In April 2021, the Hanfu brand "Thirteen Y Plus" received over a hundred million yuan in Serie A financing, jointly led by Zhengxin Valley, Bilibili, and Pop Mart.
As a niche cultural community, Hanfu has begun to attract the attention of the capital market with the rise of the "guochao" (national trend) movement.
Hanfu, formally known as "Traditional Han Chinese Clothing," can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty. In recent years, whether it's the elegance of Hanfu's design, the popularity of period dramas, or the deep cultural identity behind them, the wearing of Hanfu, symbolizing "the beauty of Chinese attire and the etiquette of the nation," has increasingly come into vogue.
Discussions about Hanfu have also grown louder across various social media platforms. Taking TikTok as an example, the hashtag #Hanfu has nearly 50 billion views, making wearing Hanfu a "new national trend" of cultural confidence.
According to Moojing Market Intelligence data, in Q1 2021, the overall sales volume of Hanfu reached 870 million yuan, with growth each month from January to March compared to the same period in 2020, peaking at 70% growth in February and an overall 31% increase for the quarter.
The data shows that affected by shopping festivals and seasonal changes , May and the autumn and winter festivals are the peak sales periods for Hanfu.
Although the Hanfu market has developed steadily, its scale is still limited compared to the overall clothing market, with Q1's total clothing market reaching 150.6 billion yuan and Hanfu accounting for only 0.57%. Compared to the overall clothing market, the penetration rate of Hanfu remains low, and there is still a need to further educate the market, implying significant potential for growth in the Hanfu market.
There's a wide price range in the Hanfu market, with brands that offer high-end restorations such as Minghua Hall priced at several thousand yuan, high cost-effectiveness brands like Hanshang Hualian, and the more cost-friendly Lanruo Ting priced at tens of yuan.
However, Moojing Market Intelligence data shows that, in terms of price distribution, the mainstream price segment for consumers choosing clothing in the Hanfu market is below 300 yuan. Compared to other types of clothing, Hanfu prices are slightly higher, but the overall distribution of price ranges is similar, making Hanfu more accessible due to its lower price points .
Currently, the industry is characterized by low concentration but stable leading brands.
Although the Hanfu market is expanding, with many brands entering the race, Moojing Market Intelligence data shows that the average CR5 for the rolling year (April 2020 to March 2021) remained at around 17%, indicating a competitive market but with top 5 brands fairly fixed. Among them, Returning to Han and Tang appeared 12 times in the top 5 brands list over 12 natural months, Lanruo Ting 11 times, and the recently financed Thirteen Y Plus 11 times.
Therefore, while the Hanfu industry market is still in a brand melee stage, how to acquire more traffic and further expand market share remains a challenge .
Similar to the overall clothing consumer group, women are the main purchasers of Hanfu, with Moojing Market Intelligence data showing that women account for 89% of the Hanfu consumer group and men 11%. Looking at clothing brands, the top 5 brands are mainly women's wear. In terms of average price, the highest is Returning to Han and Tang, at 278 yuan, while Lanruo Ting is the lowest at 90 yuan, with other brands in the 150-250 yuan price range.
The popularity of the Hanfu segment is not only reflected in its market data but also in its high level of discussion across social media, with Moojing Market Intelligence data indicating that over the past six months, Hanfu generated more than 1.36 million posts with over 67 million interactions combined on platforms like Weibo, TikTok, and Xiaohongshu. Of these, Weibo had the most posts, while TikTok had the highest interaction rates, and comparatively, Xiaohongshu is not the main platform for Hanfu discussions.
According to the top interactive posts, a major hotspot topic over the past six months related to Hanfu is the debate between China and South Korea regarding the origin of Hanfu. Some South Korean netizens accused original Hanfu designs of copying Korean clothing and made statements that Hanfu originated from Korea. These comments sparked outrage among netizens from various communities, leading to a collective backlash and, from another perspective, this cultural dispute also made more consumers aware of the importance of Hanfu.
Apart from hot topics, we have also analyzed several major scenarios in which consumers choose to purchase Hanfu based on post data. Photography and travel are the two main scenarios for consumers choosing Hanfu . However, with the arrival of spring and warmer weather, many people choose to wear Hanfu for outdoor flower-viewing and spring outings, becoming a new springtime spectacle alongside the blossoms and willows of the season .
Furthermore, aside from Hanfu's deep cultural heritage and the popularity of its outdoor wearing scenarios, the heat of period TV dramas and the advocacy of celebrities and variety shows are also important reasons for maintaining the high popularity of Hanfu.
From being seen as a "strange and exotic outfit" when worn in public over a decade ago, to now being popular among people visiting the Forbidden City, enjoying spring blossoms, and making short videos, the beauty of traditional clothing and its trend fueled by cultural confidence and national revival is increasingly sought after by the younger generation.
The performance of the Hanfu market data also reveals the tremendous potential of the Hanfu market, which is an exciting development.
But on the other hand, it must be acknowledged that in order to keep the "fires" of Hanfu burning, we need to continue to actively and positively spread and participate in promoting traditional culture, do a good job of cultural export, and firmly establish Hanfu as a Chinese label.
