Posts filed under 'China Fashion News and Analysis'
This is your chance to exchange, sell, or give away clothing and accessories, media related objects (no pirated goods, but if you have any DVDs from Sanlitun you can bring them), white goods, black goods, bicycles, and any other objects. You can bring your stuff, your friend’s stuff, or your ayi’s stuff - just remember to take whatever you brought that doesn’t get claimed - aside from booze. Please RSVP (nels@stylites.net or 13910092410 - texts please), so we know how many people to warn our neighbors. Also, alcohol is always a welcome article of exchange.
| Date: |
Saturday, April 19, 2008
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| Time: |
2:00pm - 6:30pm
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| Location: |
Our Courtyard
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| Street: |
5 Xinghua Hutong
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April 18th, 2008
This piece in Chinese recommends some basic sartorial rules for locals to follow during the Olympics this year.
“讲究服装穿戴并不一定就是穿名牌服装，它的基本原则是：颜色和谐、环境和谐、自身条件和谐、时节和谐、与主人的要求和谐。”
This sound argument ranks projecting tidiness above wearing expensive brand names.
Some highlights (I will offer loose translations, as I am not a professional):
“两扣的只扣上面的，三扣的只扣第1、2个或中间1个”
Men are advised to button only the top button when wearing a two button suit coat and the two top buttons or the middle one when wearing a three button coat. I’m glad they put this advice in here because countless Beijing men make the mistake of buttoning all of the buttons on their suit coat. This, however, is not nearly so atrocious or perplexing a violation of sartorial rules as buttoning only the bottom button of a three button jacket, also frequently observed here. One of my colleagues wears a four button black polyester suit and usually buttons only the bottom button. Of course, if you’ve already decided to wear this type of suit, you might as well just spit on any rules or aesthetics, for that matter.
“慎穿毛衫、巧配内衣”
Men should be cautious when wearing sweaters - this means with suits - and carefully select appropriate underwear. Businessmen here adore the sweater with suit look, for which foreigners mock them. To the second recommendation, I might add that Beijingers of both sexes should strive to keep their thermal underwear from being revealed either at the ankle, waist, or cuff. Of course, the Olympics is in summer so this won’t be a risk.
Turning to the women:
“所配披肩、手提包、皮鞋的颜色要同衣服和裙子颜色协调。忌着黑色发亮的皮短裙。”
Focusing on leather, Women are advised to ensure that their bags and shoes match in color and go well with the color of their garments. Short and shiny black leather dresses are, rightly, repudiated.
Most of this advice is quite solid and these basic guidelines need to be made known. However, in my opinion, mismatching is not the worst sartorial crime being committed in Beijing. To really improve the city’s image, they might add that most women should steer clear of animal prints, too many metallic objects such as chains and buckles attached to clothing and accessories, an abundance of glitter and lace, and nonsensical English. Granted, these violations are slowly becoming less frequent.
On a more conceptual level, Stylites would like to make the following, somewhat naughty, recommendation:
尽量不要穿得像小姐暴发户,或者民工
People should do their best to avoid dressing like a trollop, arriviste, or migrant laborer.
February 28th, 2008
Fashion Trend Digest, based out of Shanghai, did a story on me and Stylites, or I should say that they featured a piece that I wrote about myself. The piece is in Chinese, and my girlfriend, Yuanyuan, was nice enough to heavily edit it for me.
February 26th, 2008
Zhai Yanxin’s work incorporates custom tailoring and design. I have always said that this was a natural course for high-end fashion to take here in China. Why buy an Armani dress when a thousand other people have the same one (and aside from the final stitches done in Italy, the Armani was probably made in China anyway)? For the same price or lower, a stylish Chinese lady can have a completely unique piece tailored for her by Mr. Zhai, for example. More from Xinhua here and take a look at the designer’s blog.
January 29th, 2008
Coach says China will be its #3 market after the US and Japan. This quote from Coach seems to sum up the attitude that most foreign luxury brands have toward China and the rest of the less-developed world: “In non-Japan Asia, consumers are at a different stage in the lifecyle of their experience with luxury goods. Luxury for them is much more about status. It’s a badge.”
In the West, is luxury an expression of personal style, a connection with traditions, or an celebration of beauty and quality?
January 28th, 2008
Valentino Fashion Group S.p.A will be opening its first free standing Valentino boutique in Beijing this week. In the Peninsula Palace shopping arcade, this flagship boutique will carry the menswear and ladies wear collections as well as bags, shoes, sunglasses and watches. Despite a rather thin presence on the ground in China, the brand Valentino is already quite well-known and has been a frequent victim of trademark infringement. There are many clothing brands based in China that include the word “Valentino” in their name.
