OMNIALUO Women's Co-Founder Luo Ye: Designing Beauty in Shenzhen

O'Brien Women's founder Luo Ye

Although I was a 70-year-old born in Beijing, I have been in Shenzhen for 27 years.

Since childhood, a "boy" has lived in my bones, and I am particularly independent and assertive. Starting from junior high school, I started as a backpacker, carrying a map of China, and began to “fill in the blanks” and walk one by one.

Later, I followed my parents to Shenzhen and furthered my major in international trade. After graduating, after a few years of exploration, he switched to become a fashion designer. I set off from Shenzhen and returned to Beijing with my work. I traveled overseas and went one by one.

Fashion design is an industry that accompanies the beauty industry. In addition, I am in Shenzhen, a city full of energy and passion without rules and regulations, so I have all the weather, geography, and people’s personality. The idea can be overwhelming, and my career is on the "fast track." I am particularly grateful to the city. If you didn't come to Shenzhen, you wouldn't have today's Luo Ye.

In 1998, Luo Xin at the beginning of his business started to plan at Bagua Ling’s office

Learn to trade to do design

My sister and I were known as the “Second Generation of the Ministry of Textiles” from an early age. Because my parents worked in the Central Textile Industry Department in Beijing that year. Later my father went to the mainland to build a textile company and my mother went to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. In the early 1980s, my father came to Shenzhen. Before I came to Shenzhen, my father returned home from Shenzhen on a business trip and would buy some Western-style gifts from Zhongying Street. He told me that the life style of Shenzhen people is different from that in the Mainland. Shenzhen people work hard, Shenzhen's sunshine is brighter, and Shenzhen's seasons are not very clear. At that time, I began to imagine what kind of city Shenzhen is.

In 1987, my mother and I also came to Shenzhen. When I first arrived in Shenzhen, I saw that the streets, roads, and trees were all new. People here wear different clothes and dress up. They are more fashionable and full of vigor. I took the class to Hongling Middle School and sat in the first row. I remembered it was a rainy day. I pushed the door and walked in. The classmates all clashed. After many years of class reunions, I learned that the reason they really applauded was that they had never seen such a high school girl.

At that time, the students in the class basically spoke Cantonese. When the teacher was in class, he spoke Cantonese for a while, spoke Mandarin in a while, and I couldn't understand some of the content. At that time, my heart was in a hurry. I began to listen to Cantonese songs in Hong Kong, and I was able to understand and begin to speak Cantonese after a year and a half. But there was one thing that made me feel a drop-off - and some of my classmates went to play in Guangzhou. They had an ID card, and I only had a paper border guard and felt that we were still different.

My sister was one of the earliest students at Shenzhen University. At that time, I often went to school to see her. I like the deep atmosphere. In 1988, the international trade profession was very popular. In addition to the influence of her mother's work in the direct affiliation of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, at the time there was no clear plan for the future of the road. Therefore, a profound international trade profession was taken as a matter of course. Although my family’s economic conditions were good, Shenzhen University was very popular at that time. It was a social practice outside of study. I also took part in it, taking 90 yuan a month’s salary.

After graduation, I worked in two advertising design companies and later contracted a graphic design company myself. In 1996, when Shenzhen had a legal sister who had studied law, she created a clothing brand called “Classic Story” across the border. It inspired me, and I thought: Can I also be a product and incorporate my unique understanding of the beauty? It naturally attracts people without using me to lobby for people to buy. Then I remembered that when I was a child, I was lack of materialism. It was very difficult to buy something I liked on the street. From the age of 10, I drew my own pictures, designed my own birthday skirt, and made uncle and aunt of the textile system help me make it. When I was wearing my clothes, people brightened up and asked me: "Where do you have to buy this skirt?" I said with pride: "I designed it myself."

I have always loved to watch the Pearl 930 program. Foreign and Hong Kong fashion information such as European and American catwalk shows and fashion brand stories made me an eye-opener. So I wanted to do costume design. Because I am a happy old person. I would like to write in the past. I would love music once. I have already talked to my parents about myriad dreams. When I told them to make a clothing brand, they were not optimistic and said: "You If you want to do it, do it, and if you are so restless, it is estimated that you will not be able to maintain it for three months." I did not expect that I would stick to my life for this whole period.

Go to the Window of the World to shoot "Big Movies"

I first rented two shops in the “Eastern New World” shopping mall in Luohu District. Due to some work experience in the advertising company, I went to find Russian dancers and foreign models, wearing the coat I designed, and the Eiffel Tower in the window of the world. Taken under the "big". As soon as the film came out, it was very atmospheric. With this confidence, he made a scene on the beach in Tung Chung and rented a white horse. With a foreign model and a grand piano, he took a series of beautiful people, a beach, a white horse, and a piano. The shooting is very tossing people, the piano is extremely heavy to carry, then the average person does not suffer that sin, and now it has become a classic.

