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Vivienne Westwood Socks at Dita Opening

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Love this, mainly because they seem like a chic version of the notorious nylon pop socks, favored by so many in this city – though the wearers seem to become older and older as the youth become generally hipper. The hated skin-colored pop socks are also often paired with strappy footwear, typically of the plastic variety.

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They were sighted on this editor (I am not allowed to mention the names and publications of others in the magazine business) at the opening party for Beijing’s first Dita shop at Huamao. Most of the glasses on sale are made in Japan as part of collaboration between Dita and the venerable brand Masunaga. Read more on Dita at High Snobiety.

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Cat-Headed Girl

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I’ve noticed a tendency among Beijingers to lament the passing of clear difference in appearance between the sexes. The refrain is that “these days everything is so confused”. A couple years ago, the youth did not yet have this predilection toward androgyny. Blame certain popstars. Of course, a few decades ago, there wasn’t much trace of the feminine along the gray, Mao-suited, streets of Beijing.

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A “cat-head” would likely be a crafty or stealthy person.

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Jeffrey Ying’s Favorites: Tsingtao and Chunghwa

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Here’s Jeffrey Ying again – this time showing his appreciation for some of China’s most famous brands. I’m sure most of you know that it is no accident that he is wearing a custom Mao Suit and smoking Chung Hwa, the favorite cigarette brand of the Chairman. Jeffrey also only smokes this premium, but extremely heavy, brand. Mao was apparently not a particularly big drinker and Zhou Enlai was known for being able to put down more shots than his boss.

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Lover of Dandies

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A direct descendant of Tang Dynasty General Cheng Yaojin (程咬金), Liaoning-born Nina (程宛宁) immigrated to the US at age four and she grew up in the region of New York. Now she lives in Williamsburg, though she frequently visits China. After majoring in English in university, she was an investment banker until that career became a bit less stylish. Her major project currently is a men’s accessories brand, Oriens & Grey. She describes the best menswear as of a higher quality level than anything for women and generally of more classic design. Nina asked Li Bosheng (李博生) a famous Beijing-based jade worker to craft the money clips, tie bars, cuff links and other precious goodies of Oriens and Grey.


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Tribal Chief: Kevin Tallon

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An instructor at Central Saint Martins College, London, Kevin Tallon now designs for a very fashion-forward sportswear label with Italian roots, now here in China. He is spearheading efforts to make this brand the most stylish one in its category for the Chinese market. The first collection will be in stores this fall.

He makes the long flight out to Beijing almost every month, so he is now considering whether it might not be better to settle his two daughters and wife here in Beijing. It would be a fabulous chance for them learn the most important language of the 21st Century and experience its most important economy. He’s just a little bit worried about the pollution here.

Kevin, who also appeared last year on Stylites, just came out with a book on fashion trends among Chinese youth that relies heavily on my photos. The book, Fashion Tribes: China, is now available on Amazon, and looks in depth at the rapidly changing fashion landscape here.

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Blue Maruko

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Meng Yue (孟玥)adores all things Japanese, and her foreign name is Maruko. From Beijing, she is attending university in Nanjing. She was with two friends who have the exact same hair color as she does, but her style and feel was a bit sweeter than theirs.

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A Sartorial Model for Beijing Men

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Born in Beijing, George headed to the States at 13, but still believes the East is the best. He is back in Beijing to bring his family business to new heights after serving at an investment bank in Hong Kong for around four years. Like many, he prefers Beijing to Hong Kong, believing that the southern city has little of interest happening beyond money-making. The northern capital offers a more diversified lifestyle. We hope that George’s dress sense will be frequently imitated by his fellow Beijing men.

Hong Kong does have one advantage over Beijing for George. It is has more outlets offering fine menswear and accessories. George is fond of the Neapolitan silhouette and construction methods and here he wears a cotton, unlined, Borelli suit and Canali silk knit tie.


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Beida Ogilvy Intern

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Majoring in International Relations at mighty Beijing University, third-year Emmie would prefer to be studying something related to media. The main problem, she says, is that international realtions is too politicized a field and one rarely learns anything with real substance. As is the case with so many others who are unhappily wedded to their courses of study, Emmie ended up in International Relations as a result of her Gaokao score. Otherwise, she has no major complaints about life at Beida. She gets along with her three roommates and feels lucky that she doesn’t live with five or even seven.

Her two-month summer internship at the PR company Ogilvy will hopefully set her on a more favorable path, which should allow her to work in foreign companies after graduation. Often, majoring in something like international relations would only lead one to a government job or, at best, work in a state-run company. Emmie points out that foreign companies in China and state-run companies operate in completely different systems. Advancement in the latter depends almost completely on relationships, whereas the situation is somewhat more standardized with the foreigners. Of course, she acknowledges, foreign companies must operate effectively in the guanxi system if they are to succeed in this country and degrees of localization vary a great deal from one company to the next.