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"The French-made Montejiao T-shirt made most Chinese start the pursuit of fashion for the first time. ”
This line in the hit TV series "Flowers" evokes the memories of many young boys in the 8090s.
"A little red flower on the chest, the lighter can't be lit" is a T-shirt that many fathers who used to be young and had to have at the expense of a month's salary.
With the popularity of "Flowers", Meng Tejiao, who thought she could become popular again, ushered in the news of the closure of the last store.
On January 8, the only one in Shanghai, Mengtejiao, announced the closure of its store, which caused heated discussions among countless netizens.
Although after the news was issued, Manager Liang of the Planning Department of the Mengtejiao brand said in an interview that it was only the decoration of the shopping mall, and it would operate normally after that.
Even so, it still makes people feel embarrassed.
Why did Mengtejiao, a luxury brand that was once sought after by hundreds of millions of people, fall to the point where no one cares about it now?
When it comes to Meng Tejiao, many people in the 80s still remember it vividly, and many people can find such a dress in their father's wardrobe.
There are also many netizens lamenting its high ** and fathers' chopping behavior.
But at that time, many people only knew that Montejiao was from France, but they didn't know that no one knew about its existence on the streets of France.
Why would a brand that is not well known in the local area be so popular in China? The origin of the matter has to start from the Second World War.
In 1880, when Montejiao was just established, it was just an ordinary factory for the production of silk thread, and it was not until 1925 that Montejiao began to produce underwear and **, and it gradually became a little famous in the local area.
With the outbreak of World War II, the French economy at that time was decadent, and materials were very scarce, especially the natural silk used in the production of clothing.
In order to cope with the shortage of materials, Montegaux used a mixture of nylon and rayon to develop a new material.
This material not only has a strong luster on the surface, but also has a cool feeling when worn on the body, and is not deformed, wrinkled, or close-fitting, so Meng Tejiao named this new fabric "bright silk".
At the beginning, "bright silk" was used by Meng Tejiao to make ** and underwear, and later because of the cool feeling and non-deformation of its material, it slowly evolved into a material for making polo shirts.
But in France, where the top luxury brands gather, the clothes made of this man-made fiber are not loved by the locals, and the life of Montejiao is very bleak.
Since it can't be done in France, then go out, and the top management of Mengtejiao at that time set their sights on Southeast Asia.
Due to the differences in regional climate and the uniqueness of the "bright silk" fabric, Montejiao began to try to promote it in Southeast Asia, and after many attempts, it finally locked in the Chinese market.
In 1971, Mengtejiao first established a company in Hong Kong, named Mengtejiao Far East, and then in 1979, with the economic development of the mainland, it officially turned the bright silk series of clothing to the mainland market.
But at the beginning, Meng Tejiao was more of a wait-and-see and visit in the mainland, and did not develop sales channels on a large scale, and basically only consumers in the Pearl River Delta region could buy it.
The real change came in 1984, when another Pierre Cardin from France made a high-profile opening up to the mainland market and staged a series of large-scale fashion shows in Beijing, causing quite a stir.
This made the executives of Montagute realize that China is still an untapped market, and clothing and fashion are still in a scarce stage.
With the successful precedent of Pierre Cardin, Montegaux began to enter the mainland market strongly, taking Hong Kong as a point, and entering major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen through the way of first-class businessmen.
Unexpectedly, this move was a great success, and overnight, Mengtejiao became a household name.
To say that in that era, the reason why Mengtejiao was popular was that it caught up with the dividends of the times, and secondly, its powerful marketing methods.
At that time, when it came to Hong Kong goods, it naturally had its own halo, no matter what it was, as long as it was from Hong Kong, it had a sense of loftiness.
It is this point that has been grasped by Mengtejiao, combined with the advantages of Hong Kong and France, and has left the image of a high-end brand in the hearts of consumers with large-scale advertising.
In order to create her high-end image, Meng Tejiao has put a lot of effort into publicity.
The store is located in a high-end department store, there are exquisite window displays, and even the models are hired by foreigners, and outdoor advertising and TV advertising are essential.
In addition to these common publicity methods, Montegaux also borrowed from Pierre Cardin's publicity method - to hold a fashion show.
But in order to fit his brand image, Montejiao's fashion show was much more high-end than Pierre Cardin's.
In 1992, Montegaux held a fashion show in Shanghai at Portman, a very high-end hotel at the time.
In the case of an average salary of only two or three hundred, the price of the Mengtejiao fashion show was set at 75 yuan, plus 150 yuan for lunch at the show, and the cost was equivalent to a month's salary of ordinary people.
Even so, it was hard to get a ticket at the time.
As it is said in the TV series "Flowers":"The sky-high price of 900 yuan a T-shirt did not deter the enthusiasm of buyers, and it still made Chinese people rush to it."
Meng Tejiao accurately captured the psychology of male entrepreneurs at that time, and in the process of economic development, they urgently needed designer clothing to show their identity and status.
Therefore, when entering the Chinese market, although there are many categories, Mengtejiao only sells ** in China, successfully seizing the vacancy in the Chinese clothing market at that time, and becoming the favorite of young male consumers.
