Septwolves founder Zhou Shaoxiong. Photo: Courtesy of Septwolves

The Scottish whisky brand Johnnie Walker had chosen entrepreneur Zhou Shaoxiong to represent the brand, calling him someone who has changed the game in the clothing industry. What is it about his background that makes him such an attractive symbol?

Zhou was born in a little shabby town by the sea in Fujian Province. Like many other Chinese families, Zhou grew up in poverty. People struggling for a living are willing to take risks for change. Although Zhou had no fashion experience, he saw an opportunity and opened up a small trading company selling fashion and clothing imported from abroad. During that time, he fostered a bigger ambition - to make a Chinese fashion brand. Finally, in 1990, he created a brand called Septwolves, one of the oldest fashion brands in China.

As a person who had the courage to open up his own business and try something new in the early period of China's Open Door Policy, Zhou has been taken as a model of embracing change. Yet behind his brave appearance in the face of change was uncertainty and tough challenges.

With the entire fashion industry in a downturn these days, Septwolves is one of the few companies able to hold onto its market position in the face of extreme pressure.

In 2012, the company witnessed a 50 percent increase in net profits, reaching 618 million yuan ($102 million) by the end of the year.

With the declining orders, the company claimed that net profits for 2013 will be 393 million to 561 million yuan, dropping as much as 30 percent from the year before.

In the face of the tough times, Zhou often talks about embracing change.

One aspect of these changes was to shift the sales model of Septwolves. The company has initiated a million-yuan program called "The elite store managers," which aims to offer 20 talented store managers chosen out of the Septwolves' 4,000 stores nationwide financial support for their study of advanced retail management abroad.

Meanwhile, 545 million yuan has been invested in upgrading Septwolves' sales networks, including the expansion of over 200 flagship stores and 600 exclusive stores in cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. In order to better convey the idea of its brand and products, they also have established "living halls," their name for stores that combine their men's fashion lines and things like home decorations to create an ideal lifestyle.

Yet out of all these changes, the most difficult ones happened to Zhou himself. Talking about his personality, he said that he was not used to promoting himself or standing under the spotlight. "I am not fond of expressing myself and the reason why I decided to appear in [the Johnnie Walker promotional] video was because the video's topic for change was also a must to me now," he said. "I take this as a trial for cooperation for brand promotion," he added.

Meanwhile, he also started cooperating with some fashion magazines and industrial activities to highlight the idea of the high-end brand he wants to promote.

"I am lucky to be in this industry. Moreover, I feel this experience is in the middle of happiness and unhappiness," he said. "What makes me happy is that every year I keep a curious heart to create something new and immediately see if this year's product meets the customers' expectations." But on the other hand, Zhou suffers. "This experience gets on my nerves. Especially in an industry like fashion where things are easy to copy [between brands], it makes things harder."