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Sanlitun has been Beijing’s main nightlife district for nearly as long as their has been nightlife in post-opening China. Over the years, the area has become more and more gentrified and sanitized. Sanlitun Village, Beijing’s first outdoor mall, with a huge number of shops ranging from Uniqlo to Reiss. The trendiest boutique hotel in the city, the Opposite House is also here. Sanlitun, the CBD, embassy quarter, and residences of most foreigners are in vast Chaoyang District.
Though very retro in attire, she was at an outdoor electronic music show that seemed quite of this exact moment. The event was put on at Sanlitun Village by Acupuncture, which will be co-hosting the 2009 Beijing electronic music festival, this May. She said that most Chinese fans of electronic music are post-college and pre-35. The taste of college kids is still very dominated by pop.
Many men go for this sort of look. It covers all the bases at this particular moment. We’ve got the slim black jeans and the peak lapel “fashion coat” that isn’t a suit jacket but also isn’t a conventional sport coat. There is the slim, black tie, loosened. Then, most important, is the waistcoat, beloved piece for this generation of young urbanites in Beijing and beyond. Oh, and of course the Converses. Those could be on any one, but they make this fellow more approachable. All things considered, the look succeeds. All of the men I see on the subway should imitate this.
Zhao WeiLin (赵伟霖), Marketing Dept of Citizen Watch (China), says his preference is for “the Anglo look” or “gentlemanly with a penchant for slightly more fashionable and quirky details”.
Photo: Anne Li
The Beijing rock scene lures talent from other music hubs. Austin, Texas, guitarist and drummer Taylor arrived in Beijing four months ago to make music. In Texas he was part of Balmoreah, a band that blended classical, western and rock to produce a unique sound evoking the tranquil empty spaces of Western Texas. Taylor describes the region, his original home, as a perfect one for creative work. Distractions are minimal and entering a meditative, focused states is natural.
Beijing may not be terribly tranquil, but Taylor thinks it is also a good place for creatives, and they have been flocking here recently just as they do to Berlin, which he thinks has a similar vibe. He lives in the Nanshiliju area, one filled with bohemians, but also enjoys hanging out in the Nanluoguxiang area where there are several performance bars that he frequents. His favorite local bands are Lonely China Day and the Re-TROS.
From Heilongjiang Province, Niu Mingyu (牛明昱), 27, has been described by French friends as China’s Françoise Sagan. His life is far more adventurous and debaucherous than hers was, he says. In addition to novellas, he writes regularly about beauty, culture, and lifestyle for Trends’ L’Officiel, Rayli, New Weekly, and a range of other publications. Last month, he wrote eighty-thousand characters.
Mr. Niu also works full-time as an editor at China Cosmetics (ä¸å›½ç¾Žå®¹æ—¶å°šç”»æŠ¥), a recently founded bimonthly magazine that is an offshoot of ten year old China Beauty (ä¸å›½ç¾Žå®¹æ—¶å°šæŠ¥) magazine and claims a circulation of 170,000. These are part of the media group founded by one Zhang Xiaomei, who is also a CPPCC National Committee member and keeps a blog.
His jacket is from Croquis, the male line that is part of Hangzhou-based JNBY, one of China’s most successful brands that was formed completely locally.
But they aren’t British this time and I think Poland could do with a conquest or two. Tomasz Sajewic is the Beijing correspondent for Polish National Radio. Here he is wearing the same coat that Le Divan designer Aurelien was wearing three posts back. The only difference is that Tomasz’s coat has buttons and in this light Tomasz’s looks more orange. Most of Tomasz’s scarves are custom-made of silk that he orders from Thailand. As it turns out, everyone I know seems to be in Thailand this week.