Coupled with its unique and smooth "bright silk" fabric, the logo of a small flower on the chest has made countless men dream.
At that time, there was a saying circulating in the streets and alleys: "Meng Tejiao T-shirt, prince pants, and a pair of Diadona sneakers are the most beautiful boy on the street." ”
Even the famous writer Wang Xiaobo once bluntly said that the thing he longed for most in high school was to have a Mengtejiao T-shirt.
Catching up with the trend of the times, Meng Tejiao, who only sells **, with the blessing of various marketing and publicity, from 1985 to 1995, sales have grown at a double-digit rate every year, becoming the leading high-end ** in China at that time.
It's a pity that Meng Tejiao's highlight moment was a little short-lived.
With China's accession to the WTO, more and more foreign-funded enterprises came to China, and at that time everyone understood what was the real luxury, and Meng Tejiao was gradually forgotten from the top of the past.
Because of the times, Meng Tejiao, who became popular, also because of the rapid decline of the times.
At that time, China was in a period of rapid development, and Mengtejiao's clothes, although the fabric was silky and had selling points, did not have any core technology, and were quickly cracked by some merchants and easily imitated.
Countless counterfeits began to appear, and almost everyone on the streets and alleys had a Meng Tejiao who didn't know whether it was true or not.
The bosses who used to show their identity with Meng Tejiao were naturally unwilling to wear the same clothes as passers-by, so they had to choose higher-end brands to show their status.
After China joined the world's leading organization, real luxury brands began to enter China one after another, and in front of the top brands, Mengtejiao became vulnerable.
Withdrawing from the competition in the high-end market, Mengtejiao's life is even more difficult.
With the development of the domestic economy, some excellent local brands have also risen rapidly, such as Seven Wolves, Youngor, Heilan House, etc., and some foreign fast fashion brands have also begun to pay attention to China's potential huge market and have joined the competition.
At this time, Meng Tejiao, in the internal and external sandwich, it was difficult to return to the status of the former first brother, and gradually lost the right to speak in the Chinese clothing market.
To this end, Meng Tejiao carried out a series of self-help in 2006.
First of all, he took back the first right to some products and began to do direct stores.
In the past, Mengtejiao relied on large-scale distribution channels to quickly occupy the market, and it was difficult to unify the maintenance and management of the brand due to the lack of good rules and regulations and management.
The senior management of Montagu also said: "Montagu must be face-to-face with consumers, so B2C direct stores must do it." ”
Secondly, Montejiao also began to enrich its own products.
When it first entered the Chinese market, the products were only men's T-shirts, and in order to improve the diversity of services, Mengtejiao expanded its products to many fields such as **, children's clothing, and even glasses.
However, although Meng Tejiao's series of self-help measures have basically been realized, it has not reversed the situation.
With the establishment of ** in 2003, more and more Tao brands have appeared, and consumers have more choices, and Mengtejiao's main polo shirt clothing design is difficult to attract a new generation of young people, so that the thousand-yuan polo shirt was complained by netizens that it was "dirty and expensive".
At this time, it was difficult for Meng Tejiao to return to the top, so that she began to completely let go of herself and authorized the brand.
Now the only brand is basically French, and the rest are made by domestic companies.
From design, production, promotion to sales, the brand is authorized to domestic garment factories, allowing foundries to play freely, and the result is that it has become a nondescript third- and fourth-tier brand.
Today's Mengtejiao relies more on the filters left by the times, and the consumption is still those former Mengtejiao boys, perhaps only they still remember the scenery of Mengtejiao.
In fact, in recent years, the popularity of old brands has not only failed to catch up, but also several domestic ** brands that once stood in the same ring.
With this wave of nostalgia at the beginning of 2024, many brands that have been dusty for a long time have been mentioned by the public again.
In addition to Meng Tejiao, there is also Youngor, one of the prototypes of the "Three Sheep" brand in the TV series, and it is difficult to create brilliance now.
Like Meng Tejiao, Youngor has been making great progress since its early days, and many post-70s and post-80s generations have bought his shirts.
However, in recent years, Youngor has gradually failed to keep up with the pace of the times in clothing, and the company has also shifted its focus to financial investment and real estate business.
There is also a first-class brand that was once popular on the streets because of the sentence "Focus on jackets for 20 years", and it has gradually become a small transparent in the minds of a new generation of consumers.
Although Jinba has also tried to transform many times, walked the catwalk at home and abroad, and engaged in cross-border co-branding, it is still difficult to tear off the label of "daddy" in the minds of consumers.
It is said that fashion is a cycle, whether to continue to stick to it or seek change, whether to ride the wind or be stuck in place, each brand is seeking its own answer.
The answer to who will be the next lucky one to be favored is in the hands of the brand itself.
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Reference: New Weekly: The Meng Tejiao who are popular in Shanghai in "Flowers" can't wait to become popular.
Operation Research Society: Brought on fire by "Flowers", a trendy brand that can buy a one-square-meter house in Shanghai, closed the last store in Shanghai.
100,000 brand stories: why is no one wearing a big French brand 30 years ago?
Author: Pick Zero
Editor: Willow Leaf chatter