My aesthetic thoughts were greatly influenced by my mother. I borrowed western classical art such as ballet, or inspired by the classic characters in the movie. I designed a lot of clothes according to my own ideas. In fact, I didn't know who to wear before design, but when the results came out, the market responded particularly well. Because of the proximity to Hong Kong, the women's workplace suits were first popular in Shenzhen, with small round collars and small square collars, sleeves and shoulders. Everyone began to pursue the style of elegant ladies. At that time, we sold a batch of batches in a batch.

Later, I opened a small exhibition hall under the industrial plant of Bagua Ling, which was in the same building as the famous “classic story” at that time. It was our blessing.

Soon after, a department store in Kunming was looking for a novel brand and found Opelranuo's one-off order for 150,000 yuan. At that time, I was only a brand for six months. I really thought it was a big fortune. From 1997, my brand began to develop into other cities in China.

I think it's a good time for me to catch up. In the 1980s and 1990s, Shenzhen had a lot of “three to one” clothing companies that made orders for big foreign brands, and they accumulated a lot of production capacity in processing. Shenzhen information is avant-garde, bell-bottom pants, sunglasses, which are popular from Hong Kong and Taiwan to Shenzhen and then spread to the mainland. In addition, after 1992, a large number of talents poured into Shenzhen. There was a huge consumer demand in the market, and they were equipped with weather, geography, people, and several factors. Therefore, many people with business awareness began to target the apparel industry. Shenzhen has also formed several agglomeration areas, such as the earliest Bagualing Industrial Zone, Liantang, Nanyou Garment Wholesale Market, and later the garment factory of Chegongmiao. Especially from 1996 to 2002, the garment industry in Shenzhen was just flying at a rapid pace. At that time, Shenzhen's brand began to move toward the national market, and it was unique in the market because of its “modern style” and “bright colors”. The market is big and the competition is fierce, so some brands are extremely popular, but they slowly decline or even disappear.

Many people think that the garment design industry is bright and colorful. Along with flowers and coffee, this is actually insignificant in our entire career. Apart from the fact that most of the time is drawing drawings, fabric selection, and production, we have to face many markets, funds, and inventory. The delivery period cannot keep up with all other aspects. Therefore, it is very tenacious to be able to do clothing and do well in Shenzhen.

In one fell swoop won the industry "Oscar"

After my father retired, he began to help me manage the company. With my father’s back-office support, I was particularly relieved and my creative abilities were greatly enhanced. I started to fly. In 2002, our brand sold very well in the market, so I want to show my talents in the profession. That year, I went to participate in Beijing International Fashion Week. I never thought that a non-CBA-born designer actually became famous on the professional platform and won first place among the “Top Ten Newcomers”.

Since then, the honors of the first place have continued to flow to me. Especially when I received the first prize from the American Platinum Award for NAUTICA Creative Foundation, I used this $25,000 to go along with several outstanding young designers of the time to Loufu. Palace show, because all the designers dream is to go to Paris to open a fashion conference. That time, our series was a great success. In 2006, I won the Oscar for the Chinese fashion design industry, the "Golden Summit Award."

None of them are not without setbacks. In 2005, when my father died, I felt that heaven had fallen because I had only done design and creativity and had no management. Seeing the father's handwriting in the signing of the approval slip, he did not dare to face this fact for almost three months.

Was preparing for the "Golden Summit Award". Is it a game or giving up? Does the company squat or escape? I have been struggling for a long time, and I am very guilty. Since I have been working with my father for many years to create a brand, my father is taking care of me and I take care of me. Sadness, sadness and jealousy are intertwined. I have digested these emotions for a long time before I hugged my head to carry the burden. Therefore, whenever I hear the song "You're Coming Home," I burst into tears, and I want to go to the sea and call out loud: "Daddy, come back soon!" For years, mention the word "daddy" So choked, I particularly envy the friends around me to have parents.

At that time because of winning many awards and own brand, it was the only one among the Chinese designers. At that time, I did not understand the capital market and I was helpless in managing myself. I found an international team. At the time, I was pregnant, wearing a windbreaker and a public relations team. I went to Wall Street for a continuous roadshow. I saw 6 investors every day. Thinking about the situation at that time, there was still a sense of the picture: a Chinese girl with a bunch of people, former supporter, and constantly told the investors to tell stories, and they also like the girl's entrepreneurial story. The more confident the girl is, the more ambitious her goals and dreams are.

I haven’t returned home yet, and the money arrives. Later, I also found a professional manager in Taiwan to help manage the company and retired to the second line for creative design. Unfortunately, he is not satisfied with the soil, leading the company took a lot of detours, and finally left a mess, and I again picked it up.

In 2008, out of the need for the second financing, I went to New York Fashion Week to be a showman and was the first person among Chinese designers. The theme was "Peach Blossoms," and it was unexpectedly successful. The short 15-minute show won 3 applause. After the end, the audience lined up to congratulate me. The impact of this show on me was particularly great. It made me understand that a designer still wants to use a business as a basis. When he was in the country for a show before, it was basically for judges and academics rather than buyers. In the past, I was playing with art, unrestrained, and no matter what the market was, it was not grounded, but after the first battle in New York, I began to combine art and business. Although many brands in Shenzhen have done so early, I was exploring this path. 10 years.

