Studio

关于我们
Since 2015. Functional garment specialists.
Pre-production sample on scale
FOR AERLYTE KAIREN MATERIAL SCIENCE DEVELOPMENT
OBSESSIVE DESIGN CONCEPT → RETAIL EAST-ASIAN MARKET

The only design company specialising in functional garment solutions catered to the East-Asian market.

Welcome to KAIREN. We are the only product design studio in China that specialises in functional product development — with the track record to back it up.

Since 2015 we have helped our clients accumulate over USD $5 billion in gross sales value. Our work spans sportswear, outdoor, and casual-functional brands — concept through retail, including design guidelines, prototyping, supply chain, and marketing visual.

1Key clients with 6+ month contracts: NATUREHIKE, BANANA-IN, BENEUNDER, AE, MOODY TIGER. 2GSV figure accounts for products fully contracted to our studio (concept to retail), disregarding marketing and branding accounts.
¥20M → ¥500M
BANANA-IN, GMV IN 8 MONTHS
Joint design + supply-chain engagement, 2021–2022. 25× growth curve under one studio.
$5B+
CUMULATIVE GSV ENABLED
Across all contracted clients, 2015–present. Concept-to-retail engagements only.
100+
FACTORY PARTNERS
Selected for the ability to scale on demand — not for headcount. Anna's roster, 20+ years deep.
Textile fold close-up
FOR NATUREHIKE KAIREN MATERIAL SCIENCE DEVELOPMENT
02
SUPPLY CHAIN

We work with over 100 factories. That may not seem like much — but we chose ours to scale whenever you need.

China is a place where manufacturing experts are everywhere. In this cut-throat industry, we have provided innovation consultancy to brands like SHEIN, LI-NING, ANTA, and REGINA MIRACLE. Our clients have scaled from roughly USD $3M to USD $70M+ in eight months.

We work closely with partners who supply the world's most demanding apparel brands. The list below is partial.

1BANANA-IN: 2020–2021, ¥20M GMV → 2021.11–2022.6, ¥500M GMV. Eight-month scale curve under joint design + supply-chain engagement.
SUPPLY PARTNERS — SELECTED
TorayPerformance fibres
3MMembranes & reflectives
CovestroTPU & polyurethane
CorduraHigh-tenacity fabric
DyneemaUltralight high-strength fibre
PAIHOWebbing & hook-loop
Best PacificElastic & warp-knit fabric
ItochuTextile sourcing house
QIANFENGHeadwear manufacturing
SUMECTechnical outerwear OEM
+ 90 MORE
ASK FOR THE FULL ROSTER
Figure floating in a Mars-like canyon
FOR AERLYTE KAIREN GENERATIVE AI DEVELOPMENT
03
INFORMATION EDGE

Shenzhen. Shanghai. Beijing. Front-row seat to the fastest-growing retail market on earth.

Working with our team does not only mean you have the confidence of the best players on your side. Our first-hand information on production and market trends translates directly to the quality of the designs in your products.

We do not consult from a distance. We are inside the factories, inside the showrooms, inside the trade fairs — and our clients carry that intelligence to market before it shows up in a report.

Awards & Recognition

荣誉
Independent record. Curated & certified.
PRODUCT CERTIFICATION
AERLYTE 110-gram waterproof jacket — third-party certified by UTS Jiangsu to GB/T 32614-2023 Class I, the highest grade of the Chinese hardshell standard. ≥20,000 mm hydrostatic head · 16,800 g/m²/24h MVTR · ILAC-MRA recognised. This is the technical floor KAIREN ships from.
2025
ISPO China × 中国商业出版社
Featured in "100 Most Significant Outdoor Products — 30 Years of China's Outdoor Industry Growth" for AERLYTE. The curatorial record of the entire Chinese outdoor sector. Asia's most authoritative outdoor & sports industry trade show.
2024
BEYOND International Tech Expo, Macau
Asian Startup Award — Shortlist, for KAIREN Design / AERLYTE. Asia's leading annual cross-border technology and innovation expo.
2016
Lane Crawford
Up-and-Coming Designer Award, for MINTBYCAELANH (under KAIREN Design's original entity, 深圳市凯纫服饰有限公司). Hong Kong's flagship luxury department store group; the principal showcase for early-career Asian designer talent.
2015
Lane Crawford · Project Founders
Invited Speaker, Project Founders programme, Hong Kong. Topic: "Chinese consumer markets, and how design can be used to shape demand."

