On July 3rd, Bosideng's stock price suddenly collapsed, falling by 15.93%. The major shareholder, the Gao DeKang family, intends to reduce their holdings and cash out 1.7 billion. The purpose behind this move is unknown.

However, in 2024, Bosideng has made a fortune.

According to the annual report for the fiscal year 2023/24 released by Bosideng on June 26th, its revenue reached 23.21 billion, a growth of 38.4%; net profit was 3.12 billion, an increase of 44.7%, marking 8 consecutive years of stable performance growth.

Among them, the down jacket business has become the largest source of income, with nearly 20 billion transactions over 12 months.

Especially in the context of a sluggish economy and a general downgrade in consumer spending, Bosideng has gone against the trend, pushing the prices of down jackets to the sky.

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Down jackets priced below 1,000 yuan were directly increased to 1,700-1,800 yuan, and Bosideng executives even revealed that mid-to-high-end products will soar to the 3,000 yuan mark.

However, despite the exorbitant prices, the number of buyers continues to grow.

Where does Bosideng's confidence come from, and why can it break through the global down industry and stand out among the rest, even when most of the apparel industry is facing a cold snap?

Of course, all of this is attributed to the helmsman, Gao DeKang.From 1976 to 2024, the 48 years of ups and downs at Bosideng encapsulate the lifelong struggle of Gao Dekang.

In China, there are countless self-made entrepreneurs who have built their empires from scratch, such as Zong Qinghou, who established the Wahaha Empire by selling popsicles, Liu Qiangdong, who rose from a rural youth to become an e-commerce giant, and Cao Dewang, who founded Fuyao Glass despite his humble beginnings.

They all share many common traits: tenacity, hard work, and a willingness to think and act boldly, and Gao Dekang is no exception.

Born in 1966 in a small village in Changshu, Jiangsu, Gao Dekang came from a family of tailors who had been in the trade for generations. By the time he was not yet 20, he had already become a well-known young tailor in the surrounding area.

However, the craft of tailoring could only provide a modest livelihood. Unwilling to remain in poverty, Gao Dekang received a direction from a newspaper at just the right time.

At that time, he, already somewhat famous, received an invitation from a customer to make custom clothes in Shanghai. It was at this customer's home that a photo in a newspaper caught his eye.

The photo showed Chinese mountaineering team members standing at the summit of Mount Everest, the pinnacle of the world, exuding immense pride and self-esteem.

What caught Gao Dekang's attention was not only the mountaineers' spirit of not resting until they reached the peak but also the down jackets they were wearing.

For the first time, Gao Dekang learned that there was a type of clothing that could replace the bulky cotton garments and provide better insulation against the cold.

At the same time, he also deeply felt that down jackets would be the mainstream product for winter in the future. If he could seize this opportunity, he would soon be able to live a prosperous life.Upon returning from Shanghai, Gao Dekang could not wait to share his ideas with like-minded villagers. Eleven villagers immediately agreed to join forces and work together. With only eight sewing machines and one bicycle, a small sewing workshop was established.

At the beginning of the workshop, there was a severe lack of funds, so they could only start with subcontracting. They would fetch raw materials from Shanghai every day, turn them into finished garments, and then deliver them back to the clothing factories in Shanghai. The distance between the two places was over 400 miles, and they could only travel back and forth by bicycle, riding for almost ten hours a day. However, this did not dampen Gao Dekang's enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. After riding to the point of breaking six bicycles, the small workshop finally upgraded into the Shanjing Village Garment Factory.

The factory grew a bit larger, gained more recognition, received more orders, and began to produce high-quality garments. Gao Dekang's small factory was then on the fast track. The high-quality garment manufacturer was the first in the country to produce down jackets. While producing under a different brand, Gao Dekang also accumulated a wealth of experience in down jacket production.

In 1992, feeling that the time was right, Gao Dekang risked all his assets to establish the Jiangsu Kangbo Group Company, and the brand "Bosideng" was officially unveiled to the world. In just one year, Bosideng became very successful in the domestic East China market and even expanded its orders to Russia.Gao Dekang, having tasted success, produced 230,000 down jackets in one go, full of vigor and ready to enter the northern market. However, this time he unexpectedly made a miscalculation.

