In a city with innumerable lovely girls, 95% of whom compromise their natural beauty with over-reliance on lace, glitter, and chains, it’s spirit-lifting to see style that highlights the grace of the wearer while at the same time being a little unique. I even forgive the somewhat blatant red LV bag – at least this model is not so often faked as of yet.
Tag: Beijing Street Style
A Dynamic Young Duo
These two young college girls were at Tango to sing karaoke.
Huang Yue – Talented and Nice
Huang Yue designs original and inspiring haute couture for local celebs and bigshots. Check out his shop opposite 3.3, next time you are in Sanlitun. Even if you don’t fancy his work, you will enjoy talking to him if he is around. He is such sweet fellow and always makes time to listen and say a nice word or two. Quirky as well, he also has some unique ideas on fashion in China. More on his shop later.
I love the jacket he is wearing, which is, naturally, one of his designs. Too bad the photo isn’t better. Made from a tweedy silk/wool blend in an extremely loose weave, the blazer is completely un-constructed with no lining. You could call it a sweater-sport coat.
Paco and Bustout
Paco Ou just opened Bustout, the largest and most cutting edge street wear emporium in Beijing. My review of the shop will appear in the February That’s Beijing, so I don’t want to say too much here. Keep your eye out. He wants the store, among the most spacious retail spaces I’ve seen here, to be a platform on which education of local youth on the origins of hip-hop culture can occur. Apparently, middle class kids in baggy jeans and over-sized headphones don’t really understand the culture behind the look and the music. According to Paco, the hip hop artists that do achieve mainstream success in China do not play genuine hip hop, from the perspective of the music itself and the feeling that goes into it. I agree with him on this. I’ll give a lot more detail on Bustout within the next couple weeks.
Plaid Military Coat
He must have been expecting to be flash photographed. I often wish I could comment on the attitude, voice, or vibe of a certain person I photograph. Stylites is not a platform for my thoughts and criticisms though. With so much Burberry print covering China – in collars, fake scarves, ties, and window curtains – this ranks as a use of the plaid that I like. The young entrepreneur’s plaid stands out from the crowd of epuelatted coats that define this winter.
Herringbone Trench Coat
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.
Young Actor at Xidan
I meet so many female acting students, it was nice to finally encounter a male one. He has a sort of rugged urban style with a very modern jacket that seems even faintly athletic.
Theater Student’s Mother
This Amway manager’s daughter is studying at the Central Academy of Drama and she was down from Northeastern Jilin province for a visit.
Xidan- Pink Japanophile
Pink in a decidedly Japanese way, Fang Yuan also does hair at Xidan. She didn’t have a chance to speak before I was swarmed with male stylists criticizing my haircut.
Xidan strives to be Shibuya, the amazing epicenter of Japanese street style, but often achieves a rugged flavor of its own, more suited to Beijing. Before their encasement in drab Western business attire – China’s selection in formal clothing is quite boring and generally of low quality – Beijing young people get the chance to experiment with quirky looks from Japan and Korea. This rare style reservoir, where nearly every pedestrian makes some kind of effort to stand out, presents the challenge of sifting through overwhelming crowds and persuading those with the most tasteful or unique outfits to pose. In Xidan, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the number of people. It is not really like this in the rest of Beijing, which is spread-out and does not feel as crowded as Manhattan or Hong Kong.
Unlike in more Eastern parts of the city, shoppers at Xidan often have no concept of what Stylites in Beijing could possibly be and I was accused more than once of being a wretch up to some foul tricks.
Unique Scarf at Xidan
I’m not entirely sure if those are the best boots for this outfit, but I find the scarf and collar arrangement to be intriguing.
He was in a hurry, so I didn’t get to ask if he had made it himself.
Darling Actress
Yet another theater student, Ms. Wang studies at a Language University in Tongzhou. The nearby male hair stylists, hawking their business, applauded me for photographing her, describing her as a “true beautyâ€. When I asked questions regarding her views of fashion she smiled shyly and her friends told me to make something up that sounded nice. I’m trying to think of that should be.
IT Triad Chief
Vice President of a digital technology company, Mr. Zhao stood out in the up-to-the-moment fashion world of Xidan, exuding a sort of 1920s Shanghai, a luxuriant world of glamour and vice. His coat is made out some kind of dreadful polyester velveteen, but I must say that it looks pretty good here.
Yet Another Camel Hair Coat
On Pingan Dajie, another long camel hair coat. Since the winter got to this particularly bone-chilling temperature, it has been much harder to find people to photograph. Black puffer coats that conceal all shape and color are the preferred garment during January. The cold also makes me feel guilty about stopping people rushing between buildings.
Camel Overcoat at Xidan
With all the synthetics, loud colors, plaids and garish youngsters at Xidan, it was refreshing to find Tian Yue, who says that natural fabrics and the idea of authenticity are essential to her style. She only buys cotton, wool, and linen.
This color of overcoat is not common in Beijing, but I have spotted several people wearing them. Many young Chinese feel that any color remotely resembling yellow (beige, brown, even green) does not look good with Asian skin tones. However, some of my friends in the industry have told me that colors from nature will in fact become more popular in China over the coming year. This is something to watch.
Camel Military Coat
Here is a sophisticated urbanite walking through the old hutongs of Beijing. Sai Sai studies music and focuses on playing piano. I’m a great fan of the coat, though maybe not the jeans. It must be clear by now that military style is alive and well in China. I’ve heard some complaints in the West about it having lasted a bit too long. He was walking down Nanluoguxiang with a friend from Xiamen who was also taking pictures of stylish locals and snapped me, though I was looking rather mangled that day.