In those years, those born in the 1990s wore uniforms of blue and white school uniforms, while those born in the 2000s still had yellow mouths and children.
In those years, those born in the 1970s and 1980s had just entered society. Before attending class reunions, they would save money and buy a shirt with the "ESPRIT" logo - pocket Without a few hundred dollars, they would not dare to step into an ESPRIT store.
In those years, Leslie Cheung would attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for its opening, Ren Xianqi would wear ESPRIT and sing, and Fan Bingbing would bring bodyguards to its stores to scan goods.
(Leslie Cheung wearing ESPRIT)
ESPRIT was undoubtedly the fashion benchmark of the past, and Xing Liyuan, who married the goddess Brigitte Lin, was extremely beautiful. "His ESPRIT ready-to-wear empire is rapidly expanding and spreading all over the world like GAP!" "Forbes" magazine once praised Xing Liyuan, chairman of the board of directors of Hong Kong Esprit (ESPRIT) Global Holdings Co., Ltd., one of the world's top 500 richest people at the time, and him. business map.
However, in 2020, after Forever 21 lost to China and ZARA successively reduced its physical stores, ESPRIT began official website promotions, flagship store discounts, store sales at 10% off... and closed all stores. In fact, this matter has already been foreshadowed. Two years ago, it closed all stores in Australia; one year ago, it "sold itself" to GXG and plans to close all stores in mainland China by the middle of this year.
In the three quarters as of March 31, 2020, the revenue of 56 ESPRIT stores was only HK$267 million, accounting for less than 4% of the group’s total revenue during the same period; the entire Asia-Pacific region’s revenue accounted for only 6.8% . As of May 15, 2020, when the Hong Kong stock market was closed, ESPRIT's share price was HK$0.61, leaving a market value of only HK$1.151 billion.
ESPRIT’s official website and Tmall flagship store have successively issued announcements stating that they will be fully closed on May 31. Parent company Esprit Global (Hong Kong stock 00330) also announced the termination of its business in mainland China and the closure of all 56 retail stores in Asia outside mainland China. People should not be judged by their appearance
When it comes to Hong Kong goddesses at the end of the last century, everyone knows Brigitte Lin.
In 1992, at Mrs. Tsui Hark’s birthday party, bigwigs from the film industry, business world, and political circles gathered, including the popular actress Brigitte Lin. Many people came to chat with her, and the words were undoubtedly praising her. Beauty or acting skills. Suddenly, a middle-aged man with dark skin and wrinkles, who looked like an old vegetable farmer, picked up a glass of wine and said that he had accidentally seen her article about fashion published in an American magazine and praised her for the color matching of clothing. Achievements.
(Brigitte Lin’s oriental undefeated look has become a screen myth)
“Everyone knows my beauty, but no one realizes my talent.” This ugly man is like a breath of fresh air. He instantly captured Lin Meiren's heart. After inquiring, I learned that he was Xing Liyuan, the chairman of Hong Kong Clothing ESPRIT Asia Holdings Co., Ltd. Later, he became Brigitte Lin's husband.
Speaking of ESPRIT, we have to mention Douglas Tompkins, the founder of The North Face, the global outdoor products industry giant. In the 1960s, rebellious young man Douglas Tompkins and his wife started selling clothing in a small station wagon and created the Plain Jane brand - the predecessor of ESPRIT.
Just as hippie culture was taking over the streets of the United States, baggy jeans and thick and distressed plaid shirts were widely praised. In the advertising era when other brands are competing for traffic and hiring stars, ESPRIT's models are ordinary high school students, bearded artists, and wrinkled architects. The unique ESPRIT has gradually become one of the favorite clothing brands among young people in the United States. Everyone who wears it feels: "I am different from others."
In 1971, Xing Liyuan, who only had a high school education, entered a weaving factory. At the age of 21 that year, he met Douglas Tompkins of ESPRIT. The founder’s first impression of Xing Liyuan was “impressively confident and shrewd.” Three years later, Xing Liyuan borrowed 2,600 Hong Kong dollars and established a joint venture with Douglas Tompkins to expand ESPRIT's business in Asia.
As of 1978, the brand's annual sales exceeded $100 million.
In 1981, Xing Liyuan, who was not satisfied with the agency business, opened his first retail store in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, and began to operate the brand. This was also Esprit's first overseas retail store. In Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan, ESPRIT stores have opened one after another, like a response to a hundred responses.
He is determined to promote the ESPRIT brand. From style design to clothing texture to the overall atmosphere of the store, Xing Liyuan has taken care of everything. He often takes advantage of his inconspicuous "innate advantage" by pretending to be a passerby and walking around various ESPRIT stores to supervise the regional merchandisers of clothing retail.
In 1992, ESPRIT entered the Chinese mainland market, 10 years earlier than the clothing brand giant Uniqlo. In the year of its opening, ESPRIT achieved a performance growth of 58%.
In 1993, Esprit Holdings, which operates in Asia, successfully listed on the Hong Kong stock market. Blessings come in twos. One year after listing, Brigitte Lin wore a wedding ring worth HK$5 million to marry this 45-year-old "ugly man" for the second time. The wedding venue was covered with roses worth HK$7 million, and Jin Yong wrote the inscriptions on the wedding invitations. . Brigitte Lin is wearing a white wedding dress, with Xing Liyuan following behind, like Snow White's dwarf.
After marriage, "Xing Li was originally Brigitte Lin's husband" became the spokesperson of "Brigitte Lin is ESPRIT". Brigitte Lin is famous. She wears her husband's brand every day in various occasions. She has become a "mobile spokesperson" and even attracts small stars and big models to follow her.
