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interface news reporter | zhu yongling

interface news editor | lou qiqin

urban revivo (hereinafter referred to as "ur"), which positions itself as a "fast luxury fashion brand", recently launched several jackets in collaboration with its sister brand benlai. the series is available on the sales channels of both brands at the same time, with prices ranging from 699 yuan to 1,199 yuan.

ur and benlai belong to the same company, which was renamed fmg group in 2024. generally speaking, the purpose of joint cooperation between brands within a group is to "use the old to bring in the new" and use the main brand to enhance the reputation of the new brand. fmg group told jiemian news that in addition to the consideration of enhancing the popularity of benlai, this joint cooperation is also because the two brands can "share resources and develop synergistically" in terms of channels, product design and consumers. the launch of joint products by the two brands with different positioning can simultaneously meet consumers' needs for functionality, comfort and fashion trends.。

benlai is a sub-brand launched by ur's parent company fmg group in 2022. when the brand opened its first offline store in guangzhou, it was positioned as a "new generation of basic models", emphasizing the innovation of basic models with youthful fashion designs. perhaps it was the market test and trend judgment that made benlai change its positioning strategy. now benlai has turned to the casual light outdoor track, providing casual clothes that focus on comfort, performance technology and multi-scenario wear for people aged 3 to 60.

li mingguang, founder of ur and chairman and ceo of fmg group, mentioned in an interview with "china entrepreneur" magazine that benlai is like uniqlo in style and appearance, but is closer to brands such as lululemon and arc'teryx in fabric and function.

however, in terms of price, benlai is not a direct competitor of lululemon and arc'teryx. its products are still in the fast fashion price range of less than 500 yuan. for example, the price of yoga pants is around 200 yuan, and most jackets are also priced at 100 yuan. according to nikkei asia, the average customer price of benlai is between 300 yuan and 400 yuan.

in other words, benlai's most important competitor in the chinese market will still be uniqlo. to a certain extent, benlai's emphasis on fabrics and functions is to create an advantage that distinguishes it from casual wear brands such as uniqlo and gap.

in an interview with nikkei asia in august 2024, li mingguang said that uniqlo's functional products only account for a small part of its total, while benlai attaches more importance to functionality. according to him, there are almost no cotton and denim products that traditional casual wear makes in benlai's stores, and it plans to completely stop selling the remaining cotton and denim products in its product line as early as 2025.

as for whether benlai's technological fabrics have significant advantages, it remains to be tested by the market. taking the outdoor jacket as an example, the most expensive of the aforementioned co-branded jackets, the benlai three-in-one jacket, claims to use high-performance water-repellent and breathable fabrics, with a waterproof index of≥6300/mmH₂O，moisture permeability index ≥13000g/(㎡·24h),wind protection index≤1.5mm/s, wear resistance index≥10,000 times; the down lining is made of 90% white duck down that meets the new national standard. for comparison, jiaoxia, which is also not a professional outdoor brand, also has a jacket with the same price. this product claims to use the brand's self-developed three-proof new hard shell fabric and warm air down lining, with a waterproof index of 19210/mmh₂o, moisture permeability index is 12600g/(㎡·24h), windproof index is 1.6mm/s, wear resistance index ≥18,000 times.

tianyancha app shows that the operating entity of benlaikuaishang fashion (guangzhou) co., ltd. currently has only one invention patent, which is related to cool sun-proof and anti-wrinkle fabrics.substantive examination stage.

after turning to the leisure and light outdoor track and functional strategy, benlai seems to be more determined in its new positioning and is ready to move into a new stage of expanding its brand voice and scale.

the aforementioned collaboration with ur is one of them. in addition, benlai's marketing initiatives also include collaborations with fan zhendong and deng yawen, allowing the two olympic champions to wear its new autumn and winter products.velvet series.fmg group also revealed to jiemian news that benlai will also hold new product flash events in beijing and wuhan from the end of september to the national day holiday.

in terms of channels, benlai currently has 14 offline stores, including 3 in its home base of guangzhou, 2 in wuhan and chengdu, and the rest are mostly located in provincial capitals and other second-tier cities; beijing, shenzhen and shanghai are not yet covered in first-tier cities. fmg group said that benlai has opened a new store in changsha in september, and will open 3 more stores in beijing, xiamen and haikou within the month.

according to the aforementioned nikkei asia report, benlai plans to increase the store opening pace to 30 to 50 new stores per year starting from 2025. its existing stores are mostly 800 to 1,000 square meters in size, which still belongs to the traditional fast fashion large store model.

globalization and multi-branding are two paths for fmg group to achieve its 100 billion yuan goal. at present, globalization mainly relies on the main brand ur, while the task of multi-branding falls on benlai.