From Anhui, Rinko is a writer of pop music who is based here in Beijing. She is a lover of all things Japanese, from style to the language. She spent a half-year in Tokyo studying composition. Rinko is also the girlfriend of Ali Nosrati, founder and owner of the dowdy fourhundred. Next Thursday at Punk Bar in the basement of Opposite House, the dowdy fourhundred leather bags will be on display during a pretentious and decadent party that I am helping host.
Mylène Chen is an economist at Shell China Exploration and Production Co. Ltd. On the side, she sings for a rock band. Only 22, she speaks English and French, perhaps taking her name from France’s answer to Madonna. It’s funny because, in one of their constant comparisons of China with “developed” countries, several Beijingers have remarked to me that youngsters here have far fewer hobbies than their counterparts in the West. They do face far more constraints in the forms of huge loads of schoolwork and pressure from family, but I think that many people I meet in Beijing do a pretty good job in surmounting these.
His friend, mixing a utilitarin vest and high-quality casual wear, looks practical but stylish in earthtones. The suede monkstrap wholecuts are from Trickers and made in England.
John Charles is one of the creatives at Thompson Advertising, Inc here in Beijing. This look is really quite punk in a way. I always find it interesting when people can wear a single color and still make it interesting. The Thompson website says that they are “business people, helping business people take care of business…Yes, we are creative, but you couldn’t tell by looking. ” I must say that I can tell from looking at John Charles is creative.
Could one say the same of the characters from Mad Men, my current favorite TV series? Perhaps in their own day, this would be the case, though my sense is that the intention was to make their costumes seem stylishly conservative – even for their own day – rather than edgy. As it turns out, this past weekend, Yan Zhang, a successful and very interesting young entrepreneur here in Beijing, hosted a Mad Men Party. Here are some of the photos. Compare the contemporary Beijing ad man with modern interpretations of 1950s/60s Ad Men.
Investment banker Mark is wearing a Senli and Frye suit. Julie is wearing a vintage 1960s dress and brooch.
Ben is hitting the look pretty accurately. Of course, they rarely wore suits this dark in the show, but medium grays are surprisingly rare these days.
Warren is manager of Punk, the club at Opposite House, currently Beijing’s hippest boutique hotel. Bill is working at the American Embassy and wearing a lovely suit from Saville Row that is in a shade quite like what one would have seen in Mad Men. I love the green knit tie.
Yan Zhang is the man who made it all happen. Nice tie, great apartment.
Nicholas had not seen the series, but he captured the spirit very well. The hair and glasses are perfect. The vintage suit made it seem a bit like a cross between Sterling and Pete Campbell while hunting in the English countryside.
I just ran into Edie Bao a second time. This time it was in Sanlitun and we got lunch. I met her last year at a Comme des Garçons had a photography exhibit. Then, she was working as an editor at the mainland version of Milk magazine, a Hong Kong publication aimed at subculturish youth. Now Edie is working for Yoho, a mainland publication for fashion-conscious hipsters.
This eclectic and modern ensemble is worn by a visual merchandising director at Lane Crawford. I wonder if the pants can be removed in several different ways. I like the cropped peacoat and the boots give the whole look a decidely militaristic feel.
No. 223 is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Magazine, China’s answer to hyper cool art fashion magazines like ID and Wallpaper. Something of a collector’s item, Too Magazine only came out once. Now No. 223 has opened funky menswear boutique Dandy Dandy in 3.3. He also releases photography books.
The other night, I ran into Londoner Emilia again – this time on the streets of Sanlitun. I love the rubik’s cube necklace. She made it herself.
Muted grays skillfully blended, this Austrian architect, sitting outside of Yaxiu, perfected rakish and ready for summer, staying relaxed while subtly hinting at streetwear.
Cola has been a frequent star of Stylites. I like the way that he wears sweats with a leather jacket. These two Northeastern boys run the recently expanded Vogue, a menswear boutique on the forth floor of 3.3, a Sanlitun mall. Vogue specializes in “replicas” of Dior Homme, Comme des Garçons, Dolce and Gabbana, and other popular brands.
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