The press pass that had gained me entrance to 20 shows over the course of a week was in the name of the fashion editor of my magazine. It was confiscated and I did not make it into the final awards ceremony. These two guys did, though they did not have either a press pass or a ticket. These two fashion students actually made it into every single show of China Fashion Week SS ’10 without any documents allowing entry. They would just sneak in – once or twice on my coattails. For the final event, they walked past the guards into a side door, even though there were metal detectors before all of the official entrances.
In a very tight coffee shop right near the China Fashion Week venues, I met Ms. Guo Pei (éƒåŸ¹), one of the most well-known Chinese designers. As I was heading in, she was leaving, together with Cabeen (here’s his show), another major designer. One of my biggest regrets this week is that I did not make the trip out to the Olympic Green to see her show. It just seemed too far and I was feeling a bit moody on Friday night. Her work is covered in the China Daily, Fashion Wire Daily, and the All China Women’s Federation, to name a few. Check her SS ’10 show. The theme was the thousand and second night. Here’s her blog, also.
Some shows have been memorable, some bland, and others had nice pieces. As one might expect, there is quite a difference in the types of people who attend each show, based largely on the clout of the brand and the designer. Some are filled with design students and some boast the gliteratti of the fashion press. Here is the China Daily introduction to the week.
I skipped the NE Tiger (东北虎）show on Monday because I had to write an article and their shop displays have always irritated me. The designs seem like an injustice to the majestic beast. Still, the pics make look interesting in a way.
Qi Gang (above) is one of the names I hear most this week (his two shows are Mihuang (米皇) Cashmere Collection and Secfashion). Apparently, the vast majority of the items in the Mihuang show were 100% cashmere or blends.
The second show I saw was Entra, which seemed more wearable and less conceptual.
Next was the Tsai Meiyue wedding dress show. It opened with a very cute little girl (scroll down) coming down the runway with one of the models. The show was pleasant. Focusing on wedding dresses is a clear recipe for success here.
The Throb Immobile show was traumatizing, as the name of the brand could imply. The clothes, models, and music all seemed to suggest the lifestyles of the elite in some dystopian future in which natural fibers have gone the way of the polar ice cap. The show ended with a yet another, still more mangled, electro Carmina Burana, which will prevent me from ever again enjoying Orff’s masterpiece.
The styles at the DGVI show ranged from sexy, to tawdry, to gaudily slutty, meaning it was quite entertaining and fun. There was an actual DG and some of the music played was very charming. The style was Miss Sixty with a strong dose of Wenzhou, which is probably where most of the dreadfully cheap chic of that Italian brand is produced anyway. The problem with fashion shows like this, especially in China, is that I’m never sure about whether the effect of the clothes and styling is what was intended by the creative team. Well, actually, in this case I think it was. Mr. Li Zhilong, the heavily-accented Creative Director, wearing a shiny (clearly synthetic) velvet suit and shades, looked right in his element surrounded by the models, all in jeans that had at least ten zippers. This was the only show I’ve seen that had a large number of foreigners in the audience. I think the entire German and Austrian embassies were there. Afterwords, this show also had a nice cocktail party, as foreigners tend to expect.
The high point of Tuesday was the Cocoon show. This view is clearly shared by the fashion media as this was the only event on Tuesday at which the elites of that group were in evidence. Both the China Vogue and Bazaar editors-in-chief attended as did some minor Hong Kong celebrities. This show had quite a bit that stylish women would really covet. It was also the first one that revealed some understanding of color. The use of polka dots was especially appealing. The night shows are the must-see ones.
Visual Merchandiser Paul Cheng has been working very hard over the last couple of days. Here he is in a very interesting Raf Simons jacket. Those shoes are ready for action.
Xander Zhou (周翔宇) was one of a huge crowd of celebrities attending fashion for Anna Wintour’s Fashion’s Night Out. All eyes have been on this young fashion designer since he guest edited the August “Gay China” issue of media sorceress Hong Huang’s (洪晃) fashion magazine “ILOOK†(more at Gayographic and China Hush). Though there have been many smaller gay-friendly publications opening and closing over the last decade, this was the first time a mainstream magazine made nature’s bachelors and their role in fashion the focus of an issue. I met Xander last at a fabric store in Muxiyuan.
Also at the Vogue party in the basement of the World Trade Center was Beijing brit-rock band Super VC (at a Burberry event). There were huge crowds and droves of celebrities making more stylites photos during the after-party up at Aria difficult.
No gold chain, no dark chest hair, no grease, and no high-rolling swagger on this fashion fellow who omitted a shirt, opting for simply a sport coat. This super light cotton sport coat is really a brilliant idea for summer, in which I am never comfortable in even the thinnest linen suit without lining. I fear the look would seem different – maybe even a tad sleazy – on me.
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.
A Marketing Director at Van Cleef’s & Arpels, Ms. Aude Bousser has worked for fashion brands for quite a few years though she returns to her home in Paris nearly every month. She thinks that opportunities are much more in the Asia market, especially China, both because of the growth and because women are more inclined to make decisions on purchases like jewelry by themselves and then spend their own money. Further, she says that Chinese women with careers tend to be more independent minded than their sisters in the West.
After opening a new shop at Wangfujing, the next big task will be this fall in Hangzhou, where she believes Van Cleef’s & Arpels is less known but the people of the city love to spend on luxury goods.
Based in Shanghai, Edison is a visual merchandiser. Edison is a native of Nanjing, where he studied fashion design as an undergraduate. He lives in Shanghai and has previously visited New York.
Dior released its fall collections here in Beijing today at Nanxincang. This young Hunanese lady was wearing a cute Dior dress from the current spring collection. She was determined that I must not mention her name or position.
I never know who I might run into at a shirting shop. Xander Zhou (also here) shouldn’t need much introduction to viewers of Stylites. Among the most well-known Beijing-based menswear designers, Xander studied in the Netherlands and his brand sells internationally. For more information about him check out JC Report, an interview with him at Dazed Digital, and a Time Out London piece on “Beijing Heroes” where Xander ranks with Ai Weiwei and Gia (also been on stylites).
Jean Pierre Braganza is a London designer whose fashion creations are sold throughout the world and soon in Beijing. In Beijing to teach local designers to inject sophistication and cool into their brands, he was strolling down Nanluoguxiang, enjoying the street festival and drinks at Salud.
Jean Pierre describes 27 as the best age. A man finally has some experience but is not yet overburdened with the worries and responsibilities of life. The possibilities can still be endless, but can be explored armed with a bit of wisdom and experience. In the early and mid twenties, a man is a boy, naïve and ignorant in the ways of the world. At 28 and 29, he frets about the impending thirties with the first sappings of physical strength, the restrictions on freedom imposed by society, career and a young family, and growing distance from dreams as well as old friends. In the late twenties, the pressures of a girlfriend to marry or a young wife to produce children become louder and louder. Jean Pierre has succumbed to both of these pressures, but he still enjoys nights out with friends, as long as they don’t involve surprise encounters with Karl Lagerfeld and the inevitable catfights.
A single, very well-designed beast is replacing the cartoony creatures that used to adorn tee shirts. Animals will no doubt appreciate the increase in respect shown through more accurate depictions using better fabrics. No one deserves it more than the panda.
