Unter der Freiheit bei Unterwäsche braucht Aimer neue Geschichten | Exklusives Interview von 36Kr
Author | Xie Yunzi
Editor | Huang Yida
As the "second skin", underwear is not only a daily necessity but also an expression of people's attitude towards life and their perception of their own bodies. The consumption trend of bras and underwear often reflects a facet of "female consciousness" in a particular social stage.
Nevertheless, in the Chinese women's underwear market, there are few high - end domestic brands with an influence comparable to that of Victoria's Secret. Aimer, with a development history of more than 30 years, may be one of them.
In 1991, Zhang Rongming was still working at the Beijing Iron and Steel Institute (the predecessor of the University of Science and Technology Beijing). By chance, he learned that memory alloy could be applied to the underwire of women's bras.
Under the economic environment at that time, the underwear brands of relatively good quality available in the Chinese market were basically from overseas. Influenced by the entrepreneurship wave in the 1990s, Zhang Rongming resolutely decided to start his own business. "I majored in materials science in college. At that time, I thought it was just making a steel ring."
To prove the reliability of his technology, Zhang Rongming used the "hardest" technology to create the "softest product" and successfully developed the "super - elastic memory alloy bra underwire". In 1992, Huamei Fashion Factory, on the verge of bankruptcy, "heard the news" and approached Zhang Rongming. The two parties hit it off immediately. The former university teacher became the factory director of Huamei Fashion Factory by investing with his technology. In the following year, the first bra product using the "super - elastic memory alloy bra underwire" was launched on the market.
In the following more than two decades, Aimer, with technology as its core, has developed into a leading underwear enterprise listed on the A - share market.
As of now, Aimer Co., Ltd. has developed more than a dozen brands, including Aimer, Aimer Men, Aimer Kids, LA CLOVER, i'mi, Aimer Health, and Huangjin. Its business covers multiple categories such as "bras and underwear, loungewear, ready - to - wear, skin care products, high - end bedding, and healthy living". It has more than 1,700 stores, covering more than 200 cities across China and overseas markets.
However, the industry trend has changed at this time.
With the awakening of female consciousness, self - pleasure, comfort, and health have become the consumption trends. Underwear styles without underwire and simplified sizes have gradually become the mainstream. Emerging brands such as Neiwai, Bananain, and Ubras, which mainly focus on online channels, are increasingly welcomed by consumers.
This also means that Aimer Co., Ltd., a relatively traditional company that started with "underwire underwear", has to face a more competitive and crowded market environment while solving the problems of brand rejuvenation and channel transformation.
According to the financial report data, in 2024, Aimer Co., Ltd. achieved an operating income of 3.163 billion yuan, a year - on - year decrease of 7.71%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 163 million yuan, a year - on - year decline of 46.56%.
Screenshot from the financial report by 36Kr
Aimer Co., Ltd. stated in the annual report that the company is indeed facing the pressure of economic downturn and weak consumption. However, the management is also reviewing issues such as ineffective response to market changes and insufficient innovation in operation and management.
In a communication, Zhang Rongming told 36Kr that in the future, Aimer will open more large - scale stores and flagship stores. While maintaining its advantages in offline channels, it also expects to increase the proportion of online revenue. At present, Zhang Rongming is mainly focusing on the operation of the main brand, the reconstruction of i'mi, and the brand's expansion overseas.
In the near future, people may see the rebirth of this old brand in more distant overseas markets.
The following is an interview with Zhang Rongming, the chairman and founder of Aimer Co., Ltd., with some deletions.
Zhang Rongming, the chairman of Aimer Group; Photo provided by the interviewee
"In the era of shortage economy, people bought whatever was produced."
36Kr: In the 1990s, society was relatively conservative. Why did you choose the women's underwear market to start your business?
Zhang Rongming: I majored in materials science. During my postgraduate studies, I cooperated with some factories and enterprises and knew about the application of technology in the market. At that time, there was a mainstream idea in society that doing business targeting women and children was promising. This was also a kind of influence of the entrepreneurship culture.
After working at the school, I learned that the memory alloy technology could be applied to women's intimate clothing, and I thought this business was worth doing. This was the main motivation for me to make up my mind to start a business.
36Kr: What were the demands of female consumers for underwear at that time?
Zhang Rongming: It was an era of shortage economy. Consumers bought whatever was produced. I remember that the products with good design and quality on the market were almost all foreign brands such as Wacoal, Triumph, and Embry Form.
36Kr: So what was Aimer's market positioning at that time?
Zhang Rongming: From the very beginning, we had a basic judgment that we should produce products with the same quality and grade as foreign brands. The retail price of our first bra product was 49 yuan. In 1993, the average monthly salary of urban residents in China was only about 190 yuan. This was a relatively high price.
36Kr: Looking back now, what was the biggest difficulty in starting a business in the 1990s?
Zhang Rongming: Firstly, there was no supply of raw materials. The success of Aimer's first batch of products was due to the purchase of 200,000 yuan worth of lace materials imported from Japan. These materials were actually the inventory of large factories. Our designers developed the early products based on these "scraps".
Secondly, there was a shortage of money and people. At that time, we had no collateral and could not get a loan from the bank. I borrowed 800,000 yuan from my friends around me.
36Kr: 800,000 yuan is still a large amount even now. When did you pay it off?
Zhang Rongming: My memory is a bit fuzzy. It took about four years, and I should have given a return of no less than 15%. The 1990s was indeed an era of economic shortage. However, with the opening of the closed counters in department stores and the transformation into a retail model where people could freely choose, people's shopping desire was suddenly stimulated. So we caught up with the dividend of the rise of modern retail.
