Zhejiang Curtain Changed Into Horseface Skirt, Setting Off A Trend Of National Procurement

"What kind of fabric is this? How much is it? Are there any other patterns?" Recently, Xucun, a small town located in Haining, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, was very busy. At the Haining Spring Home Textile Expo, the "Xucun Characteristics" horse dress set off a trend of national procurement.

"Now the supply of horse face skirts can't meet the demand. As soon as the samples are hung out, customers will contact them, and the stock has already sold out." Zhang Mingqiang, the head of Fengya Qiantang Hanfu Factory, has just returned to his factory. He has not seen the hot scene in the exhibition for a long time, and now he is worried about the production capacity and the product sales.

In Xucun Town, there are more than 100 factories engaged in the production of horse face skirts and new Chinese clothing fabrics. Hundreds of jacquard machines roar at the same time, and can produce more than 30000 meters of cloth a day.

In a garment factory in Xucun, workers are sewing horse face skirts. Photographed by Huang Yanjun

Just a year ago, it was curtains, wall cloth, sofa cloth and other home textile products that were shipped out of these factories.

The curtain cloth "exploded" the horse face skirt, which was the third textile "revolution" of Xu Village. "One third of China's curtains are in Xucun", a town in northern Zhejiang that made its fortune by producing brocade quilts, and later became famous nationwide by virtue of home textile products, with a deep weaving foundation.

The factory operated by Zhang Mingqiang has been producing home textile products for 21 years since 2003. In 2022, on the Internet, Dior, a fashion brand, launched a new product that looks like a Chinese horseface skirt, which aroused heated public opinion and made him smell a different business opportunity.

"Like curtain cloth, the fabric of horse face skirt is woven by jacquard loom. Since Chinese traditional clothing is so popular, why don't we lead the fashion ourselves?" Zhang Mingqiang said that he began to make plans for transformation from then on. In the first half of 2023, he applied for a trademark. When approved in August, he quickly established a "one-stop" production line for weaving fabrics and making ready to wear.

With the rise of the national trend, the horse face skirt went on the show and into the street. Its exquisite and beautiful fabric can only be made by large jacquard, and the old machine was put into new use. In the view of Xu Village people, the industrial trend has circled here.

The Song brocade horse face skirt fabric developed by Zhang Mingqiang is colorful, flexible and elegant. Photographed by Huang Yanjun

The new Song brocade fabric is covered with a layer of pearl light, smart and elegant; The traditional style is mainly red, black and blue, and gold threads are embroidered with various patterns, dignified and grand... Looking at the bustling merchants, Yin Xiaohong, chairman of Haining China Home Textile City, felt deeply.

What outsiders see is a horse dress. In her opinion, it is the big market of national fashion consumption. "The rise of horse face skirt shows the cultural confidence of Chinese people. Guochao is not only a skirt, but also integrating into life from all aspects. We are also constantly developing new products." Yin Xiaohong pointed to a newly developed silk table flag in front of her.

The national fashion clothing, which is popular because of culture, also needs to add the connotation of the times. Yin Xiaohong revealed that Home Textile City has cooperated with Zhejiang University of Science and Technology to establish a fashion fabric innovation center to explore the fashion and lifestyle of traditional fabrics.

In Haining China Home Textile City, designers have developed many "new Chinese style" clothes. Photographed by Huang Yanjun

"Contemporary young people pay attention to releasing personality, pursuing spiritual freedom, and daring to put national fashion clothes on the street, which may have been unimaginable before." Cao Yaoqiang, president of Haining Home Textile Association, has been deeply involved in the industry for many years. He thinks that compared with the former textile industry of Xucun, which focused on "home", the horse face skirt has opened a new track that focuses on "people".

After the fabric of horse face skirt exploded, the local people began to calm down and think about how to make the wind of national tide blow longer and promote the benign iteration of traditional industries. "Manufacturers can't rush or disperse in a crowd. The market of Guochao Clothing is expanding. In the future, we should explore how to extend the lifeline of this new industry," said Ma Minggang, vice mayor of Xucun Town.

(Source: China News Network)