In China the past few years, in the United Kingdom in the past few quarters, a new It bag appeared. It may be golden brown, dark blue or candy color powder, may be decorated with metal rivets or domineering spikes. Whether it is Messenger Bag, Bucket Bag or Backpack, are calmly covered with a recurring sign: a laurel, a diamond and the letter MCM .
Even if you have not heard of MCM, you must have seen it anywhere. From Cristiano Ronaldo to Beyoncé to Rihanna, celebrities, or chasing fashion students can see it on their backs. In general, consumers are mostly young people: bloggers will post photos on their blogs instead of veteran editors in front of the fashion show.
According to street fashion site editor Maude Churchill, MCM suddenly appeared on the street a few years ago, where it was found around celebrities and worked reliably with designers and artists. "MCM crosses the boundaries of streetwear and high fashion," she said. "It is luxurious but kitsch."
So how does MCM become a new generation of It Bag? The British "Guardian" tells the story of an MCM that has filled the streets in China and has just recently entered the UK market.
It's nothing new in the younger crowd, but the strange thing about the MCM is that it costs far more than students can afford - for example, a £ 380 bag, a £ 530 bag, and the highest price It is a limited snake leather bag of £ 1,735 or even £ 3,135. Outside the well-informed fashion and streetwear circles, most British consumers are not familiar with the brand. This is a thorny issue for the luxury leather goods market based on heritage; whether it is the Louis Vuitton suitcase for the Indian nobility in the 1920s, or the Hermès bag, which Grace Kelly used to block the paparazzi in the 1950s, History and story narration is everything.
90s supermodel Cindy Crawford and MCM
In fact, MCM is also a story - still a very exciting story. The company was founded in Germany in 1976 and is named after its founder, Michael Cromer München. Inspired by the repetitive pattern of Louis Vuitton bags, the MCM bag became popular in the 1980s and Diana Ross used the MCM suitcase on tour, while the "MCM" suitcase by the porters in "Dynasty" Become a symbol of wealth and success.
By the 1990s, MCM had more than 250 stores worldwide and in a commercial filmed by Herb Ritts there was only one MCM bag on a naked Cindy Crawford. During the first decade of the 21st century, MCM's business stagnated and became financially distressed. Its founders were investigated for alleged tax evasion, fakes flooded the market and brand designs lost their appeal. For more than a decade, MCM has hardly been mentioned by Western fashion circles.
MCM's savior comes from South Korea, one of the few places where performance is still good, and the company has licensed the brand, the Sungjoo Group, and acquired the brand in 2005. Since then, MCM's global sales remained at 100 million US dollars (60 million pounds). After changing its name (now Modern Creation München) and hiring Adidas Global Creative Director Michael Michalsky to create a dynamic, vibrant, youthful design, MCM started to thrive: $ 400 million in sales in 2011; 500 million in 2013 Dollars. It expects sales to hit $ 650 million this year and the company considers going public and reaches $ 1.5 billion in sales in the next 3-4 years.
Asia is a major market for MCM as well as an extension for other markets - with China, South Korea and Japan accounting for almost a third of MCM's revenue respectively - the European market is mature enough to expand its business and the 105m2 opened at Harrods in London last month The MCM boutiques and boutiques expected to open at Bond Street next year are proof of this.
According to the company's glamorous chief foresight officer (yes, not CEO, but Chief Visionary Officer) Kim Sung-chu said the success so far has been due to a unique understanding of the major developments in the luxury goods industry. First, she said, millennials are "born with computers, so people in millennials are completely different in the way they live, the brands they want to be interactive and the luxuries can be functional." Purely traditional high-end stores "are more like temples, one-sided and arrogant, waiting for consumers to come and worship!" Not attractive.
Second, she said, "Today, without exception, more than 60% to 70% of the luxury brands benefit from the Asian market, or those rich people around the world. And unlike the existing generation of customers, a new generation Of the clients are brand promoters and influencers. "She calls these clients" 21st Century Wandeliers "and says they do not all have stable, high-income, though their parents may have; but often they will be MCM savings of this new luxury brand single product.
Kim Sung-Jo believes that the success of the company's canvas backpack products stems from her new Global Wanderer consumer theory. "Ironically, the best-seller in the handbag business is the hands-free bag," she said, "but it's understandable from a socio-economic point of view, and it's practical and lightweight. "It's also unisex, which is a key factor; for example, in one of the primary markets in China, the MCM backpack," more men buy luxuries than women do. "
However, Kim Sung-Jo does not think this brand belongs to South Korea or Asia, and firmly believe that it is a German brand. She pointed out that the design and production mainly from Germany and Italy, the other is considered the European brand - from Mulberry to Escada - is owned by Asian companies. "All major brands may have Asian elements to join, Chanel too, especially Gucci, which uses gold, crystal, black and white, and color elements. They know the brand's Asian and Russian rich consumers are on the rise," she said; designing Become more globalized. She said that MCM is actually "a global product cultivated in the cradle of Korea." This is an incredible 21st century.