Research proof documents related to the super - elastic memory alloy bra underwire; Photo provided by the interviewee
i'mi will welcome a new life
36Kr: i'mi was established in 2005.
Zhang Rongming: Yes, our layout of the multi - brand matrix started in 2004, and i'mi was launched the next year. At that time, Aimer was already one of the top - tier underwear brands in China. The first - batch of consumers were about to enter middle age, and there was a huge trend of market segmentation in the Chinese market. We needed to make precise brand positioning, and each brand should have its own customer group. The core was to identify the needs of the diversified and segmented markets and make corresponding arrangements.
So we created LA CLOVER, a brand with higher - priced, more high - end, and more European - style products, on top of Aimer. Below Aimer, we launched i'mi, which focuses on young people, college students, and urban white - collars.
36Kr: After 20 years of development, have you observed that the young users at the beginning have shifted to the higher - end Aimer?
Zhang Rongming: We don't have specific data, but in my observation, a small number of consumers have shifted from Aimer to LA CLOVER.
Currently, the core customer group of Aimer is between 35 and 45 years old. We used to be worried about the aging of the Aimer brand, but now it seems that consumers in this age group have the strongest purchasing power. In the future, we hope that the customer group of Aimer can be five years younger.
Compared with Aimer, i'mi has more problems. The age structure of i'mi's consumers is not younger than that of Aimer, and its online sales proportion is also lower than that of Aimer. So our biggest challenge now is how to make i'mi regain its youthful and vibrant brand image.
36Kr: Currently, Aimer Group has more than a dozen brands. Will there be further adjustments to the multi - brand strategy in the future?
Zhang Rongming: Our core business is still the Aimer series (Aimer, Aimer Men, Aimer Kids), and we have been doing brand integration in the past two years.
In 2013, we launched Aimer Sports. After the pandemic, we launched a new sports brand called Chichu. Last year, we merged Chichu with Aimer Sports into a new sub - brand called Aimer Move. In the future, we will concentrate more resources on the rebirth of i'mi and re - plan i'mi to meet the needs of young customer groups.
36Kr: How is the development of other business segments besides Aimer and i'mi?
Zhang Rongming: Other businesses are also showing a positive trend. For example, AIMER·CHUANG, the designer product line of Aimer, presents a high - quality and fashionable image both online and offline. Aimer Health, which has a public - welfare nature, produces prosthetic breasts, and also meets consumers' healthy lifestyle needs.
At present, the health segment has a promising future and can maintain a 20% annual growth rate. We do not rule out the possibility of product layout targeting the elderly population.
Aimer's multi - brand matrix; Photo provided by the interviewee
Open large - scale stores and increase the online proportion
36Kr: It seems that neither Aimer nor i'mi has a memorable slogan.
Zhang Rongming: Gong Li, who has accompanied Aimer for the longest time and is the most representative spokesperson, got involved with us because of the movie "Curse of the Golden Flower". At that time, our slogan, or brand proposition, was "Be the best version of yourself".
We believe that the brand name "Aimer" can convey the brand concept. The name "Aimer" comes from the French word "Aimer", which means love and like. The Chinese name "Aimu" incorporates the subtlety of Eastern culture. For more than 30 years, Aimer's slogans have all revolved around these two characters, which are loving oneself, loving others, and loving life.
In addition, Aimer has been holding underwear shows. This show has been held for 17 years. Although its influence is definitely not as large as that of Victoria's Secret, it still has a certain scale at various fashion weeks in China. i'mi also held an underwear model competition from 2007 to 2009 for three years, which promoted the national development of i'mi.
However, we stopped holding both the underwear show and the underwear model competition later. The last underwear show was in 2019. I think this form of promotion is a bit outdated for underwear brands, and people are already tired of it.
36Kr: It seems that the younger generation of consumers get to know Aimer or i'mi mainly through offline stores. Will there be an upgrade of the store types in the future?
Zhang Rongming: The store types are closely related to the development of Chinese retail. In the early years, department stores were very popular. Later, shopping malls became the mainstream. Now, shopping malls, outlet stores, street stores, and airport stores coexist.
Our new stores are suitable for shopping malls or new commercial centers. In the future, they will be further upgraded. We do not rule out the possibility of setting up a coffee area or a private customization area in the stores.
In the past, we had two types of stores. One was the brand collection store, and now this concept store is called "AIMER+", which presents suitable brands under the company according to the customer group of the channel. The other was the single - brand specialty store, such as Aimer, Aimer Men, and Aimer Kids. In the future, we will launch the "Aimer Flagship Store", which will include products for both women and men. The main direction is to open large - scale and high - end stores.
36Kr: The cost of offline rent is also getting higher and higher.
Zhang Rongming: Yes, the rent cost is increasing every year, but the passenger flow is getting smaller. We hope to make the stores better and more design - oriented to enhance the attraction to consumers. For example, Aimer has always had an art brand called Aimer Art. We have applied the art projects accumulated by Aimer Art over the years to the store design.
36Kr: Will there be more actions in marketing?
Zhang Rongming: We are currently in the process of brand reconstruction. Marketing is also being planned, and we hope to make more new attempts. For example, this year, we used the sea otter, a small animal, to endorse the seaweed sleepwear. I regularly browse social media such as Xiaohongshu and am also thinking about how to use AI for more effective search settings and market operations.
36Kr: Will you increase the proportion of online sales?
Zhang Rongming: We will go where the consumers are. Aimer Group still has an advantage in offline channels. We will increase the online sales while maintaining the offline advantage. We hope that the proportion of online sales in the future can reach more than 30%, and we will integrate online and offline inventory.