January 28th, 2008
Daniel Sui is a designer for Kappa in China and he appeared on Stylites before. The IHT had an interesting story on the public offering of Dongxiang, which owns the exclusive license for the Kappa brand in China. As the existence of Daniel’s job proves, this Italian sportswear brand is not only produced and sold in China, but also designed here. The article speaks of over 20% annual growth of the Chinese sportswear market.
The funny thing is that I have the exact same herringbone trench coat and I was wearing it that same day. Daniel also wore it for his photo shoot with 1626 (1626 also did a shoot and interview with me that should be appearing over the next couple of weeks):
The coat is intended for export to Japan and is by some obscure brand. The cut is really slim and the styling is quite nice. I think the coat looks good and that’s why I bought it despite some misgivings. The price of around USD 50 also didn’t dissuade me. Unfortunately, truths like “you always get what you pay for” do seem eternal. This coat has the same key defect as many stylish pieces made in China for export to Japan as well as stylish fakes of brands like Dior Homme and Burberry Prorsum. That defect is poor quality materials. The fabric, buttons, thread, and lining are all sub-par. Even H&M and Zara offer substantially better quality. The fabric began to pill after a few wearings and the buttons are about to fall off en masse. Anyway, all I can say is that it is worth using Senli and Frye to get a durable piece that will last through the years. That said, sometimes one does want throw-away fashion - this certainly doesn’t seem very ecologically friendly though.
January 22nd, 2008
Few US brands are more associated with China in the minds of Americans than Nike. Thinking of sweat shop labor and prison labor in China, Nike immediately comes to mind. Even if Nike really is the worst violator, someone has done a bad job on PR if the perception I have is widely held. Of course the lost fingers, poor ventilation, and 16 hour work days are the fault of the contractors and not Nike itself and, to give credit where it is due, the efforts of Nike’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) officers toward creating better working conditions have won much praise for the company.
Regardless of any negative associations, Nike nearly always sees rising profits, of which China is now a major source. Nike is one of the most well-recognized foreign brands in China. Over the seven months leading up to the Olympics, Nike will be releasing new products that cement the stature of the brand here. One of the first examples is the new Air Max 90 that celebrates Team China’s success in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles where it won 15 Gold medals. See the pics here.
Interestingly, even as Nike’s business improves in this market, much of its production is shifting out of China due to rising labor costs. The Chinese company that is one of Nike’s biggest suppliers, Yue Yuen Industrial, has shifted much of its production to Vietnam and Indonesia to cut costs. The new Chinese labor law, approved at the end of 2007, is expected to push even more producers out of the country.
January 18th, 2008
A new UNCTAD report calls China the worlds largest exporter of “creative goods” with a total figure of USD 89.1 billion in 2005, including Hong Kong’s USD 27.7 billion. Italy was number two with USD 28 billion in 2005. This includes goods such as films, music, traditional crafts, design and architecture, but still is a rather surprising finding. Considering that China bemoans its deficit in cultural products and lack of creativity, this is not what I would expect. Also, China’s government constantly stresses development of innovation to address this deficit. I would have to research further into what categories they are using to come up with these figures. Doesn’t Hollywood export even more than USD 28 billion in one year? Perhaps it doesn’t count as creative. It’s frustrating to see a statistic that doesn’t make sense, but not have time to research why it came into being.
No one doubts the potential in China though. There may not be many well-known Chinese designer brands, but with this country’s love of fashion and the number of young people studying it, the country seems on track to become a source of creativity within the next few years. Reflecting the critical role of China in global fashion, France’s Fashion TV kicks off its global talent search for this Olympic year in China seeking to unlock all of the design genius that might not otherwise find a platform in this competitive industry.
January 17th, 2008
Ted Baker is setting up its first shop in China, according to the FT, though the article does not say where. I suspect it will be in Shanghai and not Beijing. Ted Baker style is decidedly British, a bit lower end than Paul Smith, but quirky in a similar way. The Ted Baker man probably works in advertising, graphic design, journalism or possibly a trendier financial institution, perhaps venture capital. Are there enough Chinese men in these occupations with the funds needed to buy Ted Baker? The reason I ask this question is that I can’t imagine a guy in a more conventional multinational wearing Ted Baker or Paul Smith, not to mention a state-run company. Ted Baker men are creative and stylish, but have enough money to buy nice clothes. Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there are more Ted Baker men in Shanghai than in Beijing. I still haven’t figured out why the Paul Smith boutique in Beijing closed.
Interestingly, I haven’t seen many Ted Baker fakes yet - nothing like the amount of Paul Smith stuff. Ted Baker does produce a lot in China though, so, as the brand gains in recognition, we can expect to see more fakes as well as “factory seconds”.
January 16th, 2008
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