Tmall to spin Hunan embroidery into a household name

Hunan embroidery will soon be accessible on Tmall, the biggest online retailer in China; it was announced by the online giant during a "2018 China Craftsman" ceremony at the Hunan Museum.

Tmall will cooperate with home textile enterprises such as Mendale, Lovo and Fuanna, to introduce six new products that will feature Hunan and Suzhou embroidery techniques, bringing these traditional art forms into the everyday lives of people.

With its vivid and delicate pictorial patterns, Hunan embroidery is honored as one China's "Four Most Famous Embroideries" along with Suzhou, Sichuan and Guangdong embroideries. The embroidery products produced by Mendale Household Textiles in cooperation with Hunan embroidery master Cheng Xinxiang are available on Tmall and sold at the reasonable price of 1,799 yuan ($286.8).

A strategic agreement is signed between the Hunan Museum and Mendale Household Textiles to promote cultural and creative products on Tmall, China's biggest online shopping platform, in Changsha on March 28. [Photo/rednet.cn]

An official from Tmall explained that the online shopping platform will create business opportunities for craftspeople through brand building, channel management and product innovation. Furthermore, it also presents as an opportunity to introduce Chinese traditional handicrafts to the world. The goal of "Chinese Craftsman" project in 2018 is to incubate 20 brands of over 10 million yuan in total value. 

Based on protection of cultural relics, more commercial cooperation models will be explored to promote cultural industries, according to Duan Xiaoming, curator of the Hunan Museum.

Hunan embroidery master Cheng Xinxiang works on a Hunan embroidery work. [Photo/rednet.cn]

Since it initiated the "Chinese Craftsman" project in 2017, Tmall has helped 281 domestic brands increase their volume of sales. Sales of products like iron pans, oil-paper umbrellas, wickerworks and ceramics, have since had a year-on-year increase of more than 100 percent on their online stores.

This year, the project will further explore the potential of porcelain and clogs to improve the influence of Chinese arts and crafts around the world.