Last week, Business of Fashion Fashion Business Review (hereinafter referred to as BOF) published by Kate Abnett wrote "Why the fashion industry young creative talent are" escape "in New York and London? The article discusses the phenomenon of young designers fleeing due to the higher cost of living in New York and London. In China on the other side of the ocean, fashion practitioners have a similar wave of migration: Beijing, a city that has always emphasized cultural heritage, is still the most important luxury market in the Mainland, but it is quietly facing the loss of fashion talents – with The contraction or transformation of retail, media and other industries, more and more people in the fashion industry who were determined to take root in Beijing began to transfer to Shanghai. In recent years, from the headhunting circle to the circle of friends, "Ah? He is not in Beijing? Going to Shanghai?" The voice has increased, and the tone has gradually changed from a beginning surprise to a plain narrative.
The starting point for BoF's “Escape from the Metropolis†is slightly different. The cost of living in Beijing and Shanghai is comparable, and the latter is even higher: According to The Economist, “Global Cost of Living Report 2016†Shanghai and Tokyo rank 11th in the world, while Beijing ranks 31st. So what is it that makes domestic fashion practitioners decide to abandon North and South? Is it because Shanghai is the base of many brands in Greater China? Is it the historical charm of the capital of the Ten Miles in the regional impression? What is the convenience of Shanghai compared to Beijing? Or is it a utopian refuge that is obsessed with people who are dissatisfied with the status quo?
“There are many job opportunities!â€
“Why move to Shanghai?â€
“There are many job opportunities!â€
Alice, who is the manager of the VM (Visual Display) department in a boutique leather goods brand, moved from Shanghai to Beijing three years ago. The reason is very simple. There are obviously more relevant job opportunities in Shanghai. “Shanghai currently has more jobs for Fashion and luxury goods than Beijing. Although sales have declined, in the past few years, the brand's corporate work structure in China has been basically integrated with Asia Pacific and Europe, and the management model has also been from the past Asia Pacific. The district is responsible, and now the mainland companies report directly to the headquarters, resulting in VMs, Merchandising (commodity department) need local in-house employees, because most of the brand's offices are in Shanghai, naturally more than Beijing's work. Beijing's words More sales, or need to stay in the store, responsible for the role of the North District business. The demand for senior positions mainly comes from the real estate company's shopping malls, or department stores such as SKP, Lafayette. Previously due to fashion media, stars Most of them are in Beijing, so some customers will set up a PR office in the North District in Beijing, and entrust us to find someone, but now it may be because the budget is shrinking. We are currently working in Beijing with a lot less jobs than before. Linda speaks.
The Jing’an Temple in Shanghai, from Wheelock to Hang Lung Plaza, gathers most of the top luxury and fashion brands in China. Image Source: Visual China
Alice couldn't forget the night of the IT Beijing Market opening party in the northern part of Beijing's Taigu Li in the winter of 2010. At that time, she had just moved from Hong Kong to Beijing for less than a year. "I actually came to Beijing very rarely before, and I didn't come often on business trips. But because of my work, I decided to move from Hong Kong to Beijing to try to do it for a year. I remember that I was not familiar with it at the time, but Beijing gave me the feeling. It’s still very cute, and it’s different from most of the mainland cities I’ve been to. At that time, there were a lot of fashion events in Beijing. On the night of the opening of IT Beijing Market, the whole Sanlitun was bright, so many people came, you really can feel that Excitement - this may not be common in Hong Kong at the time."
She also remembered that when she left the Capital Airport, she went straight to the new owner, Lane Crawford, the Hong Kong veteran boutique shop in Beijing’s Xicheng Financial Street. In the past, the market in the mainland has failed several times, but When it went north again in 2007, the fashionable people of the entire capital were boiling. Not only Lane Crawford, Shin Kong Place (now renamed Beijing SKP), which opened in April of the same year, also instigated the status of China World Trade, Yansha and Scitech. That is the sign that China’s luxury goods and fashion industry entered the golden age. It also led to the introduction of the flow of talent. With the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the new life of this ancient city was opened. After 9 years, compared to Shanghai and Chengdu Lane Crawford, which opened in 2013 and 2014, the Beijing Financial Street store seems to be a bit lonely.