Work

业务
Four disciplines. One workflow, end-to-end.
FUNCTIONAL APPAREL ACCESSORIES IPs & CROSSOVERS BRAND & CONSULTANCY

We take a product from concept to the shelf. Material science, garment engineering, accessories, supply chain, and the visual layer that sells it.

KAIREN is structured as one team across three cities, organised by capability rather than by client. A single project usually moves through the studio in this order: brief → material & structure → prototyping → supply & tooling → marketing visual → first run.

01
FUNCTIONAL APPAREL

The discipline we are known for.

Sportswear, outdoor, and casual-functional — designed for the body and climate of the East-Asian consumer. Every garment we ship has been engineered against the climate where it will be worn, not against a marketing deck.

Our material science work has placed pre-production samples on the desks of NATUREHIKE, BANANA-IN, BENEUNDER, AE, and MOODY TIGER — among others. We work in nylon, wood-fibre, recycled polyester, and proprietary blends; we test against UV, water column, breathability, and abrasion before we cut a pattern.

Hiker scaling a rocky mountain with backpack
FOR NATUREHIKE KAIREN PRODUCT DESIGN & MARKETING VISUAL
02
FUNCTIONAL ACCESSORIES

Our expertise in functional design has led to an unprecedented success in accessories.

Our headwear products have consecutively surpassed global brands like NEW ERA and MLB in both quantity and global revenue. Our designs in gloves, bags, sleeves, shoes, and slippers have generated USD $80M+ per year in purchase orders since 2020.

Accessories are how we test material innovation at speed — and how our clients reach demographics that won't yet pay for a jacket.

1Combined order value across gloves, bags, shoes, and slippers designed and developed by KAIREN, 2020 onward.
Performance arm sleeve close-up
FOR BANANA-IN × HARRY POTTER KAIREN PRODUCT DESIGN & MARKETING VISUAL
03
IPs & CROSSOVERS

IPs and crossovers are our bread and butter. We know the workflow inside out.

IPs and crossovers can be messy. There is the design, then the pre-confirmation, then prototyping, then the design approval from HQ — imagine going back and forth. We have worked with creative parties such as 3125C, The North Face, A. FourLabs, and Nike. We have built cross-brand product with DISNEY, WARNER BROTHERS, HASBRO, NICKELODEON, TENCENT, and BEARBRICK.

Our role on a crossover is to keep the original IP's voice intact while making the garment buildable, profitable, and on time. We are licensee-side, manufacturer-side, and creative-side at once.

1IP = Intellectual Proprietor. Engagements are bound by NDA; partner names listed are those we are publicly permitted to cite.
04
BRAND & CONSULTANCY

Design without the go-to-market is half a product.

We carry brand identity, marketing visual, and channel strategy when the engagement calls for it. Our marketing visual work has shipped alongside the product we designed — meaning the campaign is built on the engineering, not after it.

For brands that have outgrown an agency and not yet built their own studio, we operate as the extension between design intent and customer perception.

Fees

报价
The 6% rule. Capped, derivative, transparent.
Climber against rocky scree with brand-mark sun
FOR AERLYTE KAIREN PRODUCT INNOVATION & MARKETING VISUAL
Our fees are capped at 6% of your project budget.

Our fees are production-derivative — meaning we take 30–35% of your total expected production cost as a guideline. For high-scale projects, fees are priced as a percentage of GSV estimation.

The cap exists because we want to work on projects that excite us. The figures below are a general guideline. Talk to us about your business and see how our work together can bring us further.

