Japan's Textile And Apparel Industry Is Facing Crisis.

Once, the news of Yamamoto Teruji, a Japanese fashion designer, filed for bankruptcy protection, which triggered discussions on the trend of Japan's economy and the future development of the textile and garment industry. Some agreed that Japan's Asian luxury goods market has begun to go downhill, and the Japanese textile and garment industry is facing unprecedented crisis.

In fact, with the collapse of the bubble economy, the Japanese textile and garment industry has been facing an increasingly serious situation in the past ten years. However, despite the obvious market shock brought by the economic downturn, Japan's textile and garment industry is changing ahead of time. Today, the new industry that is committed to creating "Japan" has attracted worldwide attention. Its annotation is focused on high quality textile materials and fashion ideas.

What is the secret of reshaping industrial competitiveness under the influence of crisis? A few days ago, Japan's JFWJAPANCREATION responsible person answered the question when interviewed by the author. According to the introduction, the full name of JFW is the Japanese Fashion Week promotion agency. The world-famous Tokyo fashion week is hosted by it. JAPANCREATION is the Japanese Creative Textile Exhibition sponsored by the agency, aiming at promoting high technology and high fashion Japanese textiles.

　　 60 years of industrial change

"In Japan, the textile fashion industry has been developing for about half a century." Kawashima Ro, director of Japan's JFWJAPANCREATION affairs, recalled. After World War II, the textile industry was regarded as a peaceful industry. As an important link leading the revival of Japan, the government has attached importance to it and began to take the road of revival. In the 50s of last century, the fiber industry welcomed the first bumper harvest, and the productivity of the textile production industry made rapid progress during this period. That is the era of upstream leading the industry. Japan has since then built the foundation of textile and chemical fiber production.

Then, in the 70s of last century, the Japanese textile industry faced a difficult period due to the import control of textiles by the United States. On the other hand, garment enterprises begin to show their heads with a strong vitality. Designers such as KENZO, Lssey Miyake, Yamamoto Teruji and Wakubo Rei have been active in the fashion industry. In 1975, the first Tokyo fashion week was successfully held. At this point, in the world fashion industry, Japan has a stable position and has the right to publish fashion. In the 80s of last century, Japan ushered in the real "clothing era" and entered a period of rapid development.

However, with the expansion of production scale and the increase of production capacity, the domestic market in Japan has gradually become saturated. Especially after the collapse of the bubble economy, the scale of the industry has been shrinking. Textile enterprises have reduced production equipment and accelerated the transfer of production business to China and other overseas. At the same time, the rapid rise of textile industry in neighboring countries has made Japanese textile industry lose its advantage in price and quality. Among them, the impact of Chinese textile products on the Japanese market is most obvious. According to statistics, Japan imported 3 billion 250 million garments in total in 2003, of which nearly 3 billion products originated in China, accounting for 91% of the total.

Against this background, Japan's famous textile enterprises and industrial clusters put forward the idea of revitalizing the textile industry with the breakthrough of high value-added products. This call has been included in the development strategy of Japanese textile and garment industry. In 2007, Nikai Junhiro, Japan's minister of economic and industrial industry, put forward the industrial strategic objectives in three phases: short term (1 years), medium term (3 years) and long term (10 years). The short-term goals include strengthening the training of clothing professionals, strengthening the specification, production and sales of raw materials and products, and promoting the creation of new businesses. The medium term goal is to "promote the organic integration of sensibility and technology and form a creative garment industry cluster". The long-term goal is to "strengthen the international competitiveness of the Japanese garment industry and form a system that can cultivate a large number of world-class brands".

Kawashima Ro said that with the support of this innovative concept, the Japanese textile industry has not only produced technology, but also fashions. For example, at the inauguration ceremony of President Obama, the first cardigan NINARICCI cardigan worn by the first lady Michel used special mohair yarn, which was woven by Misaki Sato fiber, which was less than half of the previous product and was highly evaluated by European and American designer brands.

　 "Japan creates" force

Speaking of the development and transformation of Japanese textile industry, a senior person in the industry said that in recent years, the scale of Japanese textile industry has lagged far behind China in some indicators, but "lean camels are bigger than horses". Japanese textile industry still has considerable advantages compared with China in product research and development, high value-added products processing and commodity circulation.

"In terms of the development of differential fiber, Japanese textile enterprises are still in the forefront of the world in the application of nanotechnology and biotechnology. Antibacterial fabrics, UV resistant, wrinkle resistant and deodorizing functional fabrics can be seen in an endless stream." The source said.

It is the basic idea of JFWJAPANCREATION exhibition to gather high quality, high functional and other high value Japanese textiles and provide business platform to buyers from all over the world. According to the introduction, through this window, the world's textile industry peers can see the most advanced high-tech fibers, such as carbon fiber developed by Dongli company, which is more advanced than iron, and lighter than aluminum. The superfine nanofibers introduced by the Tai Ren group have reached the point where human eyes can not be seen;

I understand that the Chinese name of the exhibition is the Japanese creation of Textile Expo. This shows that the exhibition's admiration for innovative materials and creative ideas, the trend of publication, environmental protection fabrics, functional materials and finishing technology are the core contents. On the autumn and winter fabric exhibition in Shanghai recently, the Japanese pavilion, organized by JFWJAPANCREATION, focused on Japan's cutting-edge technology and products, and received warm attention from buyers at home and abroad.

The dedication and stability of the production process are described by Kawashima Ro as "the unique Japanese temperament". "Creativity and uniqueness of Japanese materials are indispensable to the world's fashion industry." He said that the functional materials that were born in this temperament have attracted luxury brand designers to visit Japan frequently, seeking inspiration from creativity, and realizing product differentiation with unique materials. On the other hand, the reason why Japanese textile enterprises accelerate the pace of technological innovation is inseparable from the creative support of fashion designers. "For creative people, materials directly CO produced with Japanese fabric manufacturers are important factors that determine the success or failure of garments." Kawashima Ro told the author that Japanese textile and clothing can be evaluated by high quality and high added value. It is the result of cooperation between the technology and research spirit of textile enterprises and the sensibility and imagination of fashion designers.

"In the modern age of contradictions, how to think about the existence and future of the textile industry?" This is a group of popular trends that JFWJAPANCREATION has launched. The author observes that in this popular trend area, a variety of trend works are concentrated, including the works of industrial clusters and institutions, the dyeing techniques commonly seen by textile enterprises and printing and dyeing enterprises, and how designers use organic fibers to produce environmentally friendly clothing.

It can be seen that a deep cooperation mode of the industrial chain has matured in the Japanese textile and garment industry. And the industry that has gone through sixty storms seems to be constantly changing and changing to find the true meaning of development.