Write a proposal to build a fashion capital

In 2000, the Shenzhen Garment Industry Association organized a delegation to the Beijing Garment Fair to attract investment. Enterprises in other cities are generally singles, and Shenzhen is represented by the overall image. It also has a unified Logo design, which is particularly imposing. I remember in Beijing a few days, there are more than 30 franchisees want to join the Opellanu brand, and finally our sales director can not say one to one, and to join the franchisees to give everyone "class." Therefore, the rapid development of the garment industry in Shenzhen is inextricably linked with the many innovative pushers that the industry associations have done.

Shenzhen, this side of water and soil raise a party. In several CPPCC proposals, I have said that Shenzhen is particularly suitable for creating a “fashion capital.” Women's fashion weeks are all footnotes. And it is already overwhelming. At present, there are 1 for every 6 women's dresses produced in Shenzhen.

In the past, Shenzhen women's wear was placed in the traditional manufacturing industry. When asked by others, people would ask “How big is your factory, how many workers are, how many fixed assets are there?” and so on. As a brand of intangible assets, it is often overlooked. In the past two years, the government began to put designer brands such as ours on the cultural and creative industries. I think that in the final analysis, they are all in the fashion industry. In the future, the fashion industry economy may become the next step for Shenzhen to take off. . Because this is not only closely related to the people, but also has a high added value, three high and one low - high added value, high growth, high-end population, low-carbon environmental protection. Shenzhen can learn from the Milan model, before Milan gave French and British brands to do OEM, and then it was the rise of the brand.

We have been proposing in recent years that Shenzhen wants to create its own, international fashion week. The government has also been very supportive in these two years and relevant associations are actively preparing for it. Of course, this road is doomed because Beijing’s fashion week also lasted for more than 10 years and required the participation of all citizens. I have confidence in Shenzhen because it is depositing and accumulating.

Only in Shenzhen today

I often think that if I change a city, am I still today? In fact, there are also inevitability. Shenzhen is a city with innovative DNA. It is full of youth and vitality. Everyone is branding. Therefore, when the fledgling came out, it was not Keban's origin. I also dared to make my own brand instead of doing OEM work for others, but I might not even think about it in the Mainland. Even dare to think, dare not say, because someone will say: "Impossible to succeed, you do not think much."

No matter where we rank, we are all equal, and I can try anything and try a lot of ideas. If I do design in Beijing, there will be some concepts and dogmatic things. There will be seniors who say, "Which school do you use?" "This material cannot be used." "These two materials are not suitable." No, I don't dare to use it. But here, I feel that there is nothing wrong with it, so I have been trying to build a 700 square meter Luozheng Hall of Life in Happy Coast in October to integrate oriental aesthetics and wisdom into contemporary life, with herbs and flowers. Organic flower teas and snacks, clothing and accessories, and natural grass and wood are associated with one another. I hope to be a dream garden for everyone. I have always been able to exert my sensibility and romance as much as possible. Anyway, in this city where "heroes don't ask questions," even if the idea is naive, if you make a success, we will not only point fingers, but will also pay special attention to you.

The designers in Shenzhen are more passionate and this atmosphere pushes me forward. I remember that at the time of Bagua Ling, the overnight night was a common one, in a state of excitement, tired and unable to sleep, and met the oncoming assistant who forgot what his name was. At that time, I looked back at my office on a starry night, and everything was dark. Only our company was bright all night long. Everyone here is chasing the "Shenzhen speed", so I have to pay 200% more effort.

This city has made me. Therefore, I propose to hold the "Star of the Future" Shenzhen Design Competition in the proposal. Our Oriental Yishang Company will also create opportunities for newcomers such as graduates of Shenzhen University and Higher Vocational Colleges to do so. Although this will be costly, the output will be high. It's small, but I think it's worth it because the future of fashion design needs to cultivate local talent.

My sister is also the kind of person who dares to eat crabs. With Shenzhen as a starting point, he went out to work and made his own career. My husband is an artist, Qingdao, Shandong, we know abroad, and finally he fell in love with the city of Shenzhen, our children were born in Shenzhen, became an authentic Shenzhen.

In fact, when our parents came to Shenzhen, they came back to Beijing for the sake of curves. They wanted to return to their hometowns after a period of time. I did not expect that we would finally put our roots here. In Shenzhen, my life is an uninterrupted practice. Because there are new things happening every day in this city, I am willing to continue to learn and continue to learn for my beloved Shenzhen.

People in this period

Luo Ye

Born in Beijing in 1970 and arrived in Shenzhen in 1987, he was the winner of the “Golden Cup Award”, the highest award for Chinese fashion design, and the founder of the famous women's brand “Oberranu”. He is currently the chairman and artistic director of Shenzhen Oriental Yishang Garments Co., Ltd. Committee members.