Made in Macau – outlook for fashion industry——José Tang: growing an enterprise by expanding sales

06 2016 | Issue 15

Text/Yuki Ieong

“Most arts practitioners are more focused on their ideals than on making a living. They tend to have little business acumen. What’s more, government support in terms of sales and marketing channels are also lacking. These factors have hindered the growth of local cultural and creative industries,” said José Tang, deputy president of Industrial Association of Macau. With over 30 years of experience in garment manufacturing, Tang’s business clients range from international fashion brands to local charities. With an established production of well-designed products, Tang has created courses jointly with government bodies to provide training for fashion designers on different topics, ranging from garment manufacture to business operation. Tang believes that, notwithstanding the excellent design talent in Macao, creativity must be complemented by business acumen.


Firm advocate of local production


As the CEO of Agencia Comercial Carmen Lda., José Tang also owns three garment factories in Macao. During the mid-1980s, i.e. the boom of Macao’s garment-making industry, there were over 1,000 factories in Macao. Later, in late 1980s, the industries in Macao have rapidly reduced, and the garment manufacture industry also went through a difficult time, as the sector was hit by the surge of cost and a shrinking market, coupled with the relocation of factories to other regions. However, Tang remains a keen advocate of locally made goods, and decided to keep his factories in Macao, so as to maintain the quality of products.


In 2009, Made in Macau (MinM) became a trademark for goods made in Macao, and offers a platform for small- and medium-sized enterprises in Macao to nurture their own brands, promoting consumer awareness towards locally produced goods. Similarly, Agencia Comercial Carmen also boasts of MinM products, manufacturing uniforms for the gaming industry, government departments, Red Cross Macao, as well as the product supplier for Macao’s Grand Prix and Lions Clubs products.


Lei Un Garment Factory under Agencia Comercial Carmen Lda. serves an arts service platform sponsored by the Cultural Industries Fund. It offers fashion business operation courses at the Zhuhai-Macao industrial zone. These courses cover fashion design sample-making, production, production management, capital management, taxation matters, etc, helping entrepreneurs to resolve issues such as stock inventory and small-scale production. It is envisaged that this course will include ten different lecturing topics. Last year, the two topics introduced have already attracted 60 enrolled students.


Dedicated in his efforts to nurture new talent in the local fashion industry, Tang often meets and works with young, emerging designers who have little knowledge on garment-making processes. Their lack of knowledge on production often leads to difficulties in liaising with Mainland factories during sample-making.


“There are many jargons specific to manufacture. Sometimes, subtle differences to do with the colour, material and thickness of a thread are already enough to produce very different results. Back in the old days, people could go to the factories to observe and learn about the processes, but nowadays this kind of self-learning is no longer available to the young people.” With his commercial experience, Tang saw that the young fashion designers are hindered by their lack of business skills. “I often say to them that whatever they would like to design, their products must have commercial value in order to be sell-able, and not exist for the sake of design. Cost is a critical factor, and it is important to make a living out of it.”


Self-sustaining retail


Reflecting on Macao’s cultural and creative industries, Tang is particularly thoughtful: “The community in Macao is quite fortunate in the sense that the government is doing a lot to promote cultural and creative activities.”


However, the support to the fashion design industry is still inadequate, according to Tang. “Subsidy Programme for Fashion Design on Sample Making being held each year has seen to a number of excellent designs, but while the award recipients are funded to make samples, their designs are often deprived of sales and marketing channels.” Tang recalled that one designer who won the funding has put forth his design for sale online, but only managed to sell one or two garments each year.


Tang believed that the online platform is one of the sales channels for cultural and creative products, but one must bear in mind that many online consumers do not buy more expensive items online, and so this makes it difficult when some local fashion designers rely heavily on online sales.


In neighbouring regions, cultural and creative districts such as Taipei New Horizon in Taiwan, 798 Art Zone in Beijing, M50 Creative Park in Shanghai, exist to bring together art studios and retail. Tang said that the difference between these places and Macao lies in the fact that, while those local governments elsewhere are helping to promote culture and creativity by opening up retail spaces for the sector, locally made products in Macao are not accessible to tourists because of the lack of retail outlets for local goods.


“Macao Ideas, a venue for showcasing Macao’s local products, has now moved from Tourism Activities Centre to 19th floor of China Civil Plaza. Besides, it is only a showroom rather than a retail location. C-shop opposite Old Court House is known for selling local products, but some designers found that the requirements for joining the C-shop are relatively high. The Macao Fashion Gallery in St. Lazarus’ Church District, on the other hand, has limited space, and can only showcase the works of a few designers.”


“In Macao, there is no problem with the supply of creativity, but there is a lack of real enterprise.” According to his observations, public resources can only provide funding to local designers for their creative design and production processes, but not in support of their sales and marketing activities. Sadly, what designers lack most is retail space. Tang felt that the local designers have proven their capabilities in many aspects. Their only drawback is the lack of resources to open up a retail market for their goods.


“How can design become an enterprise if the designed goods have no selling platforms? My suggestion is that a public body led by the Cultural Affairs Bureau can handpick some locally designed goods for sales and distribution at various tourist attractions, and to explore possibilities with various gaming operators on the possibility to set up Macao’s cultural and creative shops at the gaming venues. By offering them retail space, there is hope that the designs can transform into an enterprise.”