At one point, Bananain was growing at an annual rate of 300%, quickly rising to the top of China’s underwear market. The lever behind that growth was surprisingly simple: the company removed the irritating sewn-in wash tags and launched its signature “tagless underwear.”
For founder Zang Chongyu, when you’re building a new brand, it’s easy to get lost in the vagueness of stylistic positioning. But physical differences, through real and tangible innovations, can be measured and can deliver clear differentiation.
This philosophy helped Bananain grow beyond its origins as an underwear brand into a full-fledged apparel company. Though the public often compares it to Uniqlo, casting it as a would-be “Chinese Uniqlo,” Zang rejects that label. Still, the comparison is hard to avoid. Uniqlo is both a benchmark and a formidable peer. But the two are also allies of sorts, now facing off against a fiercer mutual threat: the relentless rise of white-label brands.
Complicating Bananain’s brand identity further is its name, often confused with the outdoor brand Beneunder. Zang sees brick-and-mortar retail as the best way to answer the question of brand identity. In his view, e-commerce creates a kind of blur. Customers pick products through a screen, and that distance makes it harder to forge a clear brand impression. “Without physical stores, you don’t go far. Without e-commerce, you don’t get big,” he said.
The company’s success was undoubtedly lifted by the wave of new consumption trends. Back then, according to Zang, doing well on Tmall practically meant winning the online game. Now, the market is fragmented, and “it takes six channels” to reach users effectively.
As the e-commerce boom fades and the sector grapples with stagnation in profit and growth, the real test for consumer brands is just beginning. Although growth has slowed, Bananain still posted nearly RMB 7 billion (USD 980 million) in GMV (gross merchandise value) in 2024. But scale isn’t Zang’s main concern anymore. What matters to him now is financial health and brand character. “Boring is a death sentence for any brand,” he said.
In recent years, Zang studied at the Zhejiang Hupan Entrepreneurship Research Center alongside other consumer brand founders like GoodMe’s Wang Yun’an, Babycare’s Li Kuo, and Banu’s Du Zhongbing, all survivors of China’s volatile new consumption boom.
What matters most now, Zang believes, “isn’t who’s growing fastest, but who lasts.”
The following transcript has been edited and consolidated for brevity and clarity.
36Kr: Is Bananain’s goal to become the “Chinese Uniqlo”?
Zang Chongyu (ZC): That has never been our goal. We’re not a Uniqlo knockoff.
We do admire Uniqlo deeply. It is stable, consistent, and less influenced by fashion cycles. It’s committed to long-term trends and has done that very successfully. Its “LifeWear” concept promotes the beauty of everyday life.
Bananain, by contrast, champions the idea of living in the future. We’re always preparing—for tomorrow’s weather, for a family trip, for extreme cold or heat, even for a future on Mars. To answer those kinds of questions, a brand needs to stay hypersensitive.
If we divide apparel into luxury, fast fashion, and slow fashion, Bananain falls into the last category. And within slow fashion, we hope to become a leading name—not the biggest, just a meaningful one.
36Kr: You’ve emphasized “sensory science” more this year. Is that because Bananain carries too many labels?
ZC: It’s something we’ve debated internally, but sensory science has been part of our brand since day one. Our first retail store even had it written on the hoarding. The “HeatSkin” line came out in 2017.
Redesigning the basics was more of a 2020 positioning shift. It helped us communicate that we were more than just an underwear brand. Even though we don’t use that slogan anymore, we’re still doing exactly that.
Another reason we’re doubling down now is that back in 2020, we didn’t yet have the technical reserves. But by 2024, we’ve accumulated over 130 patents across invention and utility categories. That gives us the authority to speak credibly about sensory science.
36Kr: So is Uniqlo still a competitor?
ZC: It’s still the classic benchmark, yes.
But in some ways, we’re allies. We may serve similar consumer groups with different philosophies but share certain values.
That said, our product range is wide, and we face many rivals in different segments. Overall, our biggest challenge isn’t Uniqlo, but rather white-label brands. Overcapacity and a downturned economy have led to consumer downgrading. That hits us hard.
36Kr: Is Bananain targeting the higher-end segments?
ZC: We don’t use that kind of language internally. But we have pulled a lot of mid- to high-end consumers away from brands like Calvin Klein and Lululemon.
36Kr: Your bestseller is priced around RMB 40 (USD 5.6). Is that high in today’s market? Are you reconsidering your pricing amid consumer downgrading?
ZC: Our goal is to defend our price band rather than chase the market. The challenge is to meet our goals while keeping prices stable.
We’re adding more lower-priced options in some categories. For instance, in socks where downgrading is more pronounced, we’ve introduced the “301Standard” line, a budget-friendly product that now sells over ten million pairs annually.
36Kr: How would you sum up your product and pricing strategy in one sentence?
ZC: Choose a reasonable price band, deliver real quality at that price, and keep iterating. Everything else is uncertain.
36Kr: Uniqlo faces similar challenges. Consumers now think it’s expensive.
ZC: I think it’s less about price and more about perceived value. If what you’re offering isn’t clearly better or unique, consumers leave.
We believe in the power of healthy competition. Over the long term, better products win. Uniqlo’s retail and supply chain efficiency gives it a wide moat. White-label brands might thrive temporarily, but they can’t last in any healthy economic system.
36Kr: Is there any way to compete with white-label brands?
ZC: You can’t. Just like no one competes with Hermes, you don’t need to compete with white-label brands. They exist at the opposite ends of the spectrum: luxury or budget. Neither defines our space. We just need to serve our core users well.
