George, West China -- The Chinese Brand On The Fifth Street In New York

The busy Fifth Avenue is a famous commercial street in New York, the United States.

Here, the high-end boutique and shops from all over the world are dazzling.

If you find the women's fashion series called "George Simonton" here, don't think it's a foreigner's brand. Its owner is

Liu Jianbang.

Lucky to get the first order.

Liu Jianbang, from Nanjing, is one of the most successful Chinese entrepreneurs in the US.

In 2001, Liu Jianbang became the first "50 outstanding Asian entrepreneur" launched by the Asian American business development center.

Liu Jianbang is currently president of LPF group. LPF is composed of three holding companies, including real estate, IT products, textile trade, garment manufacturing and sales, securities investment and many other business areas, and is the leader among Chinese enterprises.

As a general manager of a group company, how did Liu Jianbang step into the business world in America and succeed at one stroke?

Liu Jianbang graduated from the Mathematics Department of Nanjing University. He worked in the China Geophysics Institute and China Import and Export Corporation before he went to the United States, and he has been engaged in international textile trade for many years.

At first, he came to the United States to read books.

Unexpectedly, in 1992, an accidental chance made him have an indissoluble bond with clothes.

However, compared with other Chinese in the clothing industry, Liu Jianbang is quite lucky.

Shortly after he started selling clothes, Liu Jianbang got a large order from Jewish businessmen.

Although the profit margin is very limited, he saw great business opportunities from this big order: at that time, Jews occupied an important share in the clothing market of New York and even the whole United States.

As expected, the first order was just a Jewish businessman who was "asking for directions". When he was ready to deliver the goods, second orders and third orders came one after another.

In the first year of formal business, Liu Jianbang made $28 million worth of business. Later, his business grew bigger and bigger.

In 1995, Liu Jianbang invested in partnership with LPF to set up a company, which was engaged in research and development of network equipment and product manufacturing. In second years, the company that produced network modulation mediator was listed on NASDAQ.

Acquisition of "ocean" fashion brand

Many people think that there is no difference between running clothes and running fashion, but in Liu Jianbang's view, there are many cultural and value differences between them.

For example, in the value content of fashion, the proportion of processing fees is low, and the cost of design and promotion is larger, while clothing is the opposite.

"Made in China" clothing has been popular in the US market, but Chinese manufacturers have made small profits. The reason is simple: Chinese manufacturers do not have independent fashion brands.

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In 1997, for Liu Jianbang, a golden opportunity came.

At that time, a fashion company called "George Simonton" in New York was in financial difficulties and badly in need of funds.

Liu Jianbang thought that although George Simonton was not well-known at that time, it belonged to the local community after all.

So he resolutely decided to buy the brand of the company.

Later, Liu Jianbang continued to hire Mr. George Simonton, the chief designer of the original fashion company, to serve his new company.

Because Mr. Simonton is a senior professor of New York Fashion Design Institute, who has some influence in the local fashion design industry and understands the changing trend of the mainstream fashion in the US, Liu Jianbang's move is of strategic significance.

The acquisition marks a new stage in Liu Jianbang's career and a breakthrough from clothing to fashion.

Although in his current sales of clothing, brand fashion accounts for only about 1/4, but by entering the world of brand fashion, the cultural value of the whole business has been improved.

It is reported that only one of the Chinese people in the United States who owns their own fashion brands and designers and is recognized by the mainstream American society is Liu Jianbang.

It was also in this year that Liu Jianbang formed a LPF group company by combining George Simonton company with the clothing production and sales business of his former company, and the scale of the enterprise expanded again.

All production lines are located in China.

In 1993, Liu Jianbang set up the first joint venture in Nanjing.

By 2001, Liu Jianbang had pferred all the production of branded fashion to China. Almost all of the clothes he sold were from China.

Now, Liu Jianbang has a number of joint ventures and wholly foreign-owned enterprises in China, with a total investment of more than ten million dollars, and buys about $50 million annually from China.

In addition, he also established George Simonton fashion store in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.

Liu Jianbang has already had a more mature plan for the future of the enterprise.

"The size of the clothing market in the United States is about $300 billion a year, of which more than 70% of the pactions are completed in New York," he said.

Liu Jianbang believes that with China's accession to the WTO, there will be more

Entering the US market, more Chinese fashion designers will also enter the international fashion stage.

In recent years, Liu Jianbang has increased ties with domestic business people.

Not long ago, when the delegation of the China Federation of industry and Commerce visited New York, Liu Jianbang organized his delegation to welcome the delegation and exchange information with them.

It is reported that he also organized the New York Chinese General Chamber of Commerce delegation to Sichuan to prepare for the establishment of an American SME Park in Chengdu.

He said, "under the background of western development, Chengdu, as the strategic highland of the west, has great attraction."