Shanghai has historically been the base of many foreign luxury goods and fashion brands in China. (Before the founding of New China, Lane Crawford became famous as the “Taixing Companyâ€), but Beijing’s attraction is not to be underestimated: In 1979, Pierre Cardin opened his fashion show at the Beijing National Culture Palace, the "Retrospective Exhibition of Yves Saint Laurent" on May 6, 1985, and the first Louis Vuitton store in the mainland at the Wangfujing Peninsula Hotel in 1992. More than ten years of fashion shows held by Chanel, Prada and Dior, the unique cultural temperament of Beijing not only attracts literati and visitors from Tiannan Haibei, but also attracts foreign fashion brands and related talents – in the early days we were on COMME In an interview with Adrian Joffe, president of Dever Street Market, des GARÇONS International, the boutique buyer, he also had a special request with the location of the IT Beijing Market store: “I and IT said that they want to open Dover Street Market in mainland China. Say it will be opened in Shanghai, all brands will go to Shanghai first, I said no, to open in Beijing." Zhang Jiapeng, founder of RET Ruiyide Real Estate Consulting, also agrees with Beijing's iconic significance: "For example, if you want to be a show, you are at least in the Forbidden City or the Great Wall, or a place that can represent this country. But change to Shanghai. It doesn't make sense to have a high-rise building, because Shanghai has no weight in Beijing without a nationally-recognized cultural heritage."
North Qing Shuang, Nan Yin Qiao
However, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall are more majestic, but they have nothing to do with the lives of ordinary people. Alice’s first home in Beijing was a private house that was transformed by the landlord in the Hutong in the Second Ring Road: “At that time, I found it with another colleague from Hong Kong. At that time, I felt that living in the Hutong was very fun. I think this It is the characteristic of Beijing.--If the small alley and the big road are the characteristics of Beijing, then the houses and small streets are the first impressions of Shanghai for outsiders. Compared with Beijing's concentrated business districts and living communities, Shanghai appears to be scattered: “There is a lot more to find places in Shanghai than in Beijing. In Beijing, when you meet the peak season, everyone will grab those places. Now, in Shanghai, the scope of choice is much wider, and the traffic and atmosphere in Shanghai is much better than the current Beijing. In the past, we did not select a slightly longer venue, or according to customer requirements. Those places in the second ring that are somewhat old in Beijing, the media also complained, how to choose such a place, and the traffic jam is not good parking, and it takes more than an hour to go back and forth..." Tracy, who worked for a PR agency last year Moving from Beijing to Shanghai, the reason is the same as Alice, where there are more job opportunities. Moreover, she has lived in Beijing for ten years and has long been envious of Shanghai's convenience.
Golden Autumn, Shanghai French Concession Area Source: Visual China
"I used to think that it was the same for a long time. In addition, I am a northerner. Even if the northerners have never been to Shanghai, they are also considered to be excluded from Shanghai. But Shanghai is more convenient than Beijing. It is an indisputable life in Beijing. It’s spent in various apps. In Shanghai, taxis, uber, drip drivers will complain about how Huaihai Road is blocked, because my mobile phone number has not changed, or Beijing, so they sometimes ask me if Beijing is also Blocking, I laughed in my heart. I said that you want to think that Shanghai is a blockage. Then you must have a neurosis in Beijing. The place where I live now is very close to the company. Although the rent is more expensive, the transportation fee is not saved. Less, I can go to work every day, walk along Julu Road, Changshu Road, look around the small shops and trees in the street, feel much more comfortable than in Beijing. In addition, Shanghai is not as big as Beijing, I can be near the weekend. Have a meal with friends at Anfu Road, Wuyuan Road restaurant, or buy yourself at the restaurant downstairs - I don't feel like living in Shanghai, I need to buy a car. And I buy a car in Shanghai. However, the iron sheet is expensive, but the restrictions on the foreign car are not as harsh as those in Beijing. I will not be on the elevated road if I am on the elevated road. No matter what purpose you control, but the foreign license plate is also recognized by the state. The legal existence, why should it be treated so extreme in Beijing!?"