In 1997, Hong Kong suffered heavy losses during the financial crisis. However, ESPRIT, which was on the rise at that time, not only did not slow down its expansion, but took advantage of the sharp drop in store rents and the cooling real estate market in Hong Kong to expand rapidly and opened many large-scale ESPRIT complex concept stores in an instant. In 2003, the SARS storm caused large and small companies to cry out. ESPRIT's revenue in Hong Kong and Taiwan shrank by 30%. Xing Liyuan still decided to grab Joyce Boutique's store in a prime location in Hong Kong after the lease expired.
Under the leadership of Xing Liyuan, ESPRIT's revenue in 2002 was close to HK$12.4 billion (approximately NT$53 billion), and its profit was also close to HK$1.2 billion (approximately NT$551 billion), the growth rates reached 34 and 28 respectively; in the second half of the year after SARS ended, profits increased by another 53, reaching HK$880 million (approximately NT$3.7 billion).
Although her husband is not good-looking, Brigitte Lin is very happy; Xing Liyuan is also very happy, this wife is a good deal. The "ruthlessness" of ugly men
Xing Liyuan is always said to be an "ugly man", mainly because the person standing next to him is the stunning beauty Brigitte Lin. If there was not such a sharp contrast, he would not be so ugly. What's more, it doesn't matter whether a businessman is ugly or not. After all, Jack Ma still became the richest man in Asia, and Liu Qiangdong still married the milk tea girl. There is nothing wrong with appearance, but what businessmen need is "ruthlessness". Ruthless in business competition, ruthless in the battlefield of capital.
Xing Liyuan is really "ruthless".
In 1996, Bole Douglas Tompkins divorced his wife, who was also a founding partner. Xing Liyuan took advantage of the chaos and bought the shares of ESPRIT63 in the United States at a low price and became the largest shareholder. In 2002, he bought back the remaining 37 shares for approximately NT$5.4 billion, and owned 100% of the ESPRIT trademark rights. So far, Xing Liyuan has successfully become one of the world's top 500 richest people.
This is true for the top, and it is also true for the bottom: no scruples in salary increases for the best employees, and no mercy on the resignations of weaker employees.
At that time, Uniqlo had just arrived in China to test the waters, Zara had not yet entered the mainland market, and Jack Ma had not yet created the concept of "Double Eleven". ESPRIT already had more than 2,000 retail stores in 46 countries around the world, and 200 10,000 square feet of business area and more than 8,000 wholesale customers. In 2007, Esprit reached its peak as a company - reaching its highest market value of 150 billion yuan.
From being an agent in Asia to gradually encroaching on the position of CEO of the parent company, from a newly arrived brand to the leading global consumer brand, ESPRIT is full of Xing Liyuan’s hard work. He is firmly on the Forbes list of richest people, but he seems to have no intention of seizing on his career for most of his life.
When things reach their extremes, they must reverse; when they reach their peak, they must decline.
Beauty will fade, and trends will change. Competitors such as fast fashion apparel brands H.M., Gap, and Zara have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. Previously, the process of brand clothing from design drawings to shopping mall counters took up to a year, while fast fashion brands only needed one month. Moreover, fast fashion will also achieve faster changes by reducing production, and increase prices by lowering prices. Sales volume, small profits but quick turnover to make a profit.
What really beats ESPRIT is its own inventory. The speed of design cannot keep up with the trend set off by fast fashion. The styles are lagging behind and inventory is piling up. If you are anxious for sales, you can only discount. If the price drops too much, the brand will be cheaper, so it will be harder to sell, and the inventory will accumulate even more, creating a vicious circle.
Then in this decade, after the rise of Taobao online shopping and Internet celebrity sales, Guangdong wholesale, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai retail, the powerful Chinese manufacturing wars between refresh speed and inventory have occurred countless times, and even Fast fashion chain clothing stores represented by Zara have all fallen like dominoes. How can the market still allow ESPRIT to get a piece of the pie?
In the 2019 fiscal year, Esprit achieved revenue of HK$12.932 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 16.3%, of which revenue from the Asian market only accounted for 9.5% of the group’s total revenue (HK$1.102 billion, which was less than 4% of the peak period). 0.1%); the net loss during the period was HK$2.144 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16.1%. In 2018 and 2019, ESPRIT parent company Esprit Global (00330.HK) suffered a net loss of more than HK$2 billion for two consecutive years, and the company’s Asia-Pacific revenue accounted for The ratio also dropped significantly.
Do you think Xing Liyuan will go bankrupt and lead a wealthy family, Lin Qingxia, to live a life of abjection? The answer is of course impossible.
The decline in ESPRIT’s profitability was in 2008. The keen Xing Liyuan immediately noticed the subtle competition. He firmly believed that the light luxury clothing brands of the last century represented by ESPRIT were exhausted. After all, it was really difficult for him, who was born in 1949, to keep up with the fashion and trends of today's young people.
Xing Liyuan's operation is so cool and ruthless. In 2008, after he retired from all positions in the company, his shareholdings were reduced to only 1.79, which did not need to be disclosed. In March 2010, he sold the remaining 22.83 million shares at a price of 54.25 yuan per share, cashing out another 1.238 billion yuan. Along with multiple reductions in holdings in the past, Xing Liyuan cashed out nearly 21.4 billion yuan and completely broke away from Esprit's interests.
Faced with a company that he had worked hard for decades, he had already become a deserter before the war started, but he became a winner in the end. Perhaps, staying rational and being appropriately "ruthless" is the best choice for businessmen.
END
Picture editor: Wan Shanhong
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