A stitch in time

Despite Yaya's challenges, newly established down jacket manufacturers in Gongqingcheng quickly embraced livestreaming. Brands such as Uwuu and Daomuxi carved out successful operations through digital livestreaming and achieved significant sales growth.

Founded in 2010, Uwuu was one of the earliest down coat brands to embrace livestreaming, and in 2016 its gross merchandise volume reached 80 million yuan. "We joined short-video platform Douyin in 2019. Now we have more than a dozen livestreaming rooms, and our livestreaming operations team has more than 50 people," said Xiong Jing, one of Uwuu's founders.

Uwuu's GMV has grown from 100 million yuan in 2021 to 450 million yuan last year.

Similarly, Daomuxi has experienced rapid growth. "In 2023, our sales reached 180 million yuan. We have followed two paths: domestic online platforms such as Taobao and Douyin and overseas platforms like Amazon, which have considerable sales," said Chen Ling, the company's deputy general manager.

In 2020, Yaya began its digital transformation and its gross merchandise volume reached 3.5 billion yuan.

The following year it set up livestreaming rooms at the base of Mount Qomolangma to showcase the warmth and performance of its down jackets in a cold, snowy environment. By 2022, its GMV had hit 10 billion yuan.

"The major contribution of Yaya, or the Gongqingcheng Down Factory, to the city is nurturing a generation of talents in the down apparel industry," said Wang Fang, head of Gongqingcheng's bureau of industry and information technology.

"The founders of the newly established brands have close ties with Yaya. Most of them worked at Yaya and have acquired a variety of knowledge from down production to garment manufacturing and sales," Wang said.

Former Yaya employee Zheng come out of retirement to take a job as a factory manager at Uwuu. She now oversees production at three manufacturing plants. Zheng said while the newcomers cannot match Yaya's huge production capacity, its craftsmanship and manufacturing knowledge have been passed on and are constantly being developed.