Anta Kids thinks globally at Fashion Week

A subsidiary brand of leading Chinese sportswear company ANTA Group, Anta Kids made its debut last week during New York Fashion Week and is looking to expand its presence in the global market.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily before the runway show, in a studio by the Hudson River, Lin Xianghua, CEO of Anta Kids, said the company wants to raise the brand's awareness and reach 2 billion yuan in sales globally.

"Anta has more than 30 years of history, and Anta Kids was launched 11 years ago. After all these efforts, we have positioned it as the leading children's sportswear brand in China. In the next decade, we want to achieve global dominance," Lin said.

"Being at New York Fashion Week not only gave us a chance to learn from international brands and designers, but also let us show off a Chinese children's sportswear brand to the world and create awareness … that Chinese sportswear can be international and trendy," Lin said.

Lin said that one strategy for achieving that goal is international collaboration.

During the runway show on Sept 8, Anta Kids showcased the "Playmaker" collection in collaboration with global fashion brand Opening Ceremony, featuring futuristic styles, functional materials and vibrant colors resembling those of the Olympic rings, bringing the vibrancy and essence of 1990s athleisure to the runway.

This is also the first time Opening Ceremony collaborated with a leading children's wear brand from China.

"The collaboration with Opening Ceremony is just a beginning. In the future, we are going to collaborate with more international brands, influencers and well known world-class designers to set up our trending image," Lin said.

With the slogan "Play Makes Your Day", Anta Kids encourages every child to play happily; it aims to help parents develop children's potential, and inspires the children to create their own futures.

"Most of our customers are young mothers born in the '80s and '90s. They have a strong demand for trending fashion styles," Lin said. "They want to be cool parents, and they want their children to be cool."

According to Agency China, the majority of China's new parents are millennials born after 1980, growing up as the beneficiaries of China's rapid economic transformation. On average, they are more than 130 percent times wealthier than their parents, and 4.5 times more likely to have made a trip abroad.

"Right now, our main market is in China. Although we have exported to Southeast Asia and Russia, we haven't officially entered the US market yet," Lin said. "We do have some basketball shoes being featured in a local buyer's store."

Lin believes that promoting a Chinese brand is like promoting Chinese culture.

"It's hard to make everyone fall in love with Chinese culture. Indeed, there is a lot of uncertainty. With our scale and global awareness, it is challenging, but we will try our best to work it out," Lin said.

"In the past decade, Anta Kids has dominated the Chinese market. …"Retail, e-commerce, everything."

Contact the writer at judyzhu@chinadailyusa.com