Before moving to Shanghai, Tracy completed her transition from a newcomer to a backbone in Beijing. She experienced a shift from a taxi that got up early and was harder than a bus to a network car: "If there is no Uber, Didi, I think I will leave Beijing earlier. It is too difficult for Beijing to want to live decent (decent) because it depends not only on how much money you make - I shake the number and buy the car for four years, and I can only buy it if I buy a house. Outside the five-ring suburbs; although you can live close to rent, but the rent is getting higher and higher, although Shanghai rent is not cheap or even more expensive, but the same price, it is better than Beijing's conditions." Despite the hot at the beginning of the year The housing market has introduced Shanghai's policy that foreigners like Beijing need to pay a five-year social security tax to get the qualification for home purchase (in the past two years), but Tracy said that she will not consider buying a house in a short time, and she left Beijing. I suddenly realized that I will definitely go there later!
Tracy is on Changle Road. Although according to her Shanghai friends, she has lost her former style, but she is not worried: "Many people say that Shanghai is more foreign than Beijing, but this is just a general concept. Previously Beijing, we all look forward to a sunny day; after all, Shanghai is the south, more cloudy, and it is not accustomed to the sky is always cloudy, when the sun is not as bright as Beijing, to the rainy days, the rain is more and more tide, but for a long time I I found it quite like this cloudy day, people feel quiet, walking down the street, the most heard is Rosen, the doorbell of the whole family convenience store - I used to think that I would not be able to put everything in Beijing, but Now it seems that there is no need to let go, as long as life continues."
From the photos taken by Tracy in the circle of friends and on Instagram, she is more dressed than before, and the location of the photos is more on the street under the plane trees and old houses - perhaps, this is called "North Clear" , Nanyin pretty!
"I am used to drinking salty soy milk with shrimp skin."
In today's China, it is almost impossible to distinguish the absolute differences between cities. No matter the north and south, the ugly shop signs, the red-hot yak chicken rice, the chain of restaurants and shopping malls make the homogenization between cities more serious. The only difference seems to exist in the local diet. The graphic designer Huang Wei from Beijing used to drink the original soy milk. But when he moved to Shanghai less than a year, he was used to the salty soy milk and the big cake fritters. And the glutinous rice ball: "I used to come to Shanghai for business trips, but when I went out to the hotel, I went to the client company. I ate at most one of the old caviar, the braised pork and the grassy circle of the Paul restaurant. Now I moved over and my colleague took me to breakfast. I discovered that Shanghai's salty soymilk had to be put on shrimps and peppers. The big cake they said was not the same as the cake in Beijing. I still loved the rice ball, the spice stick and the salted duck egg... Maybe I am a foodie. The first direct impression that Shanghai gave me is that I eat better than Beijing. Although Beijing is my home, it is true that Beijingers are generally very rough, and the restaurants in Beijing are too oily and not good." Huang Wei used to be the deputy director of art in a fashion magazine. Last year he decided to resign. Under the guidance of several colleagues and friends who moved to Shanghai earlier, this authentic Beijinger left his hometown.
Drum Tower, one of Beijing’s former youth cultural gatherings. Source: Visual China
“I and a few friends want to open a Lifestyle-style buyer's shop. Of course, I hope to open it in Beijing at first, but we also know that it is not possible to do it with Beijing's street business and atmosphere. I used to be very often. Going to the Drum Tower, Xinjiekou, where the young people love to go, now it’s not half-dead to survive by foreign tourists, or it’s completely yellow. Plus the weather is so smoggy, everyone is not willing to go outside, count the winter Cold, so the cycle of actually doing business in a year is 8-9 months, the basic population can only enter the mall, but the business district in Beijing is mainly concentrated in the east, and the number of people is Sanlitun, Dawanglu, Shimao Tianjie. Sanlitun is the first choice, but the rent and the qualifications for merchants are too high; Xinguang and Shimao Tianjie lack the atmosphere to be our positioning store."
