, “got into” Hanfu as early as 2015. She deeply felt that in recent years, the national style culture represented by Hanfu has become popular, and society’s acceptance of Hanfu has continued to increase.
“I started by buying code-coded ready-made clothes. As I learned more about the shape and fabric of Hanfu, I started buying customized Hanfu and incoming Hanfu.” Cao Xiaoyan said, “I choose the incoming Hanfu myself. You need to make fabrics, draw design drawings, and then find a tailor to make them. Spring and summer Hanfu cost between tens of yuan and three to four hundred yuan, while autumn and winter Hanfu made of wool, cashmere and other fabrics are more expensive.”
In addition, Cao Xiaoyan will also buy some Hanfu items with original designs and complex craftsmanship, such as Hanfu made of gold woven fabrics, imitation flowers, chemical fiber and other fabrics. “The items are custom-made for me by merchants, and the price of each item is more than a thousand yuan.” Cao Xiaoyan said.
Zhao Jing, who comes from Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, prefers Song Dynasty Hanfu and Ming Dynasty Hanfu made of cotton and linen. She said, “Hanfu made of silk, tapestry and other fabrics and craftsmanship are more delicate and require higher care methods and wearing scenarios. I prefer cotton and linen Hanfu that are easy to care for.”
Zhao Jing started buying Hanfu when she was in college. After working, she would buy 2 to 3 pieces of Hanfu every month, with the price ranging from 300 yuan to 600 yuan. “In addition to wearing Hanfu when gathering with friends, traveling or on holidays, I also mix and match Hanfu with ordinary clothes in my daily life.” Zhao Jing told reporters that she has more than 50 pieces of Hanfu, most of which are from Purchase on e-commerce platform.
As the Hanfu dressing in programs such as “National Treasure” has attracted attention, and the roly-poly lady wearing Hanfu has become popular, catalyzed and spread by social platforms, and boosted by e-commerce platforms, originally Hanfu, which only exists in niche circles, is moving towards daily life and the mass market, gaining the favor of more and more consumers.
On the Douyin platform, the total number of short videos labeled Hanfu has exceeded 68 billion times. According to the person in charge of Douyin, from January 2022 to now, the number of merchants selling Hanfu on the platform has increased by 239% compared with the same period last year. During the “Douyin Trend Oriental Season” event held from April 23 to May 4, Hanfu sales on the Douyin e-commerce platform increased by 312% year-on-year.
“The Hanfu consumer market is characterized by youthfulness, femininity and stratification, and Hanfu consumption behavior is polarized into interest-oriented collection consumption and casual one-time consumption.” Tian Hui, associate professor at the School of Cultural Industry Management, Communication University of China It is believed that as China’s excellent traditional culture radiates vitality and vitality of the times, Hanfu consumption awareness is getting higher and higher, and the market acceptance of Hanfu has expanded in breadth and depth.
Expressing cultural identity
“I fell in love with Hanfu at first because I just thought they were beautiful.” Zhao Jing said when recalling the reason why she got into Hanfu. Similar to many Hanfu enthusiasts, she was attracted by the exquisite Hanfu in costume TV series, and immediately began to understand the Hanfu culture and placed orders frequently.
The traditional Chinese culture carried by Hanfu is also what fascinates many consumers. Cao Xiaoyan believes that Hanfu is a clothing carrier that displays traditional culture. Ordinary people can intuitively feel its cultural charm and are willing to display and spread it in their lives.
“Hanfu consumption has the characteristics of youth. Consumers have witnessed the strengthening of national power in the process of growing up, and their deep-rooted national pride and cultural identity have inspired their confidence and love for local brands.” Tian Hui said , young consumers pay more attention to self-expression. Hanfu not only satisfies young consumers’ love and expression of local culture, but also satisfies their deep-seated demands for personalization and acquisition of identity.
Hanfu enthusiasts call each other “Tongpao”, which comes from “How can I say no clothes? I share the same robe with my son”. They use Hanfu as a bond to make friends with similar interests and establish group identity.
Cao Xiaoyan told reporters that when she first “entered” Hanfu, Hanfu was a very niche hobby. She never met any “comrades” and almost “quit”. “Until the 2017 Qiqiao Festival, I saw the recruitment post for the Hanfu event on a local Tieba, and met a group of like-minded partners, which enabled me to maintain my love for Hanfu. ”
Liu Xueer, a girl from Guangzhou, was also encouraged by her “comrades” to quit her job as a clerk in her hometown company and start a business in Hangzhou. In 2019, she founded Fengshang Traditional Clothing Design Studio.