TIER
FEE RANGE
WHAT'S INCLUDED
GSV < $1M
5–6%
Sub-$1M GSV — small-batch design + prototyping. Capped slightly higher to absorb fixed cost.
GSV $1M – $10M
3–5%
Full product guidelines · design · prototyping · supply pairing. The most common engagement.
GSV $10M+
1–4%
Scale engagements. Includes ongoing supply-chain optimisation and seasonal collection cadence.
PRODUCTION DERIVATIVE
30–35%
Of expected total production cost. Used for projects without a public GSV target. Same 6% cap once GSV is forecastable.
FEE LOGIC, IN PLAIN ENGLISH
Fee = min( 30–35% of production cost, 1–6% of GSV ). Hard cap at 6% of total project budget. No retainer surprise.
01
Product Guidelines
Material spec, structural drawings, fit logic, certification strategy. The brief that protects the brand from drift.
02
Design & Prototyping
From concept boards through sealed pre-production samples. Tested against the climate of intended use.
03
Supply & Production
Factory pairing from our 100+ partner roster. Tooling, QC, and scale planning included on extended engagements.

People

团队
Four operators. Design · Brand · Visual · Supply chain.
C
FOUNDER · CHIEF DESIGN
CAELAN H.C.Y

Caelan's career crossed the Lane Crawford bridge three times between 2014 and 2016 — JOYCE Cares designer, Project Founders speaker, Up-and-Coming Designer Award winner. The East-meets-West thread for greater China has been there from the start.

Pre-KAIREN: House of Siren (Hong Kong couture, 2014–15), UPAR (with Kazuki Kuraishi, 2018–20), Beneunder (hats, 2020–21), Banana-IN (Cool Skin product lead, 2021–22). HKDI Higher Diploma, 2015. Trilingual operator (EN · 中 · 粤 · Malay). → Full CV at caelanh.com

To shape a product is first to accept responsibility for who will wear it.
— CAELAN, FOUNDER
N
COFOUNDER · MARKETING
NARIZ

NARIZ worked behind the scenes on some of the most successful brand campaigns and marketing strategies in Chinese e-commerce.

His work for Okamoto and BANANA-IN has shown consistent results without sacrificing innovation in a fast-paced market.

现实决定生存，幻想决定未来。市场，是二者交汇之处。
— NARIZ, COFOUNDER
B
COFOUNDER · CREATIVE DIRECTION
BAI

BAI carries everything branding at KAIREN. Prior to KAIREN he worked with brands such as BANANA-IN, MOODY TIGER, On Running, NEW ERA, ECCO, and I.T.

A devoted small-culture editor early in his career, he handled lookbook and advertising production for some of the most respected streetwear and outdoor brands in the region.

追逐表象有什么可耻。真正可耻的，是一个时代只剩下表象。
— BAI, COFOUNDER
A
COFOUNDER · SUPPLY CHAIN
ANNA

ANNA is our SCM manager. Prior to KAIREN she worked with brands such as FILA, REEBOK, ALPINE STAR, DKNY, and M&S through Li & Fung (Hong Kong).

Her work in production scaling has been invaluable to our community of clients and factories.

货品按期 · 安全送达
— ANNA, COFOUNDER

Contact

联系
Three entities. Brand · Design · Supply chain.
SHENZHEN
BRAND MANAGEMENT
KAIREN BRAND MANAGEMENT (SZ) CO. LTD
凯纫（深圳）品牌管理有限公司
FUTIAN DISTRICT · SHENZHEN
GUANGDONG · CHINA
HANGZHOU
DESIGN CONSULTANCY
KAIREN DESIGN CONSULTANCY (HZ) CO. LTD
凯纫（杭州）设计咨询有限公司
XIHU DISTRICT · HANGZHOU
ZHEJIANG · CHINA
SHANGHAI
SUPPLY CHAIN TECHNOLOGY
KAIREN SUPPLY CHAIN TECHNOLOGY (SH) CO. LTD
凯纫（上海）供应链科技有限公司
JING'AN DISTRICT · SHANGHAI
CHINA
Talk to us about your business and see how our work together can bring us further.
chuanyichuanyi@gmail.com