Hwang Chul six months before leaving Beijing, I worked with him to stroll along Xinjiekou, the former youth culture here is one of Beijing gathering place, a large number of selling hit the mouth dish, import music players, audio equipment, books, magazines The store, but now after the government reform, there is only one scene of a run-down. Looking at the current Xinjiekou South Street, Huang Wei and I lamented the gold-rich part of the old town, but it looks like it is no different from the small county town - although it is known as one of the best cold noodle restaurants in Beijing. Xinchuan still has a lot of voices, but what is even more harsh is the screaming of the clerk at the side of the Jeanswest store, and the enthusiasm of the girl from the speaker: "Good news, the company is not good, badly closed, all five yuan a piece , five yuan a piece..."
"It’s funny, it’s all good news.†Huang Xiao sneered. As a Beijinger, he once had an infinite sense of pride. "I think every Beijinger has this kind of bullishness. Especially before and after the Olympics, Beijing has changed a lot. Intime, Shin Kong, Sanlitun, Everyone feels really international, and everyone in Tiannanhaibei is here. But I think that since the smog began to break, some people have left Beijing. The smog is just an introduction. The key is Beijing. It’s really not very livable. I used to worry about those outsiders who are picking up Beijing’s problems. It’s not good for you to rely on it. How can you go there! But now I am not so extreme, foreigners and locals. The contradiction of man is only the surface, it is the most venting point of the brain, but if you continue this meaningless fight, you can only be worse - you can't just stop around the old Beijing, and the role of Beijing is too More, a culture will be a part of the economy..." Huang Wei is not optimistic about the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration policy, because Rome was not built in one day, and Beijing is not one day to be dispersed.
In Shanghai, Huang Wei’s favorite place is Closing Ceremony, an independent bookstore near Urumqi Road: “One of their bosses also moved from Beijing to Shanghai.†Huang Wei sighs Beijing, the capital of culture, but now it’s empty. A label: "When you go to the Forbidden City and go to Tsinghua University to take a photo, you can feel the cultural atmosphere. Everyone says that Beijing is more suitable for business than Shanghai, but I don't want to worry about what kind of Internet, we don't want to engage in Internet, we I want to be a business.†Huang Wei recalls a scene in a famous coffee shop in Beijing. Almost one-third of the customers are shouting at their own projects and will become the next Alibaba. Next year will be Can have a market value of more than a billion.
In the eyes of foreigners, Beijing children will not easily leave their hometown. Huang Wei said that he did not think about leaving Beijing before he was 32 years old: "I have a house in Beijing and have a car. According to my friends, I am a Beijing young man. But I don't like this title more and more. One day I drove to listen to the radio. The guest was a Beijinger, talking about Beijing's snacks. I don't know why I listened very disgusted. Maybe it was because of his arrogance and arrogance. The tone of the present! The Beijing culture is no longer a bit of a little bit lazy and a little bully when I was a child, but the actual heart is good, honest... In short, I don’t want to stick to this sky because I am a Beijinger. The dead are moved." However, Huang Wei also emphasized to me that in his view, Beijing has such problems, but many people are simply dissatisfied with their own status, and instead entrust their hopes to a more reasonable plan. City: "There is no utopia, so you are not leaving Beijing, your problem will be solved."
Huang Wei and several partners are still looking for suitable locations and stores in Shanghai. Although the rents are equally high, they believe that the environment here is more suitable for retail than Beijing, and that Shanghai young people are more accepting of new brands. They are currently paying close attention to the Shanghai government's plan for the renovation of fashionable shops and restaurants in Wuyuan Road and Yongkang Road: "I hope that we don't want to be like Beijing, then we really feel a little disappointed."
The sun rises and falls on things, but the end of life is not in the north and south.
Among the partners of Huang Wei, there is a Singaporean Mr. Luo who has lived in Beijing for 15 years. In 2000, after headhunting, he came to Beijing to take charge of the investment business of a shopping mall under the real estate project. He did not expect to be young and motivated.
