Popular Han-styled pet apparel designer on starting her own business: “I can't find pet clothes that I liked”
With the pandemic bringing a huge demand in online shopping, there is no better time than now to focus on e-commerce and its reach.
Celebrating originality and creativity, Taobao Maker Festival (TMF) 2020 focuses on a handful of creators such as Graf Fashion, a hip-hop apparel brand with following in China and the United States, ReemixStudio, which upcycles discarded billboards into bags and pouches, and Chunfeng Daxiaoqiao, a Han-style pet clothing store with customers from all over the world.
With buyers from across the globe, including Singapore, Australia and the United States, Wu Qiuqiao, the brains behind Chunfeng Daxiaoqiao, had won the Innovation Award at the 2020 Taobao Jiyoujia Merchant Conference. Yahoo Lifestyle SEA finds out from Qiuqiao on the inspiration behind the Han-styled pet clothing, selling on China’s largest social commerce platform, and her favourite creations.
The 26-year-old designer chose to venture into designing pet apparel thanks to her passion for cats, Chinese culture, and the traditional Chinese clothing (Hanfu). Unable to find one that meets her expectation, Qiuqiao, whose mother runs a factory producing clothes, decided to dive into making her own.
“I wanted to dress my cat up in Han-styled clothing but I can’t find pet clothes that had designs I liked and were of good quality, so I’ve decided to come up with my own,” Qiuqiao shared with Yahoo Lifestyle SEA.
“My mother was initially surprised when I presented the idea to her as she wondered why anyone would want to buy clothes for pets.”
Having just joined the e-commerce scene in 2019, Chunfeng Daxiaoqiao had already amassed over 16,000 followers on her shop on Taobao, thus proving that the demand for pet apparel continues to be strong.
Even with her mother helping her with the know-how of apparel making, creating the brand Chunfeng Daxiaoqiao did not come easy.
“Cats and dogs are shaped differently from humans. The way we would dress them is also different so it’s difficult to design the outfits. We spent several months just trying to find out the best way to design the pieces and to find a way for both cats and dogs to fit into these clothes,” Qiuqiao lamented.
It takes up to two months to develop a design, and Qiuqiao let on that each outfit has a story behind it: “I will think of an inspiration such as a historical character or a story I am familiar with.”
Despite months of hardships, it finally paid off for Qiuqiao. The massively popular shop had already sold more than 500 pieces of outfits since it started a year ago.
Qiuqiao’s love in Chinese history is evident in her designs. On top of the Han-styled outfits, the latest collection that Qiuqiao will be launching on Taobao, which she coined as her favourite so far, is based on the Four Beauties of China – Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diaochan and Yang Guifei.
“Each of these women has made great sacrifices, not just for themselves but also for the people, and the clothes I’ve designed celebrates their beauty and their significant contributions,” she teased.
Taobao Maker Festival 2020 debuts in Singapore from 10 to 13 August.
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