Mainland brand Mo & Co celebrates its 10th anniversary in style
Guangzhou isn't exactly China's fashion capital, but the city earned some serious fashion cred after home-grown brand Mo & Co celebrated its 10th anniversary in the futuristic Guangzhou Opera House designed by Zaha Hadid.
The fashion show had model and campaign girl Liu Wen on the runway in the autumn-winter collection by Edition, 10 Mo & Co's high-end sister brand, while celebrity guests included actress Maggie Cheung Man-yuk, models Ming Xi and Tian Yi, singer Shang Wenjie and dancer Duan Ni.
We all need to understand Chinese customers and their needs
Mo & Co may not be known globally, but in its native China it's one of the few brands that has capitalised on the growing demand for mid-priced fashion. Launched in 2004 by creative director and founder Jenny Kam, the label found success thanks to its combination of trend-focused designs and affordable price tags. Today Mo & Co has 500 stores in China (287 of which are franchises), with an estimated annual revenue of €250 million (HK$2.6 billion).
The brand's headquarters, located in Guangzhou's TIT Creative Industry Zone, is testament to its success. Consisting of a 10,000 sq ft office and a 12,000 sq ft factory, employees work in a chic industrial space and get free meals in its restaurant, which uses organic ingredients from its own garden. It's a pioneering concept on the mainland and one that many brands aspire to follow. (Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez visited the site recently).
Although Mo & Co has defined contemporary fashion in China for the past 10 years, the brand was born out of Kam's desire to make clothing she wanted to wear.
"To be honest, I have never thought about what position it would sit at, whether it would be contemporary or luxury. It was the people who bought it that determined the price point. From the very beginning, it was not a business for me, it was all about passion," she says.