Chinese Fashion Group Vi-ein to Go Public in Shenzhen
SHANGHAI — High-end womenswear fashion group Vi-ein Fashion Stock Co. Ltd. submitted an initial public offering prospectus earlier this month. The company is planning to go public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
The Shenzhen-based company plans to issue 19.63 million shares and is aiming to raise 402 million renminbi, or $59.6 million.
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Founded in 2001 by husband and wife duo Lin Ma and Zhonghong Ma, Vi-ein is the owner of contemporary womenswear brands Ein, Pure Tea and Plain People. It also bought London-based Chinese designer Renli Su in 2017. The brands all take on a natural and artsy, rather than a fashion-forward, approach to design, carving out a niche in the high-end womenswear market.
In 2021, Vi-ein’s revenue grew 31.7 percent to 631 million renminbi, or $93.6 million. Net profit rose 36 percent to 113 million renminbi, or $16.8 million.
Vi-ein is betting on the strength of China’s high-end fashion market to propel growth. According to Euromonitor, the womenswear market reached 814.92 billion renminbi, or $120.83 billion, in 2021. Despite a drag on growth due to COVID-19-related lockdowns, the high-end market will steadily grow to take up 24.74 percent of the total womenswear market by 2026.
According to the filing, in 2021, Vi-ein’s results largely stemmed from the growth of flagship brand Ein, which represents more than 70 percent of total sales. Pure Tea follows at 24 percent, Plain People and Renli Su account for 1.9 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.
Ein is known for its breezy dresses in subdued colors, with prices ranging from 1,000 renminbi, or $148, to 5,000 renminbi, or $740. The brand’s sale-per-square-meter reached 36,300 renminbi, or $5,382 this year, slightly above its competitors such as Jorya, Dazzle and Ellassay.
Ein named Chinese actress Cecilia Liu, known for her role in Chinese time-travel dramas, as brand ambassador in 2021.
Vi-ein said it plans to use the funds from the IPO to expand its marketing efforts, increase retail channels, and build warehouse or logistic centers.
Vi-ein operates 133 retail stores in China, and around half of the outlets are franchises. The company also sells on e-commerce sites such as Tmall, Douyin and JD.com, which make up 28 percent of total sales.
Renli Su, the namesake womenswear label launched in 2014, is described by Vi-ein as having a “British aristocratic” sensibility, the brand’s style in line with Ein’s romantic ideals but takes a more girlish approach.
Upon buying the brand, Vi-ein vowed to invest 3 million pounds in it, according to media coverage at the time. Renli Su is carried in well-known multibrand fashion retailers such as Dover Street Market, Selfridges and Ssense.
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