Retailer Bosideng ends UK contracts

A woman walks past a Bosideng International Holdings Ltd store in Yichang, in Central China's Hubei province. Liu Junfeng / for China Daily

Chinese fashion retailer Bosideng International Holdings Ltd is ending contracts with its UK buying and design teams and shifting some key manufacturing to China.

Three buyers, including a design executive and an assistant based in Bradford, northern England and one designer in London, have been made redundant. The move is part of strategic adjustment, Bosideng China said in a reply to China Daily on Thursday.

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No more collections will be designed from the UK as local Chinese designers will take their place and add more Chinese elements into the following work, according to Bosideng China. They are shifting down clothes' manufacture to their factories in China and keeping other men's apparel categories overseas.

The company's plan of marching into the European market is also being reconsidered, to balance the aims of neither rushing in nor missing major opportunities, Bosideng said.

Headed by former Crombie head of design and buying Amelia Pretious, the aim of the UK team was to create a collection that would sell domestically and in China, according to UK trade publication Drapers. Pretious unveiled Bosideng's autumn 2014 collections at New York Fashion Weekin February.

Bosideng, operating around 10,000 stores and one of the largest clothing operations in China, invested 30 million pounds ($50.41 million) into its first store on South Molton Street in London, which opened in September 2012. The brand's London line specializes in designer men's clothes, with prices in line with famous brands like Ted Baker.

Bosideng launched a pop-up shop in New York City, with plans to expand into the US market in coming years. The Shanghai-based fashion brand has participated in New York Fashion Week.

Pushing for an international presence is on the brand's agenda, and Bosideng founder Gao Dekang has said it's time for international expansion.

Though Bosideng is little known outside China, it has been a top brand in down making in China where it has more than 10,000 retail locations. The label introduced an up-market line for its London store with premium men-swear items for European consumers.