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Themed clothing has become a booming industry in Guanyun county, east China's Jiangsu Province.

Every day, about 300,000 pieces of themed clothing—ranging from graduation gowns and performance costumes to Japanese-style high school uniforms (JK uniforms) and Hanfu, the traditional attire of the Han ethnic group—are shipped across China and overseas from the county.

Dubbed China's "themed apparel capital," Guanyun is home to more than 1,000 themed clothing manufacturing enterprises and over 7,000 active online stores selling the products, with a total transaction volume approaching 8 billion yuan ($1.11 billion).

With what began as a grassroots movement around simple lingerie manufacturing transforming into a flourishing themed clothing industry over the course of 18 years, local manufacturers have reached wider and farther markets, winning the hearts of global customers.

The booming industry has significantly fueled the growth of local courier industry. In 2024 alone, local courier service providers handled over 120 million parcels, marking the highest growth rate among all counties in Jiangsu.

Guanyun's themed clothing industry started to develop in 2006, when entrepreneur Lei Congrui returned to the county from running a daily necessities store on Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao.

Spotting an opportunity in the rising demand for themed clothing, he established a factory and rode the wave of booming e-commerce, reaching annual sales of 50 million yuan within three years.

Lei's success motivated his fellow villagers—soon, more than a hundred online shops and home-based clothing workshops sprung up across Guanyun.

Female workers sew clothes at the workshop of a garment company based in Guanyun county, east China's Jiangsu Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Hantian)

By 2015, Guanyun's themed apparel industry had generated over 1 billion yuan in annual revenue. That number grew to 5 billion yuan in 2020 and reached nearly 8 billion yuan in 2024.

The industrial chain—from fabric procurement and pattern design to sewing and e-commerce—has now firmly taken root locally.

More than 50,000 people are employed in the industry, with women aged 31 to 50 accounting for about 53 percent of the industry's workforce.

"These women in Guanyun have an exceptional eye for popular aesthetics—a skill that has helped many of them embark on the road to prosperity," said Huang Kangren, sales director at a local garment company.

"I can make 80 skirts a day and earn over 7,000 yuan a month," Zhao Li, a 56-year-old garment worker of Huang's company, told People's Daily Online while stitching pleats onto a JK uniform skirt with a sewing machine.

Product diversification and industrial transformation have given a strong boost to Guanyun's clothing industry.

In recent years, as more and more entrepreneurs shifted from the single category of lingerie to themed clothing, broader market prospects have been opened up.

Gao Chang, a 28-year-old entrepreneur who returned to his hometown Guanyun to start his own business in 2021, is one of the local business owners who turned to the booming niche of JK uniforms, which enjoy great popularity among China's Gen Z.

His bold pivot paid off: in his first year, Gao sold over 20,000 units and earned a profit of 300,000 yuan.

Wang Zhuang, head of a local garment company that used to specialize in dance costume manufacturing, found opportunity in graduation gowns.

He redesigned the traditionally bulky gown with modern, lightweight materials and added fashion-forward elements. His new styles now serve universities across China and even abroad.

A man displays graduation gowns produced by a local garment company in Guanyun county, east China's Jiangsu Province. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Hantian)

Today, Guanyun's product offerings are more diverse than ever, with the transaction proportion of newer categories such as JK uniforms, Hanfu, and graduation gowns growing at over 50 percent annually. In particular, the county now supplies more than 60 percent of the world's academic dresses.

Last year, Guanyun released a set of industry standards, launched a collective public brand, and established a copyright management service center and intellectual property (IP) protection station to address hurdles hindering further growth of the local themed clothing industry, including skilled labor shortages and IP infringements.

The next step is international expansion. Guanyun's 2025 government work report outlines plans to add 30 new cross-border e-commerce firms and over 100 new online businesses.

The targets include 30 billion yuan in total e-commerce transactions, 8 billion yuan in online retail sales, and an 11-percent increase in total import and export volumes.