Gao Dekang firmly believed that there was a significant demand for down jackets in the market, but he overlooked the fact that without accurate positioning, it was difficult to find the target customers.

Moreover, although Bosideng's down jackets used the best fabrics, the styles were too bulky and lacked a sense of fashion, which led to a lack of interest from young people. At the same time, middle-aged and elderly consumers did not have the desire to purchase, resulting in only 80,000 jackets being sold despite vigorous marketing efforts.

In the blink of an eye, 20 million yuan worth of down jackets were stuck in the warehouse.

Without capital flow, the promised payments to suppliers could not be made, and creditors came knocking on the door one after another. The 8 million yuan bank loan obtained earlier could not be repaid, and Bosideng, which had been thriving for only a few years, was on the brink of bankruptcy.

At that time, Gao Dekang was extremely anxious, running around everywhere, even going as far as the United States to promote his own down jackets, but all in vain.

Later, in an interview with Wu Xiaobo, Gao Dekang said: "Every three to five years, there will inevitably be a difficult challenge. Some are climbed over, some are rolled over, but there has never been one that was walked over whistling."

Yes, this time, he toughed it out.

Throughout an entire winter, the weather was cold, but Bosideng's down jackets remained unsold. Despite seeing no improvement, Gao Dekang never gave up and kept trying various marketing strategies.After enduring that harsh winter, the seasonally strong down jackets surprisingly became a hit in the summer.

In the summer of 1995, while shopping malls were selling cool summer attire, Bosideng took a creative approach and held a grand off-season promotion in Beijing's Wangfujing. Unexpectedly, the sales were surprisingly good!

That off-season promotion managed to sell 25,000 down jackets, recouped 5 million yuan in funds, and finally resolved the company's urgent financial needs.

Delighted yet somewhat apprehensive, Gao DeKang realized that a wrong positioning could have led the company to bankruptcy.

After weathering this crisis, Gao DeKang reflected deeply and began to take targeted measures.

Since customers thought his down jackets were outdated in design, he hired well-known designers at high salaries. While maintaining the quality of the down jacket fabric, he added fashionable elements, ensuring that the down jackets were lightweight, warm, and also followed the latest trends.

After a series of reforms, Bosideng's moment of glory finally arrived.

In the winter of 1995, Bosideng's 680,000 new down jackets were quickly sold out with 620,000 pieces as soon as they hit the market, with sales increasing by eight times. Bosideng directly rose to become the leader in domestic down jackets and has since held the "sales champion" throne for 29 consecutive years.

It was also in that year that Bosideng won the gold award at the St. Petersburg International Expo in Russia, completely opening up the international market.In fact, from the very beginning of Bosideng's establishment, Gao Dekang registered the brand "Bosideng" in more than 70 countries around the world, with the aim of one day having Bosideng step onto the international stage.

In 1998, Bosideng first supported the Chinese mountaineering team to reach the summit of Mount Everest, and specially launched the "Summit" series of down jackets. Bosideng climbed to the peak of the world along with the mountaineers. Subsequently, Bosideng also provided protection for scientific expedition team members as they traversed the South and North Poles.

"Stand tall and bravely climb to the peak" is the spirit of the Chinese mountaineering team's summiting endeavors, and it is also a special sentiment that Gao Dekang has always adhered to. If he had not seen the report on the mountaineering team back then, there might not be Bosideng as we know it today.

Because of this, Bosideng has continuously supported China's mountaineering cause for 26 years, bringing the warmth of China to the top of the world on several occasions.

After 1998, Bosideng successively introduced green cold-resistant down jackets, antibacterial fabric down jackets, and nanotechnology down jackets, breaking through barriers step by step, increasing technological content, and meeting more warming needs in various scenarios.

By 2006, one out of every three down jackets in the world came from Bosideng.

The following year, Bosideng had become the world's number one in both sales and production of down jackets and successfully entered the capital market.

However, compared to other products, Bosideng's weakness lies in the strong seasonal nature of down jackets. Therefore, as soon as the company went public, Gao Dekang began to expand into diversified businesses in order to grow and strengthen the company.