36Kr: Did 300% growth ever go to your head?
ZC: Of course. That kind of growth is intoxicating. But grabbing market windfalls isn’t necessarily wrong. It’s hard for anyone to resist. Still, a strategist must be able to filter out distractions. If I had to do it again, I’d slow the pace and aim for what Duan Yongping called the smallest reasonable growth rate. Consumer goods aren’t a winner-takes-all industry. It’s all about compounding over time.
36Kr: So are you a regular guy or a strategist?
ZC: I’m just someone who solves business problems with design thinking, trying to shift from being opportunity-driven to strategy-driven. Our current focus is on improving the next layers of apparel, starting with the one closest to the skin.
36Kr: Hence expanding beyond underwear?
ZC: We didn’t want to be defined by a single category. Bananain is a sensory science company, a tech-driven lifestyle brand. I’ve wanted to shift that perception for a while.
36Kr: But people still think of Bananain as an underwear brand.
ZC: That’s fine. I’ve learned to go with the flow. We don’t need to resist that identity. Instead, we embrace the association. Underwear implies comfort, but since comfort is such a crowded space, the key is whether we can define what comfort means. That’s what led us to sensory science.
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36Kr: In the future, what word do you hope people associate with Bananain?
ZC: I hope it’s “cool,” as in large-scale, useful, and fun. Large-scale means we’re solving a mainstream problem, not just a niche one. Useful means we’re solving it effectively. And fun? That’s the hardest part.
Fashion rarely gets to be fun in a meaningful way. We aim for a kind of deadpan humor, something that creates inner joy.
36Kr: Is “fun” really that important for fashion?
ZC: Boring is a death sentence for any brand. One of the most interesting and valuable Chinese brands right now is Pop Mart. It has transcended physical goods and captured a different kind of meaning. The market sees that too.
36Kr: Underwear was your starting point. How high are the barriers to entry?
ZC: We’re serial entrepreneurs who have been in apparel since 2005. Back then, we saw that underwear had the highest repeat purchase rate. It was a good business.
Underwear is one of the few standard categories in apparel. If you can secure the top one or two spots in consumers’ minds, you can grab 10–20% market share. That’s similar to what sportswear has in overall apparel.
Even in today’s competitive e-commerce sector, underwear still has one of the healthiest business models.
36Kr: Why was your third attempt the successful one?
ZC: The first two weren’t failures per se. We just lacked the right timing and alignment.
36Kr: What was Bananain’s stroke of luck?
ZC: At the time, we didn’t see any tailwinds and just wanted to solve real problems in apparel. We picked a narrow entry point and aimed to survive with a distinct identity. Looking back, we did catch the wave of new consumption.
From 2016–2020, we avoided chasing trends on Weibo, WeChat, Xiaohongshu, or Douyin. We put all our eggs into Tmall. Back then, Tmall alone could carry your business. Now, it takes six channels to cover the market.
And because we’ve been at this since 2005, we’ve developed a historical view, and from that, a forward-looking mindset. We know what’s worth holding onto.
36Kr: Your name is often confused with Beneunder. Does that bother you?
ZC: Sure, but we can’t control it. In the long run, our identity will become clearer. Physical stores help with that, offering a space that allows you to show who you are.
E-commerce, by contrast, puts everything behind a screen. That distance blurs brand perception. That’s why no brand is built online alone. But that challenge pushes us to articulate what sets us apart.
36Kr: Did you not anticipate this naming confusion?
ZC: Honestly, we were focused on clarity in our own expression. We missed the broader context.
The original idea was to be the “Apple of apparel.” There’s already Apple, so why not “Banana?” Since our philosophy is about “looking inward,” we added “in.” That became “Bananain.” The Chinese name followed naturally.
36Kr: Was the “tagless” concept part of your earlier startups?
ZC: No. But it came from accumulated experience. Removing the tag may seem trivial, but it was a creative and highly distinctive move—something that set us apart.
36Kr: There are many pain points in underwear. What made this one stand out?
ZC: For a new brand, finding real differentiation at the physical level is rare and valuable. Our first two startups were also seeking that edge. Style is easy to copy, but physical attributes can’t be faked. That’s the kind of difference you can reinforce generation after generation.
36Kr: Are physical stores still a key focus this year?
ZC: Absolutely. Our retail stores are the best showcase for sensory science. We have a saying that “we exist because of our stores.”
All 50 are directly operated, and our best-performing store generates over RMB 15,000 (USD 2,100) per square meter per month. We’ve just upgraded our spatial recognition system to its third version. The new visual marketing system is about to launch too.
36Kr: Your first store opened in late 2020. That’s quite a long trial period.
ZC: It takes a lot to grow a true offline retail capability from a background in e-commerce. It’s like shedding a layer of skin.
36Kr: You’ve said Bananain made some missteps. What was the biggest?
ZC: Not being grounded enough, and misjudging our pace. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We used to run like it was a 100-meter dash. That wasn’t right.
36Kr: What’s your growth target this year?
ZC: Our main focus is increasing ARPU. Over the first four months, revenue grew at a double-digit rate.
36Kr: What’s most important in the next one to three years?
ZC: Coordinating the online and offline business. Without physical stores, you don’t go far. Without e-commerce, you don’t get big. And beyond that, how do we define comfort? Can we make sensory science feel less like mysticism and more like science?
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Li Xiaoxia for 36Kr.