Founder's Interview｜Lu Yan of Comme Moi：From Super Model to Fashion Entrepreneur

It’s common for supermodels to venture into the business side of the fashion industry. Normally, they launch capsule collections in collaboration with big brands. However, it’s extremely rare for them to start a brand all by themselves, from scratch.

Chinese supermodel Lu Yan is an exception to this rule. She used to be one of the most popular Chinese face for top brands in their catwalk shows. However, the title she’s most proud of is founder and designer of Comme Moi.

We meet Lu the day before Comme Moi’s AW16 show. Although it is the most important annual event for the brand, when this new designer and entrepreneur walks into the meeting room, she looks relaxed and refreshed, without any sign of stress or haste. She is happy to share with us her experience of starting Comme Moi.

Getting an industrial expert as a partner

“Chinese fashion marketing is like a massive cake. I just want to cut and enjoy the piece I’m best at,” says Lu. Before launching the brand, she did her research by consulting professionals in the industry and visiting different department stores and textile markets. She saw Chinese people’s passion for famous luxury brands, and noticed how many championed brands that needed a makeover in terms of brand image and awareness. She found her piece of cake in her own consumption habits. In 2013, she started the womenswear brand, Comme Moi, and positioned it in the market as an affordable luxury brand.

Lu’s modelling career has made her familiar with the high quality of luxury brands. Therefore, she’s demanding in terms of the quality of her own products. After starting Comme Moi in China, she realised that the most difficult part of the industry is establishing the supply chain. As a result, she built a partnership with Chenfeng Group, which owns a top textile factory. “We take charge of design and marketing and select the imported textiles, while Chenfeng is responsible for the production. It’s reassuring to have them behind us,” she says.

Above: Comme Moi’s AW16 Collection

Comme Moi has also introduced a strict product planning system: every year, Lu selects the textiles for the next season at the Paris textile exhibition, Première Vision. Afterwards, she discusses the characteristics of the textiles and the fashion trends for the next season with her design team. The next step is to decide on the commodity composition and plan the products to design. The design team will then draw sketches for Lu to choose from, before proceeding to make patterns. Lu tries on every sample herself to make sure that they are flawless, before the team places the orders for mass manufacturing.

“This procedure is very efficient. It’s not only great for controlling the cost, but also ensures accuracy in terms of Stock Keeping Units (SKU),” Lu says. She tells us that in 2016, the brand had 220 SKUs and produced 280 samples, successfully avoiding wasting fabric. In the meantime, she is learning about category management and product mix on the job.

Comme Moi is growing fast. The chairman of Lane Crawford, Andrew Keith, recently revealed that it is among several emerging brands within the group with the highest sales growth. Recently, The Woolmark Company invited Comme Moi to launch a merino wool collection, titled “China Rouge”.

Above: Comme Moi’s AW16 Collection

“We hope to expand internationally once we’ve gained a firm foothold nationally”

When asked whether she’s planning to expand overseas or organise shows abroad, Lu’s answer is clear. “Not for the moment. Our supporters are all in China, why should we go abroad? The brand has the best chance of success in China. In addition, our physical stores in China are increasing. However, we do hope to expand internationally once we’ve gained a firm foothold nationally – this will help us to have more of an impact on foreign markets.”

Last October, Comme Moi opened a flagship store on Xinle Road, Shanghai. Neri&Hu Design and Research Office designed the space, which was awarded the prize for Best Commercial Interior by Azure Magazine, a leading North American magazine focused on contemporary design and architecture. This has brought some unexpected rewards for the brand – although it hasn’t been promoted at all overseas, when creative directors from well-known luxury brands visit China, they ask to visit the Comme Moi flagship store.

This was the brand’s first flagship store. To begin with, Lu wasn’t sure about opening a store. However, her confidence was boosted after seeing the excellent sales performance of multi-brand shops. The sales figures have shown that the Comme Moi flagship store attracted customers with strong purchasing power. Since then, Lu has opened flagship stores in Deji Plaza, Nanjing and Jiu-Guang Department Store, Shanghai. She stresses that the brand sells well in Jiu-Guang, despite the fact that their target demographic is generally older and most of them are new customers, which indicates that “our product withstands the tests of the market”.

Above: Comme Moi opened a flagship store on Xinle Road, Shanghai

Lu reveals that Comme Moi has been invited to open boutiques in around 50 shopping centres and department stores. In 2017, the brand plans to open shops in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Dalian. Although the growth of the brand seems to be steady, Lu is honest and realistic about the overall environment in retail: “Opening shops is so painful!” She observes that many Chinese department stores are looking for transformation and hoping to introduce designer brands, but they receive very limited support. “If the department stores ask for the same percentage of commission for selling designer brands, then not many of the brands will be able to survive.

Comme Moi hasn’t yet considered an online store as its main sales channel, as Lu wants her customers to see and touch the garments in a physical shop, “because we provide a luxury level of products and services”. However, she does agree that e-commerce is the future, “Our WeChat store is doing brilliantly. Almost every day there are existing customers shopping there”.

Above: Comme Moi’s AW16 Collection

Lu started the company with a team of just 3 people; this grew to 14 when she held her first show. Today, she has a team of more than 40. Almost all of her employees were born after 1990. It’s obvious that Lu genuinely adores this group of passionate young people and loves her team. “It’s important that enthusiastic young people make the brand a success,” she says.

Above: Lu takes a bow at the Comme Moi AW16 launch event