Liu Xueer told reporters that riding on the east wind of Hanfu, she started her own business relatively smoothly. In September 2019, she launched the “Fengshang” brand’s first original designed Ming Dynasty horse-faced skirt – the tourmaline green swastika Diling Dog Xian on Taobao. Peach Blossom Watching the Moon Gold Woven Skirt, priced at 1,188 yuan. “More than 500 pieces were sold that year, and it is still a ‘hard-to-get’ style on the second-hand trading platform.”
Since the store opened, “Fengshang” has launched more than 20 styles of Ming-made Hanfu, and during the epidemic, each style was able to maintain an average sales volume of more than 100 pieces.
It takes several months from the design and drawing of a hanfu to factory proofing, revision and finalization, and then to the weaving factory to weave and dye the fabric. After it is put on the shelves for sale, the tailor starts to make the finished product. “The cost of designing a new model ranges from 30,000 to 100,000 yuan depending on the complexity of the process and the number of revisions. Custom weaving and dyeing of a batch of fabrics requires at least 200,000 to 300,000 yuan in working capital.” Liu Xueer said frankly. , the epidemic has brought certain pressure on capital flows.
When it comes to the future, Liu Xueer is very confident. “Hanfu, a kind of clothing that carries the aesthetics of traditional Chinese culture and national identity, is very popular among young people. It has gradually become a cultural phenomenon and an emerging industry that integrates fashion and tradition. I believe that more and more people will buy Hanfu in the future and engage in Merchants with original designs will have better development.”
Show elements of the times
With the rapid growth in the number and market size of Hanfu enthusiasts, the related consumer market has also ushered in new opportunities for development.
From Xitang Hanfu Culture Week, which has been held for 9 consecutive years, to Wuhan Happy Valley’s “National Style Dimension Festival Hanfu Appreciation of Spring” themed event, Beijing Huachao Hanfu Cultural Festival, and to many scenic spots announcing the “Wear Hanfu” “Free tickets”, tourist attractions have become high-frequency usage scenarios of Hanfu, and the business of renting or selling Hanfu has also become a “secondary consumption point” in many scenic spots.
Consumers are no longer satisfied with the check-in model of “Hanfu + photo taking”. For this reason, many travel companies have launched experiential projects with Hanfu as the core. In March this year, at a city-wide community event held by Mafengwo in Yuyuantan Park in Beijing, participants dressed in Hanfu and solved puzzles as “Flower Gods” during the Flower Festival, enjoying a “time-travel” experience while outing the park. Various creative products not only contribute ticket revenue to scenic spots, but also revitalize the tourism market.
In addition to tourism, “Hanfu+” has also brought new marketing ideas to industries such as beauty, fashion, weddings, catering, photography, etiquette training, etc. Hanfu photo shoots, Hanfu-themed script killing, Hanfu afternoon tea and other products that focus on Hanfu elements Immersive consumption is on the rise.
Stylist Zhang Zhili has been in the makeup industry for 9 years, mainly engaged in makeup work for dance drama shooting, advertising shooting, personal portraits, and stage shows. In 2017, she transitioned from modern makeup to ancient style makeup.
“From design, makeup and hair to clothes and accessories, it takes about 2 hours to complete a complete set of ancient-style makeup, and the charge is about 2,000 yuan.” Zhang Zhili said that she initially did ancient-style makeup out of interest, and she happened to be in time Due to the popularity of Hanfu, the business has been relatively smooth. Nowadays, the number of orders for ancient-style makeup in advertising shoots and personal portraits continues to grow, and events such as Hanfu catwalk shows in various places are becoming more frequent, and invitations to her makeup are being sent to her one after another.
This has put forward higher professional requirements for Zhang Zhili. “The makeup of the Han Dynasty was simple and grand, the makeup of the Tang Dynasty was graceful and luxurious, and the makeup of the Song Dynasty was restrained and elegant.” Zhang Zhili told reporters, “I learned about makeup by reading professional books, visiting museums, referring to murals and ancient paintings, and consulting experts. Try to be as close to history as possible and restore the character’s image. We hope that consumers can understand the long-standing traditional culture through a variety of ancient style makeup, so that traditional culture can be better implemented in daily life.”
The “broken circle” Hanfu economy allows traditional culture to enter more consumption scenarios. “To maintain the long-term popularity of Hanfu and related consumption, innovative thinking and contemporary expression are needed, both in terms of the in-depth exploration of cultural connotations and the communication of cultural connotations, as well as the design, quality and even brand development of the products themselves.” Tian Hui believes that only by taking root in a deep understanding of cultural values, taking the elements of the times as the starting point, and resonating with the aesthetics and emotions of the target consumer groups can traditional culture obtain a consumption soil for sustainable development.
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