As a little girl, Wang Wei was impressed by the changing styles and fashions of adult clothing. "I showed great interest in clothes when I was a child," she said.
An idea began to take shape in her young mind. She dreamed that one day she would design and produce beautiful clothes. Decades passed, before Wang Wei realized her childhood dream.
Dreamy Names
Located in the well known Xiangyang Fashion and Gift Market, Wang Wei now has two stalls. In a shop about 5 square meters, there are about 500 different kinds of clothing. Half of the clothes hanging in the shop are made of a cloth dreamily named "aromatic-cloud gauze" (xiang yun sha).
In the old days, people, especially those from rich families, wore clothes made of a special silk. She heard old people say that the clothes were nice and cool to wear and she was also amazed by the cloth, which looks like a piece of paper.
Maybe because of the memory, Wang yearned to bring such clothes to the public when she grew up. She also made many inquiries about the special cloth.
"Aromatic-cloud gauze" is well known for being cool to wear and easy to wash. It's said that the fabric first became popular during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Today, only one place produces it - Shunde in South China's Guangdong Province.
As soon as Wang found out she set off for Guangzhou but she had never dreamed the fabric would be so difficult to make.
The material is silk and the dyestuff is a sort of plant that looks like taro.
First, the plant must be ground into powder and then the silk must soak in the dye. Afterwards, the cloth is dried in the sun. After this process has been repeated eight to 30 times, workers daub a special mud on it, lay it out in the sun for some time, then wash it and sun-dry it again.
In the end product, the color of plant dye and the special mud are preserved in the silk.
The whole process takes five to seven days. In addition, the weather must be very sunny or the whole process will fail.
She bought some cloth home and used it to make clothes. When she introduced the clothes to her customers, they were sold quickly. She discovered a huge potential market for clothes made of the fabric.
So, Wang began to concentrate on "aromatic-cloud gauze" fashion.
Four years passed and Wang has become a large supplier of a range of "aromatic-cloud gauze" products. They are sold in the major cities of China and also exported to several countries including the United States, Spain and Japan.
National Culture
"I really care about the culture embodied in these clothes," Wang said. "If you are abroad and you see a person wearing a suit in the Chinese style, how will you feel? Happiness will fill your heart!"
"It is not only a piece of clothing but part of Chinese traditional culture."
Wang named her clothes shop "Ancient Art", which represents her dreams about clothes. "I just dreamed of opening a shop like the toggery in ancient China," Wang Wei said.
In her dress shop, you can see only clothes with beautiful embroidery made completely by hand except for those of the "aromatic-cloud gauze" of course.
"I never sell any clothes with embroidery by machine," Wang said.
Now more and more people now recognize Wang because of her shop and her special clothes.
"Many foreigners like them very much," she said. "And a lot of Chinese living abroad or studying abroad like to take them. In fact, they bring out a kind of Chinese traditional culture of which they feel proud.
"On Christmas Day, many students abroad like to wear Chinese-style dress. It creates a sort of cultural atmosphere."
Business Bible
Wang well knows the Chinese proverb: "Kindness and a pleasant attitude makes fortunes."
She applies it in her business to her customers, her employees, and her partners. "It is like a scale between persons, you need to consider others, otherwise the scale will become unbalanced."
Wang dislikes argy-bargy. "I hope that I can organize a proper price which will cover my costs, so I earn a little. I want to charge prices just like the supermarket - the customer pays the price on the label.
"But many customers feel good if they can 'dicker' so I have to quote a little higher."
Before Wang started to build her own business she sold all types of clothing as a saleswoman for five years. Then she looked after stocking for the shop owner for two years.
The experience gained was a solid foundation for her own business venture which she has now run for almost seven years.
Recalling the way it all began Wang sighs with emotion. "It's not easy to start a business - to keep and develop it is more difficult. You need to be keen about developments in clothing materials, dress style and changes in customers' demands, even the button and the slide fasteners.
"The clothing industry has developed so fast that you have to develop new varieties constantly."
(Shanghai Star September 30, 2002)