Starting from 2008, Bosideng successively acquired several men's and women's clothing brands and entered the home furnishing market, beginning the "seasonal diversification" process.In the first three years, diversified expansion also brought considerable profits to Bosideng, with revenues rising year after year, and by 2012, it was on the verge of reaching the ten billion yuan target.

Little did they know, the decline of Bosideng also began behind this prosperity.

Due to blind expansion through addition, although the business categories increased, the drawback of a lack of strategic focus also became apparent. They dabbled in everything but did not excel in anything, thus losing market competitiveness.

Coincidentally, 2013 was a "warm winter," and the down jacket market was very bleak. To make matters worse, the cost of raw materials continued to rise, exacerbating the difficulties faced by the down jacket industry.

At the same time, foreign brands such as ZARA, Uniqlo, and H&M successively entered the Chinese market and launched a sales offensive in China through e-commerce.

Bosideng's store operation model lost its advantage overnight, feeling as if it was suddenly slapped down on the beach.

In 2013, Bosideng had to start closing stores in an attempt to save itself.

In just one year, 2014, Bosideng successively closed 2,560 outlets. The brand that was once the first choice for down jackets among the public was fading from customers' sight at the fastest speed.In 2014, the revenue was so dismal that it can only be described as unbearable to watch, with net profits plummeting to 132 million yuan, not even a tenth of what they were in previous years. Realizing that diversification was ineffective, Gao Dekang quickly adjusted his approach and decided to focus on "concentrating on the main business and the main brand" as the strategic goal, relaunching Bosideng.

This time, by closing stores and making tough decisions to return to the main business, it was equivalent to Bosideng's second rebirth. Although there was some pain, the results were surprisingly good.

After a series of strategic moves, Bosideng finally迎来了 a significant turning point.

In 2018, Bosideng made its debut at New York Fashion Week as an independent brand. The designs featuring new Chinese-style window lattices and ink wash paintings made Bosideng shine brightly, gaining recognition from the mainstream consumer base and demonstrating the strength of Chinese brands.

The following year, at Milan Fashion Week, Bosideng's "Starry Sky," "Extreme Cold," and "Earth's Vastness" three series of down jackets once again amazed everyone.

Since then, for several consecutive years, Bosideng has appeared at top fashion shows around the world.

People have noticed that the lightweight and fashionable Chinese national down jacket brand is making a triumphant return with the momentum of a king.

In addition to increasing visibility through fashion shows, in January 2019, Bosideng partnered with Alibaba to embark on the path of digital transformation.The "retail cloud platform" supply chain jointly created by the two parties has achieved orders based on market response as the standard, implementing rolling production orders, thus eliminating the risk of inventory backlog.

At the same time, Bosideng's stores have become trendy and cool overnight.

Gao Dekang, with an eye on the future and keeping pace with the times, maintains close contact with top designers worldwide, ensuring that every down jacket carrier also leads the fashion trend like Bosideng down jackets, enhancing customer experience.

A strong remedy for a chronic ailment, after just two years of transformation, Bosideng's performance has once again seen explosive growth.

In 2020, the annual revenue reached a historical high of 12.19 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 20 percentage points year-on-year. On Singles' Day alone, Bosideng's sales across all channels broke through 1.5 billion.

By 2024, Bosideng's annual revenue had risen to 23.2 billion, with a net profit of 3.074 billion, a multiple of the 132 million ten years ago.

As the founder of Bosideng, Gao Dekang also made it to the Hurun China Rich List with a net worth of 34 billion.

Today, Bosideng down jackets have become unaffordable for ordinary people, and the prices of the high-end series have no ceiling. However, the more expensive they are, the more booming Bosideng's business becomes.

Perhaps it is Bosideng's more than 600 patent technologies that give Gao Dekang the confidence to set high prices, and Bosideng is worth such a price.Over the course of 48 years, Bosideng has experienced several ups and downs in the rapidly evolving fashion industry, but ultimately managed to establish a solid foothold, which is inseparable from the strategic planning of Gao Dekang time and again.

Of course, the achievements belong to the past, and the future development of Bosideng still has a long way to go. How Gao Dekang, who is already past retirement age, will continue to innovate and preserve this national brand remains unknown.