"For a long time, my friends around me and my friends all came to Beijing. I don't like Shanghai, because even those who have lived in Shanghai for a long time come back and say to us, No, Shanghai is too impetuous, Shanghai people also Very concerned, Beijing is better, Beijing life is very comfortable, the rhythm is not so fast, more human atmosphere... I saw Beijing in a documentary, remember the old gentleman’s old aunt playing Taiji, and A piece of soundtrack, I was very fond of looking around, and later I knew that it was called "Honghu Water Waves and Waves."
Since ancient times, the contest between China and North has always existed. Under the prejudice of the region, Shanghai people always look at the negative labels of all kinds. The best laughter Mr. Luo heard about the Shanghainese came from an Italian colleague: "He said that Shanghai people don't care what others say about them, but the more they say the more happy they are, the more glorious they feel."
“Singapore is a place of multi-integration, so I personally don’t particularly like to go in. But in Beijing for so long, I found that Beijingers are not so arrogant. In this age, everyone should not look too far. The same person, I don’t think that Shanghai people are as good as everyone said, but my little girl will still tell me that this kind of earrings is popular in Shanghai now. It makes me feel a bit like Parisian. You don't want to see so many foreign-style cafes and small shops selling Tom Dixon. Shanghai has a sense of form, but it doesn't go far beyond it. There is still a gap between Tokyo and Hong Kong. But on the day of this 30th, the streets of Shanghai were almost empty. Mr. Luo made an appointment to take a taxi to the airport to prepare for a vacation in Spain. When he got on the bus, he said hello to him in Shanghai Mandarin: "Mr. Good Spring Festival." Mr. Luo said that he was a bit surprised at that moment.
"I won't look at the GDP data to measure a city. The data is informative, but every time I go to a place, I will spend a long time observing people on the street and listening to what they are talking about in restaurants and cafes. Chat with people living in the local area - this method is not agreed by everyone who does business, but I believe my intuition is a gift that God gave me!"
Regarding the difference between Beijing and Shanghai in the fashion field, Mr. Luo does not think that Beijing is in a weak position: “For luxury goods, Beijing still has considerable advantages. For example, SKP is still the most important mall, Beijing for high-end jewelry, watches. The consumption is also stronger than Shanghai, but Beijing does have a small improvement; Shanghai's advantage lies in the acceptance of emerging brands. For practitioners or entrepreneurs, opportunities are more diversified and conditions are natural. I There are several designers and friends who moved to Shanghai. It is not because the fabric supply and cost of the outside world are much better than that of Beijing. Most of them are from the industrial and cultural environment of Shanghai now. It’s just a little more lively, and the opportunity is followed. More, this also leads to fashion in China. The only place to go is Beijing and Shanghai. At present, Shanghai is obviously better. But it is also necessary to be wary that this new or lively continuity is usually short, and it is easy to embark on another Kind of homogenization." Like Huang Zhe, Mr. Luo did not hold too much emotional color when he left Beijing: "Where is it suitable for what kind of business, we will do it. Now many people who originally lived in Beijing chose to work in Shanghai, but this is not the case. Heaven, in addition to the geographical characteristics, the most important thing is to look at your own skills, clever women are difficult to have no rice, but you have to blame no rice."
“Will you miss life in Beijing? Or consider going back to Beijing in the future?†All respondents answered almost exactly the same question, even the native Beijinger Huang Wei is no exception: “In Beijing, or in Shanghai The location is not important; I will not shout slogans like I LOVE SHANGHAI, my accent will not become a Shanghai-style mandarin, I only know that I am here, just like I am in any method place in the world, obey me. That should be done, do what I should do."
This year's Beijing has improved from the past, and the situation of continuous smog has improved. When the sky is clear, the sun can shine as brightly as in the memory, and even the men and women who rush into the subway and office buildings can only enjoy the short-lived sunshine, and they will certainly appreciate the joy of the weather. For those who left Beijing to move to Shanghai, the sun here nourished their past, but they did not leave Beijing in an escape and abandonment. The dreams that were realized or not realized in Beijing are no longer important, and Shanghai is not. Another Beijing in their hearts.
The sun rises and falls on things, but the end of life is not in the north and south.
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