Insisting On Innovation -- The Survival Way Of Japanese Small Business Okada'S Fabric

Walking into a Japanese famous small business Okada fabric at the foot of the high mountain in Wakayama County, Japan, in a reception room and exhibition hall with only a few dozen square meters, it is hard for journalists to imagine that this more like "country workshop" artificial fur fabric manufacturer is the new favorite of the international fashion industry. It is a supplier of international brands such as Chanel, Louis Weedon and Gucci.

The company has only 4 employees, but it can produce hundreds of artificial fur.

When journalists touch these products with different length, different colors, and different luster, they will have to believe that the company has unique advantages.

In the area of Gao yekou, where Okada's fabric is located, the textile industry has sprung up from the end of the Edo period. After the Meiji period absorbed the European textile technology, the production of napped fabrics was once very prosperous.

But with the decline in price competitiveness and the shift of industries to overseas, the number of textile mills has dropped from hundreds of historic peaks to 60 now, and sales have dropped to 1/10 in the heyday.

In 1991, Okada's fabric was also in serious operational difficulties.

This year, the incumbent president Okada Jihiro inherited his ancestral estate and began to work hard to save okadan through innovation and creation.

Okada Jihiro must first solve the problem that the fur of artificial fur is not changed and its thickness is even.

He started with the fibers used in the basic fabric, and collaborate with the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp fiber materials division, and constantly experimenting. Finally, the fibers that were originally circular were pformed into Trident.

This important change, coupled with the technology of wool spinning at the later stage, made the artificial fur of Okada's fabric strong and sturdy, with its fine and soft roots, which successfully reproduced the texture of real fur.

To enable international brands to accept the products of Okada's fabric, Okada Jihiro must overcome another problem, that is, artificial fur will hurt villi in cutting, resulting in the use of products from time to time.

To this end, he found the famous Japanese textile machinery manufacturer Island fine machinery manufacturing Institute, and developed a tailoring machine specially tailoring artificial fur.

In the process of operation, needle like knives are usually passed along the edge of the projection. As a result, different shapes of fabrics can be removed from the cutting table.

Okada Jihiro said, from the cold market in Europe in 2002, and by 2010, Louis Weedon took the initiative to find it. The use of okadan fabric for 8 years was not only innovated in the fiber pformation and cutting links, but also invented new products, such as photosensitive fur, ultralight fox fur and so on, and registered trademarks in Japan.

With the increasing awareness of global animal protection and sustainable development, the trend of fashion away from animal fur is becoming more and more obvious. Okada fabric has increasingly become a supplier of high-end fashion brands in Europe and the United States.

In peak years, Okada fabric 40% products are used for export.

In 2018, the sales volume of the small business reached 120 million yen (US $1 million 10 thousand).

Okada Jihiro insisted on innovation, which not only saved his ancestral business, but also brought many enterprises around.

Wool textile is a very complex project, involving more than 40 processes. The high imitation fur fabric of Okada's fabric is completed by the division of labor and cooperation of about 20 enterprises in Gao yekou.

When the interview ended and bid farewell to Gao yekou, the reporter deeply realized that following the changing needs of the times, insisting on innovation and persisting in the boutique route, the perfect combination of traditional manufacturing advantages and modern technology should be the way for Okada's fabric to survive.