Jewelry Designer Zhao Yici: It'S Not Easy To Start A Business

New York is the world's fashion capital. More and more Chinese entrepreneurs have begun to emerge in the fashion industry, jewelry industry, and fashion photography in New York, and have gradually become a new force that cannot be ignored. Young jewelry designer Zhao Yici is one of them.

Zhao Yici studied at Parsons College of Design in New York, majoring in fashion design and majoring in comparative literature. She became interested in jewelry when she was a sophomore, and went to St. Martin's College to study jewelry design for a summer. In 2014, the graduation work designed by Zhao Yici was selected into Parsons "Designer Nomination Exhibition", and the series of jewelry designed for matching clothing received great attention, and then she founded a personal fashion jewelry brand in New York YICI and high-end jewelry brand YICI ZHAO.

Shortly after the establishment of the brand, Zhao Yici's works were selected by sallly LaPointe, a new designer brand, to appear on the show of New York Fashion Week as accessory jewelry. 《Gossip Girl, starring Taylor Momsen's MV Zhao Yichi was also invited to design series of jewelry. After seeing these achievements, Parsons, her alma mater, asked her to go back to school to design accessories and jewelry for the outstanding graduates of the current year, and to work in Saks Fifth, an American fashion department store Avenue window display shows that Zhao Yici's entrepreneurial path is on the right track step by step.

Reporter: What are the opportunities and challenges for entrepreneurs who devote themselves to fashion in the United States?

　　Z: There are many opportunities in the United States, with a high degree of tolerance and interest in young designers. New York is young and energetic. People of all styles and types in the world are in New York. "Fashion shows" happen all the time. The most important thing is that many successful people are willing to help young people. If you are willing to ask them, they are willing to lend a helping hand. The more challenging aspect is that New York has a very fast pace. For entrepreneurs, early investment and other aspects of the requirements will be relatively high, which will generate some pressure. In addition, outstanding people in all industries around the world will want to come to New York to develop, so the competition is also quite large.

Reporter: How about the jewelry market in the United States?

　　Z: The American market is dominated by fashion jewelry, or clothing jewelry. Because clothing changes very quickly every season, and the style of each season is changing, the public has a great demand for fashion jewelry. However, Asia and Europe pay more attention to high-end jewelry. Most of our high-end jewelry series, works worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan, are in the Asian market.

Another point is that today's young consumers are pursuing individuality and design. When they buy luxury goods, they pay less attention to the actual value of the product and more attention to whether they can match clothes or whether they like the concept and design. When I talk to older customers, they mostly ask about raw materials and materials, while young people seldom care about them.

Reporter: You have high-end jewelry brand YICI ZHAO and fashion jewelry brand YICI. How are the two brand lines laid out?

　　Z: The current proportion is 60% high-end jewelry, 40% Fashion jewelry We have accumulated fashion jewelry for two years. We produce two series of design works every year. Now they are mainly sold on our website. This year we will enter several department stores and buyers' stores. We will produce 3-5 pieces of high-end jewelry every year, and each piece is only one piece, which is completely handmade. Now we are mainly facing auction houses. In May and September this year, we will have works auctioned in Hong Kong. In addition to auction houses, we also have some private customers, most of whom are post-80s people, who will pay more attention to design and handcraft. For example, they will ask us to customize wedding rings.

Reporter: Why did you choose to go to the auction house YICI ZHAO What are the main sales modes of?

　　Z: The first work was that the auction house came to us and asked us if we were interested, and then agreed Hong Kong The auction house of. Because we have been in New York for the past two years, this is a good way to enter the Asian market, which can accumulate some customer resources, get attention and exposure. I think the auction house is the most direct way for young brands to enter the market.

In May and September this year, we will also cooperate with auction houses in Hong Kong, because they saw the results of our last auction.

Reporter: What is the cooperation mode with department stores and buyer stores?

　　Z: The cooperation mode is different from that of each department store. At present, there are three main types. One is that after the wholesale price is given to the partner, the next thing is controlled by the other party. The other is for the famous department store in New York, where the goods purchased at the wholesale price will be returned if they are not sold out. The other is consignment, but we basically do not do consignment.

Reporter: After the design draft comes out, will the post production process be handed over to your own team or cooperate with other factories?

　　Z: We have two teams. One team does fashion jewelry. They are responsible for graphic design and public relations; Another team makes high-end jewelry, mainly by hand. The production of fashion jewelry is relatively large. Now our team is making models, and there are factories contracted in Manhattan; The craftsmanship of high-end jewelry is very high. It is specially made for us by French masters. Each master has 50 or 60 years of experience in the handicraft of high-end jewelry.

Reporter: Have you ever thought of putting the production link in China?

　　Z: Some buyers will also have such questions. The labor cost in New York is quite high. For new brands, the price of our products is not so competitive. If we get domestic production, it will be cheaper to a quarter, about a fifth. We choose New York for production because the craftsmanship in New York is very good, and I can control every stage here.

In fact, the best craftsmanship in jewelry is that of European teachers. The teachers I use now are teachers who moved from Europe to New York ten or twenty years ago. They are all graduates of French Academy of Fine Arts sculpture, and they pay great attention to details.

Reporter: How can participating in Fashion Week help new designers/brands?

　　Z: I think it is particularly important to participate in Fashion Week, because the time from planning to implementation is very short and the amount of work is very large, so the work pressure is very high, and it is very important to exercise the ability of new designers to plan, organize and really achieve. There are so many brands in New York Fashion Week, but there are few factories in Manhattan. Every designer and factory are in a hurry, and not everything on the day of the show will be carried out in a step-by-step manner. So it needs very rigorous planning and planning, including cooperation with fashion designers IDEA has been brought into play, which is a good team cooperation experience. The most important thing is that the exposure of Fashion Week is really high, and anyone will be noticed.

Reporter: In the process of creating a brand and opening up the market, what details must be paid attention to? What advice would you like to provide to other designers who are interested in creating jewelry brands?

　　z: I think it is to treat what we do, our team, customers and partners with heart, which is certain. When dealing with partners such as retailers, we must be punctual and keep our promises. For example, when I go to see partners, I will create a Google calendar， Write the time period that each program must be divided in red letters, so that the work can be completed on time. Otherwise, some designers will forget the time if they pay too much attention to the design, which will lead to confusion in the end. Special attention should be paid to this.