Success Story of A Minority Fashion Brand

Farmer to Entrepreneur

Chen Ping, 45, was born to a farmer’s family in Qapgal in northwestern Xinjiang. Intent on seeing what life beyond her village was like, after graduating from junior middle school she set off for the city. Years later Chen had made her fortune and invested it in a beauty salon. Running the business made clearer than ever to her the importance of education and professional skills – advantages that rural women such as her generally lack. This realization spurred her to enroll in a junior college degree program. Upon graduation, she opened a vocational training center for rural women and people with disabilities. Her win-win aim was to improve their otherwise bleak employment prospects and at the same time train a work force.

The motivation for this came in 2013, when Chen returned to her home village for Chinese New Year. She noticed that, as in many underdeveloped regions in China, most of the younger villagers, especially men, had gone to the city to find work. Their wives, children, and senior relations were consequently left to manage as best they could. Life for her relatives and neighbors was generally hard. She pondered on how she could help them out of their plight, and after carrying out market research, hit on the idea of ethnic cultural products, or more specifically, Xibe embroidery.

The ancient art and craft of needlework is part of the fabric of Xibe life, having been added to the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2011. In 2014 Chen Ping founded the Xinxiuyuan (New Embroidery Studio) Embroidery Cooperative in her hometown, and registered her Xi Guniang brand.

Social Responsibility

Embroidery is an exacting skill that demands practice and patience. After a long search, Chen hired four designers accomplished in this Xibe craft to give classes to local villagers. It took time and considerable financial input to transform these new recruits into skilled workers. At one point she had only RMB 100 in her account prior to their pay day, and so had to max out her credit card and also borrow from friends and relatives. She nevertheless paid them strictly according to schedule.

After business started and the demand for the cooperative’s products grew, Chen introduced machines that complemented the manual work, so reducing the workload and increasing efficiency. She showed the reporter a pillow case embroidered in a lavender design. “If this were handmade, even a skilled worker could finish no more than two pieces a day,” Chen said. “Machine embroidery is very popular nowadays, but we must preserve hand embroidery. It is an intangible cultural heritage, and we cannot discard our tradition.”

An embroideress at work on a piece of traditional Xibe embroidery.

Chen now employs 210 embroideresses. After carrying out a survey in eight counties in Ili Prefecture she established embroidery cooperatives in five counties, each of which supplied her factory with primary products. In 2015 she merged these cooperatives into the Xinjiang Xijun Embroidery and Accessories Co., Ltd. Its product varieties now exceed 110, and the monthly order for its best-selling product – a spice pouch – approaches 10,000. “I plan to reform the current management of cooperatives later this year whereby workers can take orders from the company and work at home. They can then take care of their families while earning an income.” Many rural women prefer to work this way.

“When I paid for the first completed order before last Spring Festival, all the women workers were thrilled at being able to change their lives with their own hands. This is why I started this business,” Chen said.

Online Markets

Although tradition is a main aspect of her work, Chen Ping is entirely open to contemporary trends. “People’s consumption habits are transforming, so we must change accordingly.” She first experimented with online marketing in 2015 by opening a store on taobao.com. “Computers were something alien to me. I learnt e-business models from college students and young workers who have plenty of new ideas,” she said. Her first teacher was her 21-year-old daughter, who goes to college in Wuhan in Central China. “She and her classmates posted pictures of my products online, and helped promote them. They often presented proposals and designed fashionable products with cartoon patterns.” The sales volume of a pillow bearing their design reached RMB 280,000 during the last Valentine’s Day week.

Aware of the potentially tangible benefits of the Internet, Chen Ping is confidently and thoroughly exploring it. Her products now have a robust presence on WeChat through 2,000-plus distributors running accounts on this social networking app. Last year her company chalked up more than RMB 2 million in online sales, accounting for over 60 percent of its total sales figure for the year.

To cater to the taste of the youth and blend the modern and traditional in her products, Chen Ping plans to launch programs for college graduates at start-up bases in inland provinces. “Research and development is our weakness, and will be the company’s priority, together with marketing, this year. I will invite experts from inland universities to the company, to help us develop chic products that complement contemporary styles,” the ambitious businesswoman said.

“For future growth we will specialize in individual orders. This is a field with huge potential, as today’s youth demand individuality and ingenuity. Singularity is the hallmark of handmade products, and we are moving in that direction.”