Liao Chia-lin’s (廖佳琳) passion and persistence won her the chance to create the uniforms worn by staff at the Taiwan Pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, but she won the hearts of many in Taiwan long before then.
Dubbed the “Uniform Queen” by those who know her, Liao is responsible for the uniforms of more than 70 percent of the saleswomen at department store cosmetic counters and half the bank tellers in the country.
Liao’s rise in this intensely competitive industry is remarkable, considering her complete lack of knowledge about the textile and apparel businesses when she graduated from college with a degree in tourism management more than 20 years ago.
After working in a hotel public relations office for six months after graduating, Liao entered the industry as a saleswoman at a friend’s company. She later decided to leave the company, because of customer complaints about the poor quality of the uniforms.
Liao was looking for a new job when a former client asked her to design a uniform for about 20 saleswomen for Sonia Rykiel, which had just been introduced to Taiwan at the time.
The deal’s success brought more business Liao’s way, so she set up her own company named after her daughter, Chorong, to focus on making uniforms.
She often visits textile factories and research institutes such as National Pingtung University of Science and Technology to keep up on the latest innovations and her insistence on doing the fittings for all clients in person has even seen her travel all the way to Nangan (南竿) — the largest island in the Matsu chain — to take the measurements of employees at the Bank of Taiwan branch there.
Liao also insists on keeping the company’s production in Taiwan.
However, Taiwan’s uniform market has been undermined by cutthroat competition, leaving operators with narrow margins. Liao has responded by generally avoiding open tenders held by corporate clients for uniforms, where prices are often driven to unacceptably low levels.
Facing the shortage of new-generation tailors and skilled craftsmen Liao has in recent years offered internships to students to give them a chance to experiment with new ideas.
That may give her an important advantage in one of her long-term goals — to enter the haute couture business. Her formal dress designs, for example, won the top prize for woman’s wear at the 33rd World Congress of Master Tailors in Salzburg, Austria, last year.
Liang Tung-fu (梁冬富), chairman of Lih-shang Tailor and a veteran of the industry who has counted Taiwan’s presidents among his clientele, believes Liao has the ability to achieve whatever goals she sets herself.
Her dedication and persistence, he says, have transformed her from an amateur into “a top professional in the business.”
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